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THE  ENCYCLOPAEDIA 
OF  SIKHISM 


THE  ENCYCLOPAEDIA 

OF 
SIKHISM 


Volume  IV 
S  — Z 


HARBANS  SINGH 

Editor-in-Chief 


PUNJABI  UNIVERSITY,  PATIALA 


Punjabi  University,  Patiala 


EDITORIAL  COMMITTEE 

Harbans  Singh  Editor-in-Chief 

Harminder  Singh  Kohli  Assistant  Editor 

Sardar  Singh  Bhatia  Reader 

Dharam  Singh  Reader 

Gurnek  Singh  Lecturer 

Major  Gurmukh  Singh  (Retd.)  Research  Assistant 

Gurcharan  Singh  Giani  Research  Scholar 


ISBN  81-7380-530-X 


Second  Edition  :  2004 
Copies  :  1100 
Price  :  800-00 


Published  by  Prof.  Parm  Bakhshish  Singh  Sidhu, 

Registrar,  Punjabi  University,  Patiala  and 
printed  at  Ram  Printograph  (India),  New  Delhi. 


FOREWORD 


The  Punjabi  University  has  done  it  at  last;  the  last  leg  of  the  longjourney  has  since  been  traversed. 
The  Encyclopaedia  of  Sikhisrn  is  now  complete,  and  it  is  with  a  sense  of  great  satisfaction  and 
happiness  that  I  issue  this  fourth  and  last  volume.  Preparation  of  an  encyclopaedia  is  a  highly 
specialized  and  time-consuming  process  requiring  immense  patience  along  with  assiduous 
industry.  In  this  case,  however,  once  the  matter  had  been  laboriously  collected  and  minutely 
vetted,  the  progress  has  been  quite  satisfactory.  The  first  volume  was  published  in  December 
1992,  the  second  in  January  1996  and  the  third  in  April  1997  ;  and  h  ere  we  are  at  the  finis. 

This  would  have  been  an  occasion  for  real  celebration,  but,  alas!  the  man  who  conceived, 
planned  and  accomplished  this  stupendous  task  is  no  longer  with  us  to  share  the  rejoicing.  The 
Editor-in-Chief,  Professor  Harbans  Singh,  left  for  destination  unknown  and  unknowable  on  30 
May  1998.  A  fateful  paralytic  stroke  in  1989  had  left  him  severely  debilitated  physically.  He  was 
no  longer  able  to  write,  and  his  speech  was  badly  impaired.  With  such  sudden  and  serious  disability 
after  a  long  life  of  ceaseless  vibrancy,  aggravated  by  the  saddest  bereavement  of  his  life  three 
years  later,  a  lesser  mortal  could  have  collapsed  long  ago.  But  Professor  Harbans  Singh  possessed 
a  will  of  steel  and  dedication  of  a  truly  religious  man.  He  kept  on  mentally  as  fit  and  alert  as  ever, 
and  with  sheer  grit  and  determination  kept  death  at  bay  until  the  Encyclopaedia  of  Sikhisrn,  an. 
ambitious  project  that  had  been  closest  to  his  heart  during  the  past  two  decades  and  more,  had 
reached  the  final  stage  of  completion.  His  life-work  triumphantly  brought  to  completion,  he 
quiedy  slipped  away  —  a  rare  man  of  destiny  ! 

But  the  wheel  of  life  must  roll  on  despite  scintillations  en  route.  The  University  is  happy 
that  it  has  produced  a  great  work  answering  to  a  great  need.  Sikhs  and  Sikhisrn  having  attracted 
closer  nodce  of  learned  people  all  over  the  globe,  besides  the  Sikh  diaspora  itself,  during  the 
twentieth  century,  a  worldwide  interest  had  arisen  in  the  study  of  this  youngest  of  the  great  world 
religions.  A  comprehensive  reference  book  like  the  present  Encyclopaedia  had  become  an  urgent 
necessity  for  readers  of  English,  curious  as  well  as  genuinely  interested. 

I  feel  it  my  privilege  to  announce  that  the  Punjabi  University,  Patiala,  has  decided  to  develop 
the  "Encyclopaedia  Cell"  in  the  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Department  of  Religious  Studies  into  a 
separate  full-fledged  department.  It  has  been  named  in  honour  of  the  late  Editor-in-Chief, 
"Professor  Harbans  Singh  Department  of  Encyclopaedia  of  Sikhisrn."  Its  present  assignment  is 
to  render  the  Encyclopaedia  of  Sikhisrn  into  Punjabi. 

I  take  this  opportunity  to  thank  all  the  learned  men  of  letters  who  made  their  respective 
scholarly  contributions  to  the  building  up  of  this  massive  mine  of  knowledge  and  information.  I 
also  commend  the  effort  of  the  staff,  editorial  as  well  as  administrative,  who  assisted  the  Editor- 
in-Chief  in  one  way  or  another  in  the  preparation,  printing  and  publication  of  his  magnum  opus. 
To  the  memory  of  the  late  Professor  Harbans  Singh  I  hereby  dedicate  this  monument  of  learning. 


Punjabi  University 
Patiala 

November  4,  1998 


JOGINDER  SINGH  PUAR 
Vicc-Ch.iiKclIor 


PREFACE 


"Encyclopaedias  do  not  grow  on  trees,"  I  had  read  somewhere  as  I  was  browsing  among 
materials  in  the  library.  My  object  was  to  delve  deeper  into  the  mystique  of  the  genre  preparatory 
to  drawing  up  my  own  plan  of  work  on  an  Encyclopaedia  of  Sikhism  I  had  been  assigned  to  by 
the  Syndicate  of  the  Punjabi  University.  But  I  was  not  daunted  by  the  dictum.  I  let  it  pass  up. 
However,  the  admonishment  it  contained  was  not  entirely  lost  upon  me.  I  knew  it  would  by  no 
means  be  an  easy  task.  It  would  be  hard,  arduous  labour  all  the  way  up,  demanding  increasing 
search  and  toil.  I  was  not  totally  unaware  of  it,  nor  unprepared  for  it. 

The  Sikh  Encyclopaedia  was  the  brainchild  of  Professor  Kirpal  Singh  Narahg  who  was  then 
the  vice-chancellor  of  the  Punjabi  University.  He  had  worked  overtime  to  draw  up  for  the  University 
an  elaborate  programme  in  honour  of  the  300th  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
the  tenth  Guru  or  prophet-mentor  of  the  Sikhs,  which  came  off  in  1966-67.  The  celebrations 
bequeathed  to  Patiala  two  permanent  monuments;  one,  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Bhavan,  an 
intriguing,  modern-looking  structure,  planted  as  if  it  were  in  the  heart  of  the  University  campus 
and,  second,  a  department  of  Religion,  embracing  the  study  of  five  world  traditions  -  Hinduism, 
Buddhism,  Christianity,  Islam  and  Sikhism,  with  sixth,  Jainism,  diving  in  from  the  side  a  little 
later.  Prior  to  putting  down  his  plans  on  paper  the  vice-chancellor  had  taken  a  special  trip  out  to 
Harvard  University  to  seek  the  advice  of  the  famous  Professor  Wilfred  Cantwell  Smith,  Director, 
Center  for  die  Study  of  World  Religions.  The  department  at  Patiala  was  going  to  be  the  first 
academic  set-up  of  its  kind  in  India  where  Religion  in  the  academe  had  been  considered  a 
highly  combustible  substance  and  where  everyone  seemed  to  have  a  hush-hush  attitude  towards 
it.  Professor  Kirpal  Singh  Nararig,  with  the  weight  of  his  argument  and  with  a  dash  of  prescience, 
had  his  way.  He  linked  up  the  academic  programme  with  the  Guru  Gobind  Singh  celebrations 
and  made  it  look  generally  as  acceptable  as  the  latter.  When  working  out  the  courses  of  study 
and  syllabi  for  the  various  traditions  it  soon  became  obvious  that  Sikhism  among  them  was  the 
least  well-served  by  existing  literary  and  historical  materials.  The  suggestion  emerged  that  the 
creation  of  a  comprehensive  reference  work  would  be  the  first  tiling  to  do.  The  vice-chancellor 
promptly  spelt  out  the  title  -  the  Encyclopaedia  of  Sikhism  —  and  simultaneously  nominated  the 
chairman  of  the  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Department  of  Religious  Studies  to  take  charge  of  the 
matter. 

How  simplistic  were  the  notions  I  had  been  nurturing  in  my  mind  began  soon  to  dawn 
upon  me.  Also  readily  began  to  show  up  the  shortcomings  in  the  scheme  I'had  devised.  I  had 
planned  that,  since  it  would  not  be  practicable  to  collect  under  one  roof  specialists  in  different 
fields,  most  of  the  articles  of  the  Encyclopaedia  would  be  written  by  "outside"  experts  and  that 
we  would  have  a  small  editorial  unit  at  the  University  to  shepherd  the  manuscripts,  fact-check 
them,  and  revise  them  to  ensur  e  some  kind  of  a  literary  discipline  and  symmetry.  It  seems  I  was 
not  above  exaggerating  my  own  editorial  experience  and  capacities.  Three  or  four  of  the  scholars 
whose  names  were  on  the  top  of  my  list  were  too  busy  and  were  chary  of  putting  anything  additional 
on  their  plate.  They  declined  our  invitations.  This  in  fact  turned  out  to  be  the  principal  pitfall. 


PREFACE 


The  number  of  contributors  we  could  call  upon  fell  dismally  short  of  our  needs.  Scholars  with 
experience  of  research  in  Sikh  studies  and  of  specialized  writing  were  few  and  far  between.  Our 
choice  was  thus  severely  limited.  In  some  cases  our  invitations  for  articles  got  accumulated  in  a 
few  pairs  of  hands  and  our  files  were  soon  bursting  at  the  seams  with  copies  of  reminders  we  had 
had  to  send  out  chasing  after  our  contributors.  We  had  to  wait  for  long  periods  of  time  before 
securing  manuscripts  from  them. 

Still  we  had  no  choice  except  to  adhere  to  the  plan  we  had  originally  prepared. 

Then  we  had  no  precedents  to  go  by.  On  Sikh  doctrine  no  concisely  argued  work  existed. 
Even  historical  fact  was  far  from  well  sifted.  To  this  may  be  added  the  paucity  of  reliable  and  firm 
documentation.  Authorities  of  whatever  vintage  hopelessly  contradicted  one  another.  This,  despite 
the  fact  that  most  of  the  Sikh  enterprise  had  occurred  within  the  full  view  of  history  !  It  seems  the 
focus  has  been  woefully  warped  at  some  point.  Efforts  at  rectification  have  remained  tentative.  It 
is  not  easy  to  restate  and  repack  the  entire  range  of  information  and  knowledge  of  a  people.  An 
attempt  has  been  made  here  precisely  to  define  the  ideas  and  terms  of  Sikhism.  The  writing  is 
intended  to  be  simple  and  tight,  shunning  the  purple  and  the  loose  alike.  The  aim  throughout 
has  been  clarity  and  precision. 

Bypassing  Amristar,  religious  headquarters  of  Sikhism,  as  well  as  Anandpur  Sahib,  the 
birthplace  of  the  Khalsa,  Patiala  became  the  focus  of  world-wide  Guru  Gobind  Singh  celebrations 
in  1966-67.  It  is  not  on  record  if  any  other  anniversary  on  the  Sikh  calendar  had  been  observed 
with  similar  zeal  and  eclat.  Max  Arthur  Macauliffe  (1841-1913),  British  historian  of  the  Sikhs, 
did  draw  their  attention  to  the  200th  birth  anniversary  of  the  Khalsa,  due  in  1899,  but  die  event 
did  not  draw  much  popular  attention.  However,  the  tercentenary  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  birth, 
67  years  later,  was  an  event  celebrated  round  the  globe  with  unprecedented  fervour.  Festive  and 
academic  programmes  to  mark  the  occasion  were  set  up  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  The  largest 
share  of  the  responsibility  was  claimed  by  Patiala,  where  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Foundation  was 
formed  to  direct  and  guide  the  celebrations. 

The  chief  minister  of  the  Punjab,  Ram  Kishan,  called,  on  8  August  1965,  a  convention 
representative  of  the  religious,  literary  and  lay  elements  in  the  life  of  the  country.  This  gathering 
was  the  precursor  of  the  permanent  bQdy  called  the  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Foundation.  Maharaja 
Yadavinder  Smgh  (1913-1974)  of  Patiala  was  chosen  to  be  the  president  of  the  Foundation  and 
a  sum  of  Rs  12  lakhs  was  set  apart  for  the  celebrations  by  the  State  government  in  its  annual 
budget  which  amount  was,  happily  through  an  oversight,  most  unusual  for  a  financial  set-up 
anywhere  in  the  world,  repeated  in  the  following  year's  budget.  The  Foundation  was  thus  born 
with  a  "silver  spoon"  in  its  mouth. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Foundation  took  place  in  the  chandeliered  hall  of  the  palace  of 
the  Maharaja  of  Patiala  with  a  large  portrait  of  Maharaja  Ala  Singh,  18th  century  Sikh  hero  and 
founder  of  the  Patiala  dynasty,  overlooking  the  assembly  from  one  side  and  the  Hungarian  painter 
August  Schoeftt's  famous  canvas  depicting  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh's  court  with  a  replica  in  gold 
of  the  Amritsar  Golden  Temple  underneath  it,  from  the  other.  Past  and  present  thus  converged 
at  the  time  of  that  small  Sikh  assembly  on  30  November  1965,  refracting  history  into  the  current 
moment.  Chandigarh,  the  State  capital,  was  named  the  headquarters  of  the  Foundation  with 
Giant  Zail  Singh  as  the  general  secretary.  One  of  the  several  committees  appointed  was  charged 
witli  planning  and  bringing  out  literature  appropriate  to  the  occasion.  From  the  offices  of  the 
Foundation!  soon  began  to  flow  a  steady  stream  of  literature  comprising  a  commemoration 


viii 


PREFACE 


volume,  illustrated  books  for  young  readers,  annotated  editions  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  works, 
and  a  biography  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh  in  English  which  was  simultaneously  translated  into  all 
major  Indian  languages  such  as  Sanskrit,  Hindi,  Punjabi,  Bengali,  Assamese,  Marathi,  Gujarat!, 
Oriya,  Sindhi,  Tamil,  Telugu,  Malayalam,  Kannada,  Kashmiri  and  Maithili. 

In  this  spontaneous  enthusiasm  for  anniversay  celebration  is  reflected  the  Sikhs'  response 
to  the  historical  memory  of  the  Gurus  and  to  important  events  of  their  history.  Visible  here  is 
also  their  deep  commitment  to  their  faith,  their  joyous  and  urgent  participation  in  their  historical 
tradition,  their  cohesion  and  their  love  of  the  spectacular. 

The  burgeoning  of  interest  in  (he  study  of  Sikhism  brough  t  to  light  the  grave  paucity  of 
materials  on  Sikhism,  highlighting  at  the  same  time  the  need  for  serious  academic  research  and 
study.  The  present  publication  aims  at  supplying  the  gap.  The  pmpose  of  the  undertaking  was  to 
prepare  in  English  and  Punjabi  a  general  reference  work  about  Sikh  religion.  The  work  was  to 
be  comprehensive  in  scope  and  was  to  cover  topics  such  as  Sikh  theology,  philosophy,  history, 
ethics,  literature,  art,  ceremonies,  customs,  personalities,  shrines,  sects,  etc.  The  details  of  the 
scheme  were  worked  out  under  the  aegis  of  an  advisory  committee  consisting  of  leading  scholars 
of  the  day  -  Dr  Bhai  Jodh  Sihgh,  Dr  Ganda  Singh,  Professor  Gurbachan  Singh  Talib,  Dr  Fauja 
Singh,  Dr  Taran  Sihgh  and  Professor  Gulwant  Sihgh.  The  staff  originally  provided  consisted  of 
the  Editor  (Professor  Harbans  Sihgh) ,  two  .Assistant  Editors  (Dr  Harkirat  Sihgh  and  Professor 
Harminder  Sihgh  Kohli,  the  former  was  on  his  retirement  replaced  by  Dr  Jodh  Sihgh),  two 
Senior  Research  Fellows  (Sardar  Sihgh  Bhatia  and  G.S.  Nayyar) ,  one  Research  Associate  (Dharam 
Sihgh) ,  two  Research  Assistants  (Gumek  Singh  and  MajorCGurmukh  Sihgh) ,  and  Research  Scholar 
(Giani  Gurcharan  Sihgh).  Some  initial  exploration  was  made  by  Himat  Sihgh. 

The  first  task  was  to  compile  a  list  of  subject-titles  to  be  included  in  the  Encyclopaedia.  To 
this  end,  the  staff,  in  the  first  instance,  rummaged  through  libraries  -  on  the  campus,  the  University 
Library,  Bhai  Mohan  Sihgh  Vaid  collection  and  Bhai  Kahn  Sihgh  collection,  and  off  the  campus, 
the  Motibagh  Palace  library,  and  the  State  Archives,  and  compiled  a  list  of  likely  topics.  A  list  of 
nearly  4,000  titles  thus  emerged.  At  the  same  time  a  roster  of  likely  authors  was  prepared.  This 
comprised  lists  in  Punjabi  and  in  English.  Those  who  did  not  write  in  English  were  free  to  write 
in  Punjabi.  We  had  their  work  translated  into  English. 

Having  to  work  on  a  long-term  project  has  its  own  hazards.  I  passed  through  several  health 
crises.  At  one  point,  I  was  incapacitated  following  an  eye-surgery,  but  was,  thanks  to  the  skill  and 
devoted  care  of  th  e  surgeen,  Dr.  Robert  M.  Johnston,  Leeburg,  U.S.A.,  rescued  from  a  hopeless 
situation  recovering  the  full  use  of  the  eye.  In  1989  I  was  felled  by  a  stroke  which  led  to  serious 
physical  decrepity  but,  fortunately,  left  my  mental  faculties  generally  intact.  This  was  all  the 
Guru's  own  mercy  and  I  was  able  to  continue  my  work  on  the  Encyclopaedia.  A  tragedy  hit  me 
on  die  eve  of  the  release  of  this  volume.  My  beloved  wife,  Railash  Kaur,  who  had  waited  for  a 
long  time  for  the  consummation  of  my  life's  work  and  who  had  nursed  me  most  lovingly 
throughout  this  period,  passed  away  suddenly  on  12  November  1992,  leaving  me  utterly  forlorn 
and  shaken. 

I  must  record  here  my  gratitude  to  the  Punjabi  University  for  providing  me  with  the  necessary 
facilities  and  help.  Successive  vice-chancellors  after  Professor  Kirpal  Sihgh  Narahg,  namely,  Mrs. 
Inderjit  Kaur  Sandhu,  Dr  Amrik  Sihgh,  Dr  S.S.  Johl,  Dr  Bhagat  Sihgh  and  Dr  H.K  Manmohan 
Singh  nursed  the  project  with  all  their  heart,  and  treated  me  personally  with  much  courtesy  and 
affection.  Dr  H.K.  Manmohan  Singh  has  especially  been  alive  to  its  scholarly  needs  and  lam  very 


ix 


PREFACE 


happy  that  the  first  volume  is  being  issued  during  his  time.The  first  thing  the  newly  arrived  Pro- 
Vice-Chancellor,  Dr  J.S.  Puar,  did  upon  stepping  on  the  campus  was  graciously  to  call  upon  the 
ailing  editor-in-chief.  On  that  occasion  and  subsequently  he  had  many  a  positive  word  to  say 
about  the  Encyclopaedia  project.  I  need  scarcely  say  how  delighted  I  am  to  see  the  Encyclopaedia 
in  print.  I  trust  it  will  fulfil  the  hopes  with  which  it  was  launched  and  help  fertilize  Sikh  learning. 
I  feel  especially  gratified  fulfilling  the  promise  I  made  to  the  academic  fraternity  several  years 
ago.  To  my  colleagues  I  render  my  heart-felt  affectionate  thanks  for  the  solid  manner  in  which 
they  stood  by  me,  through  thick  and  thin.  Dr  Hazara  Singh,  Head,  Publication  Bureau,  who  has 
earned  wide  acclaim  for  himself  in  this  part  of  the  country  by  his  contribution  to  the  art  of 
printing,  had  reserved  his  special  love  for  this  publication.  I  must  thank  him  for  the  attention 
and  care  he  gave  it.  I  must  not  omit  the  name  of  Santosh  Kumar,  my  P.A.,  who  very  cheerfully 
gave  this  work  many  of  his  Sundays  and  holidays  especially  after  I  had  been  struck  down  and 
spent  many  a  long  hour  when  taking  down  notes  trying  to  come  to  terms  with  my  speech  somewhat 
lisped  by  the  malady.  I  thank  him  and  all  the  rest  of  my  colleagues  for  bearing  with  me  so 
sportingly. 

A-l ,  Punjabi  University  HARBANS  SINGH 

Patiala  Editor-in-Chief 
12  December  1992 


X 


TRANSCRIPTION/PRONUNCIATION  KEY  FOR  NON-ENGLISH  WORDS/PHRASES 


Certain  names  and  terms  have  been  used  in  the  text  in  their  original  Punjabi  form.  In 
order  to  facilitate  their  correct  pronunciation,  the  following  key  has  been  used  while  transcribing 
the  original  into  the  Roman  script:  


Punjabi  phonemes 
(Gurmukhi  script) 

Hindi/Sanskrit 
phonemes 
(Devanagari  script) 
Letter/Vowel  symbol 

Urdu/Persian 
Arabic  phonemes 
(Persian  script) 
Letter/Vowel  symbol 

Roman  script 
equivalents 

rn 

3T 

1 

✓ 

Vyfl  T 

■arr  T 

r 

a 

TH  T 

^  1 

i 

Hi  1 

S  T 

T 

l 

A- 

— T 

f 

>> 

u 

ft 
1 

r 

u 

s 

e 

ai 

3TT  T 

3\ 

o 

<HT  T 

3! 

3 

au 

H 

TT 

M 

%• 

U 

u 
n 

ef 

w 

K 

tf 

Kn 

■3T 

g 

Uf 

/ 

gh 

h 

ch  or  c  (1) 

s 

A 

chh  or  ch  (1) 

TT 

J 

3T 

4 

jh 

h 

? 

j_ 

t 

5 

3 

J 

di 

B 
J 

d 

J» 

dh 

xi 


TRANSCRIFriON/PRONUNCIATTON  KEV 


Punjabi  phonemes 
(Gurmukhi  script) 

Hindi/Sanskrit 
phonemes 
(Devanagari  script) 
I  jpttpr /Vowel  svmbol 

Urdu/Persian 
Arabic  phonemes 
(Persian  script) 
Letter/Vowel  symbol 

Roman  script 
equivalents 

m 

n 

3 

?r 

L  •+ 
P              (  JZ> 

t 

ft 

Ul 

> 

j 
u 

TT 

«T 

J*  ' 

rih 
till 

7> 

T 

c 

n 

U 

T 

P 

'S 

ph 

3T 

D 

on 

H 

TT 

1 

m 

cr 

y 

3 

r 

CI 

A 
0 

i 
i 

? 

• 

v,  w(2) 

J 

r(3) 

t> 

rn 

.  2 
U 

sn,  s 

w 

y 
C 

kh 

& 

go 

tT 

z 

5" 

r 
I 

r  (4) 

*r 

§  (4) 

ST 

ks 

tr 

jn,  gi,  gy  (5) 

'followed  by  vowe 

t 

symbol 

q 

xii 


TRANSCRIPTION/PRONUNCIATION  KEY 


Nasalization 

(i)  li  preceding  H,  U,      tf,  cTT,  W,  5,  GT,  H 

(ii)  n  preceding     3,  rf,  9,  ? 

(iii)  n  preceding  Z,  5,  ¥,  ^,  5 

(iv)  n  preceding  3,  3,  t?,  U,  ?> 

(v)  m  preceding  U,  ^,  eT,  3r,  H 

(1 )  Normally  ch  represents  the  sound  'ff,  or  25  and  chh  has  been  used  for  the  heavier  phoneme  5,  fiord;  but  in 
exceptional  cases  while  transliterating  Sanskrit  terms  or  texts,  c  and  ch  have  been  used  tor  the  two  sounds,  respectively. 

(2)  Normally  v  has  been  used  to  represent  Punjabi  ?  or  Hindi  3  and  w  to  represent  >  of  Persian  scripts  in  words  of 
Persio-Arabic  origin  such  as  kotwal,  /ativa,  etc.  There  are,  however,  exceptions,  as  in  the  case  of  divan  (religious 
assembly  or  congregation)  and  diwatr  (title  or  institutional  designation)  or  Goindval  (place  name  in  India)  and 
Gujrariwala  or  Peshawar  (place  names  in  Pakistan).  W  has  also  been  used  in  certain  personal  names  where  the 
individuals  concerned  are  known  to  have  used  it  when  spelling  their  own  names.  For  instance,  Balwant  Singh, 
Jawaharlal,  Tiwana,  etc. 

(3)  In  spelling  some  place  names,  d  has  been  used  for  3  to  follow  prevalent  usage,  e.g.  Nanded  andjinvada.  There 
may  be  found  some  other  instances  where  current  usage  has  been  preserved,  as  in  Scindia,  Gwalior,  Lucknow  or 
Phagwara. 

(4)  Use  of  r  and  s  has  been  made  sparingly  in  Sanskrit  names  and  texts  only.  At  other  places  ri  and  sh  has  been  used  to 
transliterate  n  and  ^,  respectively.  Examples  are  (Lord)  Krsna  and  (Guru  Har)  Krishan. 

(5)  jn  for  ?Tis  used  only  in  spelling  5TFT  (jnan)  and  its  derivatives  in  Sanskrit  or  classical  context.  Elsewhere  gyor  gi  has 

been  used  as  inGyan  or,  more  often,  Gian. 

USE  OF  ITALICS  AND  DIACRITICS 

All  non-English  words,  phrases  and  texts  are  printed  in  italics  with  diacritical  marks  as 
indicated  in  the  transcription  key.  There  is,  however,  an  exception.  Under  'Bibliography'  diacritics 
are  used  only  where  works  cited  are  in  Indian  languages  or  in  Persian.  In  the  case  of  works  in  English 
or  other  European  languages,  diacritics  have  not  been  used  even  for  the  names  of  the  audiors  though 
they  be  Indian.  Italics  and  diacritics  have  also  been  used  in  names  of  countries  and  of  languages. 

DATES 

Dates  are  generally  given  in  the  Christian  era.  Where,  however,  Bikrami  or  Hijri  dates  are  cited 
in  the  original  sources,  ihey  have  also  been  made  use  of  along  with  corresponding  Christian  era  dates. 

ABBREVIATIONS 


AD 

Anno  Domini  (Christian  era) 

AH 

Hijri  era 

b. 

born  in 

BC 

Before  Christ 

Bk 

Bikrami  era 

c. 

circa 

d. 

died  in 

e.g. 

for  example 

f./ff. 

folio/folios 

GG 

Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib 

i.e. 

that  is 

km 

kilometre  (s) 

lit. 

literally 

MS./MSS. 

manuscript/manuscripts 

p./pp. 

page/ paiges 

Skt. 

Sanskrit 

xiii 


CONTRIBUTORS 


A.C.A. 

AC.  Arora 

A.C.B. 

A.C.  Banerjee 

A.S. 

Amrik  Singh 

A.S.S. 

Ajit  Singh  Sarhadi 

Ad.  S. 

Ardaman  Singh 

Aj.  S. 

Ajmer  Singh 

Aj.  S.L. 

Ajmer  Singh,  Lohgarh 

Ajn.  S. 

Arjan  Singh 

Ar.  S.S. 

Autar  Singh  Sandhu 

At.  S. 

Atam  Singh 

Atj.  S. 

Atamjit  Singh 

Atr.  S. 

Attar  Singh 

BJ.H. 

B.J.  Hasrat 

BJ.S. 

Braham  Jagdish  Singh 

BJd.S. 

Bhai  Jodh  Singh 

B.O. 

B.  Ohn 

B.R. 

Barbara  Ramusack 

B.R.N. 

Baldev  Raj  Nayar 

B.S. 

Bhagat  Singh 

B.S.A 

Balwant  Singh  Anand 

B.S.D. 

Balbir  Singh  Dil 

B.SJ. 

Bhagat  Singh,  Sessions  Judge 

B.S.N. 

B.S.  Nijjar 

B.S.V. 

Ralhir  Sincrh  Vivoofi 

Bb.S.N. 

Balbir  Singh  Nanda 

Bh.  K.S. 

Bhai  Kirpal  Singh 

Bh.S. 

Bhag  Singh 

Bk.  S. 

Balkar  Singh 

Rl  S 

Bl.  S.C. 

Balbir  Sirigh,  Chandigarh 

Bn.  S. 

Bhan  Singh 

C.H.L. 

C.H.  Loehlin 

C.L.D. 

C.L.  Datta 

C.O.M. 

Clarence  O.  McMullen 

C.S.G. 

Charan  Singh  Gill 

D.C.S. 

David  C.  Scott 

D.G.D. 

Donald  G.  Dawe 

D.K.B. 

Dilip  K.  Biswas 

D.K.G. 

Dharmendra  Kumar  Gupta 

xiv 


CONTRIBUTORS 


D.L.D. 

D.I..  Dewan 

D.P.A. 

Dhanun  Pal  Ash  fa 

D.P.S. 

Dharam  Pal  Singhal 

D.S. 

Dharam  Singh 

D.S.B. 

Diwan  Singh  Bhalla 

D.S.M. 

Darshan  Singh  Main! 

n.s.u. 

Dalip  Siiigh  LJppal 

D.S.V. 

D.S.  Vidyfirtlil 

Db.  S. 

Dilbir  Singh 

E.C.B. 

Emily  C.  Brown 

E.K.M. 

Elhnc  K.  Marenco 

E.N.M.R. 

E.N.  Mahgat  Rai 

ES. 

Fauia  Singh 

F.S.A, 

ES.  Aijazucklhi 

C.A.H. 

GiTakl  A.  Heeger 

G.B.S. 

Giani  Balwam  Singh 

G.GlS. 

Giani  Garja  Singh 

G.K.. 

Gnninclar  Kaur 

G.N.R. 

G.N.  Rajgurii 

G.R.S. 

Gur  Rattan  Pal  Singh 

G.R.T. 

G.R.  Thursby 

G.S. 

Gandii  Singh 

G.S.A. 

Gnrcharan  Singh  Anand 

G.S.B. 

Gurdip  Singh  Bhandari 

G.S.  Ch. 

G.S.  Chhabra 

G.S.D. 

Gurdev  Singh  Deol 

G.S.  Dh. 

Gnrdial  Singh  Dhilloii 

G.S.G. 

Gnrcharan  Siiigh  Giani 

G.S.K. 

Gnrdial  Singh  Khosla 

G.S.M. 

Gurbachan  Singh  Mahgat 

G.S.  Mr. 

Giirinukh  Singh  Musafir 

G.S.  Ms. 

G.S.  Mansukhani 

G.S.N. 

G.S.  Nayyar 

G.S.P. 

GurdisU  Singh  Phul 

G.S.R. 

(~»nt*nin  Sinp"li  "Ran  fill  awn 

G.S.T. 

Gurbachan  Singh  Talib 

G.S.Z. 

Gnrcharan  Singh,  Zira 

gi>.  S. 

"Gurbax  Siiigh 

Gbch.  S. 

Gnrbachan  Siiigh 

Gbch.  S.G. 

Gurbachan  Singh  Giani 

Gbb.  S. 

Gurbhagat  Siiigh 

XV 


CONTRIBUTORS 


Gch.  S. 

Gurcharan  Singh 

Gd.  S. 

Gurdarshan  Singh 

Gd.  S.K. 

Gurudharm  Singh  Khalsa 

Gdl.  S. 

Gurdial  Singh 

Gdt.  S. 

Gurdit  Singh 

Gl.S. 

Gulcharan  Singh 

Gm.  S. 

Gurmukh  Singh 

Gmt.  S. 

Gurmeet  Singh 

Gn.S. 

Gurnek  Singh 

Gp.  S.D. 

Gurdip  Singh  Dip 

Gr.  S. 

Gurdev  Singh 

Gs.  S. 

Gursewak  Singh 

Gsh.  S. 

Gursharan  Singh 

Gt.  S. 

Gurtej  Singh 

H.B. 

Himadri  Banerjee 

H.D. 

Hameed  ud-Din 

H.Js. 

Hari  Jaisirigh 

H.K.K. 

H.  Kumar  Kaul 

H.K.M.S. 

H.K.  Manmohan  Singh 

H.K.P. 

Harish  K.  Puri 

H.L. 

Bhai  Harbahs  Lai 

H.M. 

Harii  Malik 

H.R.G. 

Hari  Ram  Gupta 

H.S.B. 

Harbans  Singh  Brar 

H.S.D. 

Harjinder  Singh  Dilgeer 

H.S.D1. 

Harbhajan  Singh  Deol 

H.S.G. 

Harjit  Singh  Gill 

H.S.S. 

Harnam  Singh  Shan 

H.S.V. 

Hardev  Siheh  Virk 

Hch.S. 

Harrliaran  Sinch 

Hj.S. 

Harjot  Singh 

Hk.S. 

Harkirat  Singh 

Hm.  S. 

Harmandar  Singh 

Hn.S. 

Harnam  Singh 

Hr.  B. 

Hardev  Bahri 

Hr.S. 

Hari  Siiigh 

I.C, 

Ian  Copland 

IJ.K. 

Ian  J.  Kerr 

Iq.  S. 

Iqbal  Singh 

J.B.G. 

Jai  Bhagwan  Goel 

J.B.S. 

Jang  Bahadur  Singh 

xvi 


CONTRIBUTORS 


J.C.B.W. 

John  C.B.  Webster 

J.K. 

Jilinder  Kaur 

J.M.L. 

J.M.  Laf'ont 

JR 

Jeffrey  Perrill 

T.P.S.U. 

J 

J. PS.  Uberoi 

Joyce  Pettigrew 

I.R.G. 

J 

lau  Ram  Gupta 
j  i 

J.S.A. 

Jagjit  Singh  Anand 

J.S.C. 

huriit  Singh,  Chandigarh 

Ys.c. 

J 

f.S.  Grewal 

J-SJ- 

Jaswant  Singh  J  as 

j.S.K. 

J.S.  Khurana 

J.S.N. 

Jaswant  Singh  Neki 

J.S.S. 

Jit  Singh  Sital 

Jb.S.A. 

Jasbii"  Singh  Ahluwalia 

Jd.S. 

Jodh  Singh 

Jd.  S.j. 

]odh  Singh,  Jalandhar 

Jd.  S.S. 

lasdev  Singh  Sandhu 

Jg.S. 

lagjit  Singh 

Jg.S.R. 

Jagjit  Singh,  Ropar 

In.  S. 

J 

lanak  Singh 

K.A.N. 

K.A.  Nizanri 

K.C.G. 

K.C.  Gulati 

K.J.S. 

K.  Jagjit  Singh 

K.K.B. 

Krishna  Kumari  Baiisal 

K.L.S. 

Krishan  Lai  Sharnia 

K.L.T. 

K.L.  Tuteja 

K.M. 

Kanilesh  Mohan 

K.R.S. 

K.R,  Srinivasa  lycnger 

K.S. 

KJiusliwant  Singh 

K.S.D. 

KiildiD  Sii'icli  I")l)ir 

U    L^f  11  LCll     A  V  A  S.  1 1 

K.S.Dd. 

Kainail  Singh  Doad 

K.S.  DI. 

Kartar  Singh  Dnggal 

K.S.K. 

K.S.  Karig 

K.S.M. 

K.S.  Malhi 

K.S.S. 

Karnial  Singh  Sandhu 

K.S.T. 

K.S.  Thapar 

K  S  V 
rv.o.  v . 

ll.l  11  Y>  ( 1 1 1  l  Ollltill    V  11  t*. 

K.S.  TI. 

K.S.  Talwar 

K.T.I. 

K.T.  Lalwani 

K.W.J. 

Kenneth  W.Jones 

Kj,  S. 

Kill  raj  Singh 

Kn.  S. 

Kishan  Siiigh 

xvii 


CONTRIBUTORS 


Kr.  S. 

Kirpal  Singh 

Kt.  S. 

Kartar  Singh 

T  C 

IjttCI III ld.Il   OIlClId.1  dill 

T  FT?  W 

Ij.X  -IV.  vv. 

1-i.r.  iVUMlLfl UUK  VVlllldllla 

I  M  I 

l_,.iVl.J. 

i_j.ivi. 

M.A.S. 

Maharaja  Amarinder  Singh 

M.G.S. 

Major  Gurmukh  Singh  (Retd) 

M.J. 

Mark  Juergensmeyer 

M.j.C. 

Marie  Joy  Curtiss 

M.J.L. 

Murray  J.  Leaf 

M.K. 

Madanjit  Kaur 

M.L.A. 

M.L.  Ahluwalia 

M.L.J. 

Moti  Lai  Jotwani 

M.P.K. 

M.P.  Kohli 

M.R.A. 

Mulk  Raj  Anand 

M.S. 

Mohinder  Singh 

M.S.A. 

M.S.  Ahluwalia 

M.S.G. 

Mohftider  Singh  Gill 

M.S.M. 

Manohar  Singh  Marco 

M.S.N. 

Man  Singh  Niraiikari 

Mb.  S. 

Mubarak  Singh 

Md.A. 

Mohammad  Aslam 

Mg.  S. 

Mrigendra  Singh 

Ml.  S. 

Milkha  Singh 

Mm.S. 

Manmohan  Sehgal 

Mn.  S. 

Manmohan  Singh 

Mn.  S.G. 

Manohar  Singh  Gill 

Mp.  S. 

Maheep  Singh 

Mt.  S. 

Mehtab  Singh 

Mv.  S. 

Mehervan  Singh,  Singapore 

M.Y.S. 

Maharaja  Yadavinder  Singh 

N.G.B. 

N.G.  Barrier 

N.I.S. 

N.  Iqbal  Singh 

N.Q.K. 

Noel  Q.  King 

N.S.A. 

Nirvair  Singh  Arshi 

N.S.G. 

Naunihal  Siiigh  Giani 

N.S.S. 

N.S.  Sodhi 

N.S.Sa 

Nirahjan  Singh  Sathi 

Nj.  S. 

Nirahjan  Singh 

Np.  S. 

Nripinder  Singh 

xviii 


CONTRIBUTORS 


Npl.  S. 

Narinderpal  Singh 

Nr.  S. 

Narain  Singh 

Nz.  S. 

Nazer  Singh 

P.B.C. 

Paul  B.  Courtright 

P.M. 

Penderal  Moon 

P.M.W. 

P.M.  Wylam 

P.  Me. 

P.  Machwe 

PS. 

Piar  Singh 

P.S.G. 

Pratap  Singh  Giam 

PS.  GI. 

Pritam  Singh  Gill 

PSJ. 

Parkash  Siiigh  Jammu 

P.S.P. 

Piara  Singh  Padam 

P.S.S. 

Piara  Si  rich  Samhhi 

A   l CK±  t\   k—Jll  ICll    KJ cm  A  Mill 

PS.  Sf. 

Pritam  Siiigh  Saifeer 

Pel.  S. 

Parduman  Singh 

Pr.  S.G. 

Partap  Singh  Gill 

Pk.  S. 

Parkash  Singh 

R.K 

Rachhpal  Kaur 

R.R. 

Raja  Ram 

R.R.J. 

Royal  Roseberry,  J. 

R.S. 

Ranbir  Singh 

R.S.D. 

R.S.  Dutta 

R.S.J. 

Rattan  Siiigh  Jaggi 

R.S.,  Q.E. 

Raiindfr  Sirich  OanmT  Rkta 

R.S.T. 

Ram  Singh  Tomar 

RJ.  S. 

Rajinder  Siiigh 

Rm.  S. 

Ram  Singh 

Rv.  S. 

Ravinder  Singh 

S.H.A. 

Syed  Hasan  Askari 

S.K.B. 

S.K.  Bajaj 

S.KK. 

Satish  K.  Kapoor 

S.L. 

Spencer  Lavan 

S.M. 

Swarnjit  Mehta 

S.M.R. 

Satya  M.  Rai 

S.PK. 

Sardarni  Premka  Kaur 

S.PS. 

S.P.  Siiigh 

S.R.B. 

Sita  Ram  Bahri 

S.R.S. 

Sri  Ram  Sharma 

S.S.A. 

Shamsher  Singh  Ashok 

S.S.  Am. 

Sarmukh  Singh  Amole 

S.S.B. 

Sardar  Singh  Bhatia 

.xix 


CONTRIBUTORS 


S.S.BI. 

S.S.  Bal 

S.S.  Bt. 

S.S.  BhattI 

s.s.c. 

Sukhdov  Singh  Charak 

S.S.I). 

Snrjil  Singh  Dulai 

S.S.G. 

Surjii  Siiigh  Gandhi 

S.S.J. 

Solum  Singh  Josh 

S.S.K. 

Surindar  Singh  Kohli 

s.s.s. 

Sain  Singh  Sekhoii 

S.S.Sr. 

Slier  Siiigh  Sher 

s.s.u. 

Swinder  Siiigh  Uppal 

S.S.V.B. 

S.S.  Vaiijara  Bedi 

s.s.w. 

Surain  Siiigh  Wilkhu 

Sb.  S. 

Saiblr  Siiigh 

Sb.  S.S. 

Sahib  Singh  Sethi 

Sd.  S. 

Sudaishan  Siiigh 

Shn.  S. 

Sliivnaubh  Siiigh 

Sin.  S. 

Shainshcr  Siiigh 

Sn.  S. 

Solum  Siiigh 

Sp.  S. 

Sariip  Siiigh 

Sw.  S. 

Sarvvan  Siiigh 

Sy.S. 

Satyindra  Singh,  ASVM  (Retd) 

T.H. 

Tt't'iia  Hazooria 

T.S. 

Taran  Siiigh 

T.S.B. 

Trilochan  Siiigh  Bed! 

T.S.R. 

T.S.  Raju 

Tl.  S. 

Tarlochan  Siiigh 

U.S. 

ujagai  omgii 

V.N.D. 

V.N.  Datta 

V.P. 

Ved  Prakash 

V.S.S. 

V.S.  Suri 

W.H.M. 

W.II.  McLeod 

w.o.c. 

W  Owen  Cole 

W.S. 

Wazir  Siiigh 

Wr.  S. 

Waryain  Singh 

Y.F. 

Yohanan  Friedmann 

Z.H.F. 

Z.H.  Faiuqui 

Z.S. 

Zail  Siiigh 

XX 


s 


SABHAGA,  BHAI,  Bhai  Setha  and  Bhai 
Ugvanda,  Aroiis  of  the  Chuniah,  now  in 
Pakistan,  spent  long  hours  in  meditation  and 
served  Sikhs  with  food  and  clothing.  Once,  as 
records  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur  Pratap 
Suraj  Granth,  they  presented  themselves  before 
Guru  Arjan  and  asked  whether  food  distributed 
here  in  dedication  to  the  bygone  ancestors 
reached  the  dead.  The  Guru  quoted  Guru 
Nanak's  lines:  "Nanak,  one  will  receive  in.  the 
hereafter  as  one  lays  out  for  others  from  what 
is  earned  by  one's  own  hard  labour  here."  Their 
doubts  cleared,  Sabhaga  and  his  companions 
returned  home  enlightened,  and  continued  to 
serve  the  sangat  with  faith  and  devotion. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SABHAGA,  BHAI,  Guru  Hargobind's  devoted 
disciple  who  plied  a  prosperous  trade  in  the 
western  parts.  He  once  arrived  with  an  offering 
of  five  well-bred  and  costly  horses.  Guru 
Hargobind,  then  at  Ruhela,  the  scene  of  one 
of  the  armed  engagements  of  his  time,  was 
pleased  with  the  gift.  He  selected  one  for  hintiself 
and  distributed  three  immediately,  one  each  to 
Baba  Gurditta,  Painda  Khan  and  Bhai  Bidhi 
Chand.  The  fifth  horse,  retained  in  the  stable, 
was  later  bestowed  upon  Bhai  Gupala  as  a 
reward  for  correctly  reciting  the  Japu. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1   Gurbilas  Patshahi  Chhevhi.  Patiala,  1970 


2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Satibir  Si4igh,  Gur  Bhari  —  Jivani  Guru 
Hargobind  Ji.  PaLiala,  1970 

B.S. 

SACHCHAN  SACHCH,  a  simple  Brahman  so 
nicknamed  for  his  habit  of  responding  with 
"sachch,  sachch  (true,  true)"  to  anything  said 
to  him,  was  a  devoted  Sikh  of  the  dme  of  Guru 
Amar  Das.  Leaving  his  native  village,  Mandar, 
now  in  Sheikhupura  district  of  Pakistan  he 
came  to  stay  at  Goindval.  One  day,  as  says  Sarup 
Das  Bhalla,  Mahima  Prakash,  he  was  wildly 
attacked  by  an  insane  woman  roaming  naked 
in  the  forest  where  he  was  collecting  firewood 
for  Guru  ka  Lahgar.  Sachchan  Sachch  related 
the  incident  to  Guru  Amar  Das,  who  gave  him 
one  of  his  slippers  and  told  him  to  touch  the 
woman  with  it  when  he  came  across  her  next. 
He  did  what  he  was  bidden  to  do.  The  woman 
was  instandy  cured  of  her  insanity.  She  told 
Sachchan  Sachch  that  she  had  formerly  been 
the  wife  of  a  hill  chief  and  had  gone  insane 
under  a  curse.  Sachchan  Sachch  gave  her  half 
of  his  blanket,  to  cover  her  naked  body,  and 
escorted  her  to  the  presence  of  Guru  Amar  Das. 
The  Guru  married  her  to  Sachchan  Sachch 
and,  blessing  the  couple,  appointed  the 
husband  head  of  a  mahji,  or  preaching  district, 
covering  the  area  around  his  native  village. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das.  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Sural 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 


SACHCHA  SAUDA,  GURDWARA 


2 


SADA  KAUR,  SARDARNl 


4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion:  Us 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

B.S.D. 

SACHCHA  SAUDA,  GURDWARA,  at 
Chuharkana  in  Sheikhupura  district  of  Pakistan, 
celebrates  a  popularly  told  event  from  the  life 
of  Guru  Nanak.  According  to  Bhai  Bala  Janam 
Sakhi,  Guru  Nanak's  father,  Baba  Kalu,  to  settle 
his  son  in  a  permanent  vocation  once  gave  him 
a  sum  of  twenty  rupees  and  asked  him  to  go  to 
the  nearest  market  to  purchase  merchandise 
which  could  be  sold  at  a  profit,  and  thus  strike 
a  good  (khara  or  sachcha.cm  Punjabi)  bargain 
(sauda,  in  Punjabi).  As  says  the  Janam  Sakhi, 
Bhai  Bala  was  sent  from  the  village  to 
accompany  him.  As  the  two  of  them  were 
passing  through  a  forest,  they  fell  in  with  a  large 
party  of  bare-skinned  ascetics  in  different 
postures  of  penance.  Guru  Nanak  tarried  to 
converse  with  them  and  asked  their  chief, 
"Why,  Sir,  don't  you  wear  any  clothes?  Don't 
you  have  any  or  are  they  displeasing  to  you?" 
"We  are  Nirbanis.  It  only  benefits  us  to  abstain 
from  clothes...  we  eat,  young  lad,  only  when 
the  Lord  sends,"  was,  as  reports  the  Janam 
Sakhi,  the  answer  he  received.  Nanak 
discovered  that  the  sadhus  had  been  without 
food  for  several  days.  Overruling  Bhai  Bala's 
counsel,  he  spent  all  the  money  his  father  had 
given  him  feeding  the  hungry  men,  and 
returned  to  Talvandi.  When  his  father 
admonished  him  for  squandering  his  hard- 
earned  cash-,  Nanak  only  said  that  that  was  the 
best  bargain  he  could  have  made.  Many  years 
later,  devotees  built  at  the  village  of 
Chuharkana  close  to  where  Guru  Nanak  had 
fed  the  ascetics  a  simple  shrine  which  in  due 
course  became  a  popular  pilgrim  site  attracting 
visitors  from  far  and  near.  Land  endowment  of 
over  100  acres  was  made  to  it  during  Sikh  rule. 
The  Gurdwara  formerly  administered  by  Udasi 
priests  was  occupied  by  Jathedar  Kartar  Singh 
Jhabbar  on  behalf  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  on  30  December  1920. 


At  the  time  of  its  evacuation  in  the  wake  of  the 
partition  of  the  country  in  1947,  it  had  a  huge 
fortress-like,  three-storeyed  building  with 
domed  towers.  The  shrine  is  now  under  the 
management  of  the  Waqf  Board  of  Pakistan. 
Its  building  was  renovated  during  1993-94,  and 
it  was  opened  to  visit  by  organized  Sikh  jathas 
with  the  approval  of  Pakistan  government. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduariiri.  Ainritsar,  n.d. 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Ainritsar,  1923 

4.  Narain  Singh,  Akali  Morche  te Jhabbar.  Delhi,  1967 

5.  Kirpal  Singh,  Janam  Sakhi  Parampara.  Patiala, 
1969 

6.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

SADA  KAUR,  SARDARNl  (1762-1832), 
daughter  of  Dasaundha  Singh  Gill,  was  married 
to  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  son  of  Jai  Singh,  leader 
of  the  Kanhaiya  clan.  As  the  menace  of  Ahmad 
Shah  Durrani's  incursions  receded,  conflicts 
broke  out  among  the  Sikh  misl  chiefs.  Mahah 
Singh  Sukkarchakkia,  helped  byjassa  Singh 
Ramgarhla  and  Sahsar  Chand  Katoch,  attacked 
Jai  Singh  in  1785.  A  fierce  battle  took  place  at 
Achal,  about  6  km  south  of  Batala,  which  was 
the  seat  of  the  Kanhaiya's.  Jai  Singh  was 
defeated  and  his  son,  Gurbakhsh  Singh, 
husband  of  Sada  Kaur,  was  killed.  The 
bereaved,  yet  farsighted,  widowed  Sada  Kaur, 
persuaded  her  father-in-law,  Jai  Singh,  to  offer 
the  hand  of  her  only  daughter,  Mahitab  Kaur, 
to  Ranjit  Singh,  the  five-year  old  son  of  Mahah 
Singh  Sukkarchakkia.  The  marriage  came  off 
in  1796.  Sada  Kaur  accompanied  her  daughter 
to  Gujrariwala  after  the  nuptials.  She  became 
one  of  the  members  of  the  triune  regency  for 
young  Ranjit  Singh  who  had  succeeded  to  the 
leadership  of  the  Sukkarchakklas  upon  the 
death  of  his  father  in  1792.  The  other  two 


SADA  KAUR,  SARDARNI 


3 


SADDA  SINGH 


members  were  Mai  Raj  Kaur  (popularly  known 
as  Mai  Malvain),  mother  of  Ranjit  Singh,  and 
Diwan  Lakhpat  Rai,  his  minister.  Mai  Malvain 
and  Lakhpat  Rai  were  removed  from  the  scene 
by  death,  the  latter  having  been  killed  in  an 
expedition  against  the  warlike  Chatthas.  Sada 
Kaur  was  now  the  only  one  of  the  triumvirate 
left  to  guide  and  counsel  Ranjit  Singh.  Being 
by  now  head  of  the  Kanhaiya  misl,  she  provided 
him  with  material  help  as  well.  She  helped  him 
to  occupy  Lahore  defeating  the  Bhahgi  chiefs, 
Mohar  Singh,  Sahib  Singh  and  Chet  Singh, 
from  whose  misrule  the  citizens  had  sought  the 
Sukkarchakkia  Sardar  to  rescue  them.  Lahore 
fell  to  the  joint  command  of  Ranjit  Singh  and 
Sada  Kaur  on  7  July  1799.  Supported  by  his 
mother-in-law,  Ranjit  Singh  made  further 
acquisitions  and  assumed  the  title  of  Maharaja 
on  11  April  1801.  In  the  campaigns  of  Amri tsar, 
Chiniot,  Kasur  and  Kahgra  as  well  as  in  his 
expeditions  against  the  turbulent  Pathans  of 
Hazara  and  Attock,  Sada  Kaur  led  the  armies 
side  by  side  with  Ranjit  Singh.  But  both  were 
strong  personalities  and  mutual  clashes  began 
to  occur.  The  marriage  of  Sada  Kaur's  daughter 
to  Ranjit  Singh  did  not  prove  a  happy  one. 
Mahitab  Kaur's  first  son,  Ishar  Singh,  died  in 
infancy.  On  his  return  from  the  cis-Sutlej 
campaign  in  1807,  Ranjit  Singh  was  presented 
by  Sada  Kaur  with  twin  sons,  Sher  Singh  and 
Tara  Singh,  born  to  her  daughter,  Mahitab 
Kaur.  But  Ranjit  Singh  had  already  married  a 
second  time  and  the  son  born  to  this  union 
was  acknowledged  as  the  heir  apparent.  This 
soured  the  relations  between  the  mother-in- 
law  and  the  son-in-law.  Sada  Kaur  now  opened 
secret  negotiations  with  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe 
and  Sir  David  Ochterlony  to  secure  herself  the 
status  of  an  independent  Maharani.  She  further 
offended  the  Maharaja  by  not  attending  the 
heir  apparent's  marriage  in  1812.  She  did  not 
allow  even  her  grandsons,  Sher  Singh  and  Tara 
Singh,  to  join  the  ceremonies.  Ranjit  Singh 
started  making  inroads  into  the  Kanhaiya 
territory  lying  on  the  other  side  of  the  River 
Beas.  The  breaking  point  finally  came  when, 


on  Sher  Singh's  attaining  majority,  Ranjit  Singh 
insisted  that  Sada  Kaur  hand  over  the 
administration  of  her  estates  to  him.  Sada  Kaur 
refused  and  threatened  to  seek  the  protection 
of  the  British  in  die  cis-Sutlej  territory  and  hand 
over  to  them  the  town  of  Vadhni,  located  to 
the  south  of  Sudej  which  Ranjit  Singh  had 
conquered  and  transferred  to  her  in  1808.  The 
Maharaja  cajoled  Sada  Kaur  into  visiting 
Lahore,  where  she  was  kept  under  strict 
surveillance.  Once  she  managed  to  escape  in  a 
covered  litter,  but  was  detected  and  brought 
back.  Her  territory  was,  in  the  meantime, 
sequestered  and  the  wealth  of  the  Kanhaiyas 
lying  at  Atalgarh  (Mukeriah)  was  confiscated. 
Batala  was  granted  as  a  jiglr  to  Sher  Singh 
while  the  rest  of  Sada  Kaur's  estates  were  placed 
under  the  governorship  of  Sardar  Desa  Singh 
Majithia.  Sada  Kaur  died  in  confinement  in 
December  1832. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-  Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  SirLepel  H.,  Ranjit  Singh.  Oxford,  1905 

3.  Khushwamt  Singh,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol  I. 
Princeton,  1963 

Rj.S. 

SADDA  SINGH  was  the  son  of  Hazuri  Singh, 
an  Uppal  Khatri  owing  allegiance  to  the 
Karorsihghiia  misJ,  who  lived  at  Pahjgarh  in 
Amritsar  district.  Sadda  Singh,  whose  father  was 
the  first  in  the  family  to  receive  the  rites  of  the 
Khalsa,  took  up  military  service  under  Raja 
Amar  Singh  of  Patiala  in  1770,  receiving  as  his 
reward  a  quarter  share  in  48  of  the  villages  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Dhanaura,  in  Ambala 
district;  He  afterwards  conquered  seven  villages 
on  his  own  account  and  established  his 
headquarters  at  Dhanaura.  He  was  succeeded 
to  his  estates  by  his  nephew,  Sahib  Singh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Griffin,  Lepcl.  The.  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 

S.S.B. 


SADDA  SINGH,  PANDIT 


4 


SADHAR 


SADDA  SINGH,  PANDIT,  was  a  Nirmala 
scholar,  who  read  Sanskrit  with  Pandit  Chet 
Singh  of  Kashi.  He  attained  such  mastery  of 
Sanskrit  learning  that  his  teacher  made  over 
to  him  his  school  before  he  died.  The  Pandits 
of  Kashi  honoured  him  with  the  highest 
scholarly  rank  of  Dandipad,  after  he  had 
humbled  in  a  Sastrartha  or  debate  a  man  of 
acknowledged  authority  in  ancient  texts. 

Sadda  Singh  translated,  in  1767,  most 
famous,  but  abstruse,  Sanskrit  work  on  monism 
called  Advaita-Siddhi  into  Braj  Bhasha,  using 
the  Gurmukhi  script. 

He  gave  the  translated  version  the  tide  of 
Sugamsar  Chandrika.  This  book,  known  for  its 
grandeur  of  style,  is  an  answer  to,  and  a  critical 
evaluation  of  the  various  contemporary 
challenges  to  the  theory  of  monotheism  and 
non-plurality.  It  establishes  the  sovereignty  of 
bhakti.  Bhakti,  it  says,  is  both  a  means  and  an 
end  in  itself,  whereas  gian  is  only  a  means  and 
is  included  in  bhakti. 

Sadda  Singh  had  at  his  school  a  succession 
of  pupils  whom  he  trained  in  Vedic  learning. 
His  name  is  still  remembered  with  reverence 
among  men  of  learning  in  VaranasI  and  his 
portrait  still  hangs  in  Kashi  Sahgat,  the  school 
over  which  he  presided  with  distinction. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Dial  Singh,  Mahant,  Nirmal  Panth  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1953 

2.  Pritam  Singh,  ed.,  NirmalSampradaya.  Amritsar,  1981 

Gr.S. 

SADDHU,  BHAI,  resident  of  Lahore,  was  a 
devoted  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan. 
According  to  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur 
Pratap  Suraj  Granth,  the  Guru  was  putting  up 
with  him  at  his  residence  in  Lahore  when 
Chandu  Shah,  who  had  had  a  hand  in  the 
martyrdom  of  Guru  Arjan,  \iad  him 
apprehended  by  the  Mughal  authority. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 


Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

Gn.S. 

SADDO  and  his  brother  Maddu  were  rebeck- 
players  in  attendence  on  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
(1666-1708)  at  Anandpur.  They  performed 
kirtan  for  the  Guru. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

P.S.P. 

SADHAR,  village  in  Ludhiana  district,  20  km 
north  of  Raikot  (30"-39'N,  75°-37'E),  claims  a 
historical  shrine.Gurdwara  Sri  Guru  Hargobind 
Sahib  Patshahl  Chhevih  Guru  Sar,  popularly 
designated  Guru  Sar  Sadhar.  Guru  Hargobind 
made  a  brief  halt  here  during  one  of  his  tours 
of  Malva  country.  According  to  local  tradition, 
it  was  here  that  Rai  Jodh  of  Kahgar  village  met 
Guru  Hargobind,  though  there  are  some 
historical  accounts  which  place  this  meeting 
in  Bhai  Rupa.  Rai  Jodh  was  a  follower  of  Sakbj 
Sarwar,  but  his  wife  came  of  a  Sikh  family.  On 
her  persuasion,  he  came  to  call  on  the  Guru. 
Rai  Jodh  turned  a  devout  Sikh.  Likewise,  it  is 
believed  that  at  Sadhar  a  rich  horse  trader  from 
Kabul,  Karori  by  name,  met  Guru  Hargobind 
and  told  him  how  he  had  been  robbed  by  the 
Mughal  governor  at  Lahore  of  the  two  horses 
of  excellent  merit  and  beauty  he  was  bringing 
as  an  offering  for  him.  Bhai  Bidhi  Chand  later 
recovered  these  horses  one  by  one. 

The  construction  of  the  present  building 
at  Guru  Sar  Sadhar  commenced  in  March  1956 
and  was  completed  in  June  1962.  It  is  a 
rectangular  hall  enclosing  within  it  a  square 
prakash  asthan,  over  which  there  is  a  domed 
room.  Inside,  the  hall  has  a  gallery  at  mid- 
height.  The  small  sarovar,  Guru  Sar,  adjoining 
the  hall  was  reconstructed  in  1964.  The  Guru 
ka  Lahgar  and  residendal  suites  are  across  a 
paved  courtyard  to  the  right  as  one  enters.  On 
the  left  are  Khalsa  High  School  and  the  Khalsa 
College  of  Education.  The  Gurdwara  is 


SADHARAN,  BHAl 


5 


SADHARAN,  SANT 


managed  by  ShiromanI  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  through  a  local  committee. 

In  a  private  house  inside  Sadhar  village, 
pieces  of  a  pair  of  shoes  are  preserved  as  a  relic. 
It  is  said  that  Gum  Hargobind,  pleased  at  the 
devotion  of  one  Bhai  Javanda  who  went  about 
barefoot,  gave  him  a  pair  of  shoes.  Bhai 
Javanda,  however,  instead  of  putting  it  on 
placed  it  reverentially  on  his  head.  The  gift  was 
preserved  by  his  descendants  as  a  holy  relic  till 
someone  in  the  family  once  used  it.  The  elders, 
indignant  at  the  sacrilegious  act,  cut  the  shoes 
into  pieces  so  that  no  other  person  could  use 
them  again. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sahgrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

M.G.S. 

SADHARAN,  BHAI,  a  devoted  Sikh  of  the  time 
of  Guru  Nanak,  was  a  resident  of  Pakkhoke, 
near  Deri  Baba  Nanak.  According  to  Bhai 
Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth, 
in  serving  the  Guru,  Sadharan  was  next  only 
to  Guru  Afigad.  He  waited  on  Guru  Nanak 
during  the  latter's  last  days. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  MahimaPrakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa. 
[Reprint] .  Patiala,  1970 

Gn.S. 

SADHARAN,  BHAI,  was  a  pious  Sikh  of  the 
time  of  Guru  Arjan.  He  was  a  mason  by 
profession.  He  worked  with  dedication  raising 
the  Guru's  house  and  other  buildings  at 
Kartarpur,  a  town  in  Jalandhar  district  of  the 
Punjab  founded  by  Guru  Aijan  in  1593. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kahn  Singh,  Bhai,  GurusiiabadRatanakarMahan 
Kosh  [Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

M.G.S. 

SADHARAN  PATH  is  the  reading  of  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  from  beginning  to  end,  with  no 
time-limit  for  compledon.  Even  where  the  limit 
is  fixed  and  it  exceeds  a  week,  it  will  be  called  a 
sadharan  path,  two  other  terms  synonymously 
used  being  khulla  path  (khulla  =  unrestricted, 
not  fixed)  and  sahaj  path  (slow  reading).  A 
sadharan  path  may  be  undertaken  by  any 
individual  Sikh,  man  or  woman,  or  jointly  with 
other  members  of  the  family  as  part  of  personal 
piety  or  in  observance  of  a  special  occasion  or 
family,  event.  A  path!  or  reader  could  be 
engaged  from  outside  as  well.  One  may  read 
any  number  of  pages  on  a  single  day  and  the 
next  few  pages  the  next  day  or  even  at  a  longer 
interval.  Before  the  commencement  and,  after 
the  conclusion,  of  such  a  path,  a  simple  service 
of  holy  music,  ardas  (prayer)  and  distribution 
of  karah  prasad  (communion  food)  will 
ordinarily  be  observed.  The  custom  of 
performing  sadharan  path  by  reading  a  few 
successive  pages  of  the  Holy  Book  daily  as  a 
religious  duty  must  have  grown  after  copies  of 
the  Holy  Volume  compiled  in  1604  had  become 
available.  That  was,  perhaps,  the  only  type  of 
path  current  undl  the  Granth  was  pronounced 
Guru  by  Guru  Gobind  Singh  before  he  passed 
away  in  1708. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sikh  RahitMaryada  [Reprint].  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  Berkeley  Lectures  on  Sikhism. 
Delhi,  1983 

3.  Cole,  W.  Owen,  and  Piara  Singh  Sambhi,  The 
Sikhs:  Their  Religious  Practices  and  Beliefs. 
Delhi,  1978 

T.S. 

SADHARAN,  SANT,  was  the  name  given  by 
Guru  Araar  Das  to  one  of  his  devoted  Sikhs,  a 
carpenter  of  Goindval,  who  had  made  a  long 


SADHAURA 


6 


SADH,  15HA1 


wooden  ladder  for  use  in  the  baoli,  or  open 
well,  then  under  construction.  Pleased  with  his 
devotion  and  industry,  Guru  Amar  Das  called 
him  Sant  (saint)  Sadharan  (simple),  and 
bestowed  on  him  a  manji,  i.e.  priesthood  of  a 
diocese.  Sadharan  shifted  to  Bakala  (present 
Baba  Bakala  in  Amritsar  district),  where  he 
preached  Guru  Nanak's  word  and  where  his 
descendants  still  live.  They  have  a  small  shrine 
built  there  in  his  memory. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion:  Its  Gurus, 
Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

B.S.D. 

SADHAURA,  an  old  town  43  km  east  of  Ambala 
(30"-23'N,  76"-47'E)  in  Haryana,  has  a  place  in 
Sikh  piety,  being  the  seat  of  Sayyid  Shah  Ba°dr 
ud-DIn,  commonly  known  as  Pir  Buddhu  Shah, 
a  Muslim  saint  who  became  a  devotee  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  Pir  Buddhu  Shah  took  the  part 
of  the  Guru  in  the  battle  of  Bharigani  in  which 
two  of  his  sons  and  several  followers  laid  down 
their  lives.  While  stopping  over  at  Kapal 
Mochan  on  his  way  back  from  Paonta  to 
Anandpur  in  1688,  Guru  Gobind  Singh  visited 
the  Pir  at  Sadhaura.  The  Pir  was  later  executed 
by  the  local  faujdar,  Usman  Khan,  for  his  liberal 
views  and  for  the  help  given  by  him  to  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  Baba  Banda  Singh  Bahadur 
avenged  the  Pir's  death  when  he  invested 
Sadhaurn  in  1710.  The  fortress  was  completely 
demolished,  the  faujdar  was  hanged,  and  the 
town  was  plundered. 

A  shrine,  known  as  Gurdwara  Baba  Banda 
Bahadur  inside  the  ruined  fort,  crumbled  down 
and  a  new  Gurdwara  was  constructed  close  to 
the  fort  wall.  It  retains  its  old  name,  although 
two  variations-  Quila  Gurdwara  and  Gurdwara 
Qatalgarh—  are  also  current.  Another  gurdwara 
has  recendy  been  constructed  at  Sadhaura  in 
honour  of  Pir  Buddu  Shah.  Gurdwara  Pir 
Buddhu  Shah  is  looked  after  by  the  local  Singh 
Sabha,  whereas  Gurdwara  Baba  Banda  Bahadur 


is  managed  privately. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10.  Ed.  Shamsher 
Singh  Ashok.  Patiala,  1968 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

4.  Suri,  V.S.  and  Gurcharan  Singh,  Pir  Buddhu 
Shah.  Chandigarh,  1971 

5.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  I. 
Princeton,  1963 

M.G.S. 

SADH  BELA,  near  Sakkhar  in  the  Sindh 
province  of  Pakistan,  was  a  prominent 
preaching  centre  of  Udasi  Sikhs.  It  was 
establi^ied  in  1823  by  Bankhandi  (d.  1863),  a 
leading  figure  in  the  Mlhahshahl  order  of  the 
Udasls.  Sadh  Bela  still  attracts  Sahijdhari  Sikh 
devotees  in  large  numbers  living  in  Pakistan. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  Travels  of  Guru  Nanak. 
Chandigarh,  1969 

2.  Kahn  Singh,  Bhai,  GurushabadRatnalcarMahar) 
Kosh.  Patiala,  1981 

M.G.S. 

SADH,  BHAI,  devoted  disciple  of  Guru 
Hargobind  (1595-1644),  who  lived  near  the 
ancient  city  of  Balkh  in  central  Asia.  Zulfiqar 
Ardastani,  the  author  of  Dabistan-i-Mazahib, 
a  contemporary  work  in  Persian,  records  two 
anecdotes  which  show  that  Bhai  Sadh  was  a 
devoted  Sikh  who,  unaffected  by  joys  and 
sorrows  of  life,  rejoiced  in  serving  the  will  of 
the  Guru.  "Once  he,"  says  Zulfiqar  Ardastani, 
"set  out  upon  the  Guru's  order  from  Balkh  to 
Iraq  to  buy  horses.  He  had  a  grown-up  son  who 
fell  sick."  People  said,  "you  are  still  in  the  city 
of  Balkh,  only  a  stage  away  from  home.  Go  back 
and  see  your  son."  He  replied,  "If  he  dies,  there 
is  plenty  of  firewood  in  the  house.  You.  may 
cremate  him.  I  have  left  home  in  the  service  of 


SADHNA 


7 


SADHUJAN 


the  Guru.  I  will  not  go  back."  The  boy  passed 
away  but  the  father  did  not  return.  On  another 
occasion,  Ardastani  travelling  with  Bhai  Sadh 
from  Kabul  to  the  Punjab,  discovered  that  the 
belt  of  his  sheep-skin  had  snapped.  "Sadh 
instandy  took  off  his  zannar,  the  sacred  thread," 
he  writes,  "and  made  ajoint  there."  "What  have 
you  done?"  said  I.  He  replied,  "The  wearing  of 
the  sacred  thread  is  an  undertaking  of  service. 
Whenever  I  neglect  the  service  of  rny  guests 
and  friends,  I  become  a  non-wearer  of  it."  And 
he  quoted  a  verse:  "This  knotless  relation, 
though  slender  as  a  single  strand,  is  rosary  in  a 
cloister  and  a  zannar  in  a  temple." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
GandaSingh,  "Nanak  Panthis"  in  The Panjab Past 
and  Present.  Patiala,  April  1967 

B.S. 

SADHNA,  one  of  the  fifteen  saints  and  sufis 
whose  hymns  are  incorporated  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib,  was  a  qasai  or  butcher  by 
profession  who,  by  his  piety  and  devotion,  had 
gained  spiritual  eminence.  He  is  believed  to 
have  been  born  at  the  village  of  Sehvan,  in 
Sindh.  He  was  cremated  at  Sirhind,  in  the 
Punjab,  where  even  today  a  tomb  stands  in  his 
memory.  He  is  considered  to  be  a 
contemporary  of  Nam  Dev,  another  medieval 
saint.  Sadhna  lived  by  selling  meat,  though,  as 
it  is  asserted,  he  never  butchered  the  animals 
himself.  His  only  sabda  (hymn)  in  the  measure 
Bilaval,  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  indicates  his 
belief  that  all  evil  deeds  of  a  man  could  be 
washed  away  by  devoted  meditation  on.  the 
Name —  and  so  the  deeds  of  a  butcher: 

What  merit  have  you,  Enlightener  of  the  world, 
if  our  ill  deeds  are  not  effaced? 

What  avails  it  to  enter  the  asylum  of  the  lion, 
if  a  mere  jackal  will  be  allowed  to  devour  one? 
*  *  * 

I  am  nothing,  nor  is  anything  mine 

Save  my  honour,  O  lord,  I  am  your  slave  after  all. 

(GO.  858) 


Sadhna  worshipped  the  idol  of  saligram,  the 
ammonite  stone,  symbolising  god  Visnu  of  the 
Hindu  Trinity.  His  spiritual  quest  led  him  to 
renounce  the  household.  He  left  Sehvan  and 
roamed  about  the  country  preaching  the  love 
of  God.  None  of  his  holy  songs  have  survived 
except  the  solitary  hymn  preserved  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib,  which  keeps  his  memory  alive. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Gurdit  Singh,  Giani,  Itihas  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
(Bhagat  BaniBhag).  Chandigarh,  1990 

3.  Sahib  Singh,  Bhagat  Bani  Satik.  Amritsar,  1959- 
60 

4.  Chaturvedi,  Parshu  Ram.  Uttari  Bharat  ki  Sant 
Prampra.  Allahabad,  1964 

5.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion:  Its 
Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

T.S. 

SADHO  JAN,  a  Punjabi  poet  of  the  seventeenth 
century  who  wrote  verses  on  mythical  and 
spiritual  themes.  His  identity  is  not  clearly 
established.  While  Gurbilas  Chhevin  Patshahi 
(1718)  identifies  him  as  Bhai  Sadhu  who 
married  in  1629  Bibl  Viro,  daughter  of  Guru 
Hargobind,  Sarup  Das  Bhalla,  Mahima 
Prakash,  part  II,  describes  him  as  a  young  poet 
who  came  to  Guru  Arjan  with  Chhajju  Bhagat, 
Shah  Hussain  and  a  Bairagi  in  1603-04  with  the 
hope  of  having  their  compositions  included  in 
the  scripture  being  compiled  by  the  Guru.  The 
Guru  addressed  him  as  Sadhu  Jan  and  this  is 
how  he  came  to  be  known.  Whatever  the  case, 
Sadhu  Jan  was  a  prolific  poet,  with  a  good 
knowledge  of  musicology.  His  verses  in  chaste 
Punjabi  as  well  as  in  Hindi  and  Sadhukari  are 
in  several  prosodic  forms  and  in  over  30 
different  musical  measures.  Some  of  his  poems 
bear  tides  similar  to  those  of  Sikh  texts  such  as 
Japu,  Sukhmani,  Bavan  Akhari,  Varand  Salok. 
Other  known  titles  are  SalcMari  (136)  and 
Jhulane  ^6)-  Among  his  longer  works  are 
Mahabharata,  Prahilad  Charitra,  Dhru 
'Charitra,  Sudama  Charitra,  Ramayana, 


SADHU  SINGH  AKALI 


8 


SADHU  SINGH  HAMDARD 


2Sahahsarnama,  Gopi  Chand  and  Solan 
Sahelian. 

P.S.P. 

SADHU  SINGH  AKALI  (d.  1818),  known  for 
his  daring  exploits  during  the  final  Sikh  assault 
on  Multan  under  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  in 
1818.  On  2  June  when  the  fort  wall  was 
breached  by  cannonading,  Akali  Sadhu  Singh 
accompanied  by  a  few  of  his  companions  rushed 
through  the  breach  and  closed  in  on  the 
Afghan  defenders.  The  old  Nawab  and  his  sons 
donned  the  green  garb  and  with  drawn  swords 
"came  out  to  answer  the  call  of  the  angel  of 
death."  Nawab  Muzaffar  Khan,  his  two  sons  and 
a  nephew  were  killed  and  so  were  Sadhu  Singh 
and  his  men.  But  the  citadel  was  captured  by 
the  Sikhs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,  Life  and  Times  of  Ranjit 
Singh,  Hoshiarpur,  1977 

Gl.S. 

SADHO  SINGH  BHAURA,  JATHEDAR  (1905- 
1984),  Sikh  missionary  who  rose  to  be  the 
Jathedar  or  high  priest  of  Sri  Akal  Takht, 
Amritsar,  was  born  the  son  of  Bhai  Ran  Singh 
and  Mai  Atam  Kaur,  on  6  June  1905  at  Chakk 
No.  7,  a  village  in  Lyallpur  district  (now  in 
Pakistan).  After  matriculating  from  Khalsa 
High  School,  Lyallpur  (where  Master  Tara 
Singh,  later  a  leading  figure  in  Sikh  politics, 
was  the  headmaster),  he  joined  police  service 
and  served  at  Quetta  from  1923  to  1925  before 
resigning  to  take  part  in  the  Akali  agitation  for 
Gurdwara  reform.  From  1926  to  1928,  he 
studied  at  the  Shahid  Sikh  Missionary  College, 
Amritsar,  to  train  as  a  missionary.  From  1928 
to  1964,  he  headed  the  Sikh  preaching  centres 
at  Aligarh  and  Hapur,  in  Uttar  Pradesh,  where 
he  is  said  to  have  initiated  nearly  half  a  million 
persons  according  to  Sikh  rites,  among  them 
mostly  Vanjara  Sikhs  of  Uttar  Pradesh  and 
Rajasthan.  He  was  a  member  of  the  executive 


committee  of  the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal  from 
1955  to  1960  and  took  part  in  several  of  the 
political  agitations  launched  by  the  party.  He 
was  Jathedar  of  Takht  Sri  Kesgarh,  Anandpur 
Sahib,  from  1961  to  1964.  In  1964,  he  was 
elevated  to  the  position  of  Jathedar  of  Sri  Akal 
Takht.  the  highest:  seat  of  religious  authority 
and  legislation  for  the  Sikhs.  He  attracted  wide 
public  notice  when,  on  lOJune  1978,  he  issued 
a  hukamnama  or  edict  calling  upon  all  Sikhs 
to  boycott  socially  the  neo-Nirahkari  sect.  In 
1980,  Jathedar  Sadhu  Singh  Bhaura,  in  an 
effort  to  avert  a  vertical  split  in  the  Akali  Dal, 
formed  a  7-member  committee  of  senior  party 
leaders  to  function  as  collegiate  executive,  but 
soon  after  himself  resigned  on  health  grounds 
and  retired  to  live  with  his  sons  in  Jalandhar 
where  he  died  on  7  March  1984. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Dilgeer,  Harjinder  Singh,  The  Akal  Takhat. 
Jalandhar,  1980 

2.  Sukhdial  Singh,  Akal  Takhat  Sahib.  Patiala,  1984 

S.S.Am. 

SADHU  SINGH  HAMDARD  (1918-1984), 
double-barrelled  journalist,  excelling  in  both 
Urdu  and  Punjabi  and  an  innovative  poet,  who 
carried  in  his  name  the  pseudonym 
"Hamdard",  "sharing  with  all  the  pangs  of  their 
hearts,"  "friendly  towards  all,"  was  born  in  1918 
in  a  peasant  family  of  moderate  means  living 
at  the  village  of  Paddi  Matvali,  near  Bariga,  in 
Jalandhar  district  of  the  Punjab.  He  was 
attracted  by  the  revolutionary  activity  which  was 
then  stirring  the  hearts  of  the  youth  in  his 
neighbourhood.  As  a  high  school  student,  he 
was  active  in  Chaudhri  Sher  Jahg's  group  of 
the  radicals  in  the  Yug  Paltau  Dal,  party  to 
impart  a  radical  turn  to  the  age.  The  Dal  was 
formed  in  1939-40  by  Giani  Harbaiis  Singh  of 
Sarhala  Khurd  in  Hoshiarpur  district.  The  Dal 
ceased  to  exist  after  the  arrest  and  execution 
of  its  founder.  Sadhu  Singh  then  joined  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
taking  over  its  publicity  wing. 


SAOHU  SINGH  HAMDARD 


9 


SADHU  SINGH,  PANDIT 


In  1944,  Sadhu  Singh  entered  the  field  of 
journalism.  He  took  up  editorship  of  the  Daily 
Ajh  (Urdu)  and  retained  this  position  until 
1957.  In  1955,  he  also  became  chief  editor  of 
the  Punjabi  Ajh.  The  birth  of  the  Ajh  was  an 
entirely  new  phenomenon  in  Punjabi 
journalism.  It  marked  a  new  era  of  change  and 
experimentation.  In  Sadhu  Singh's  hands, 
Punjabi  journalism  matured  and  reached  new 
heights.  The  Ajh  and  Sadhu  Singh  Hamdard 
became  synonymous  terms,  he  had  so  lovingly 
nursed  the  paper.  Sadhu  Singh  set  its 
permanent  seal  on  Punjabi  journalism.  He 
created  a  new  taste  in  Punjabi  writing  and 
introduced  several  new  techniques.  His  services 
to  Punjabi  journalism,  to  what  he  did  to  give  it 
a  hew  face  and  format,  were  widely 
acknowledged.  In  1963,  the  Punjab 
Government  honoured  him  with  the  title  of 
Shiromani  Pattarkar  (the  journalist  of  the 
year).  He  was  chairman  of  the  reception 
committee  of  All  India  Newspapers  Editors 
Conference  held  at  Jalandhar  in  1973.  He  also 
edited  two  monthly  magazines  Tasvir  and 
Drishtl. 

Within  his  lifetime,  Sadhu  Singh 
converted  all  his  property  and  assets  into  a 
public  trust  for  the  advancement  of  Punjabi 
culture  and  letters. 

As  a  poet,  Sadhu  Singh  Hamdard  will  be 
especially  remembered  for  popularizing  the 
ghazal  form  in  Punjabi.  His  collection  of 
Punajbi  poems  in  this  genre,  entitled  Ghazal, 
won  him  a  first  prize  from  the  Punjab 
Government  in  1963.  An  anthology  of  his 
prose  writings  assembled  under  the  tide  Akkhih 
Ditha.  Rus,  a  travelogue  on  his  visit  to  Soviet 
Russia  in  1967,  also  won  the  Punjab 
Government  award  in  1972-73.  He  also  wrote 
some  novels  built  around  heroic  episodes  from 
Sikh  history  as  well  as  some  short  stories.  Guru 
Nanak  Dev  University,  Amritsar,  awarded  him 
the  Ph.D.  degree  for  his  thesis  ori"'Origin  and 
Development  of  the  Punjabi  Ghazal."  He  was 
a  fellow  of  that  University  and  a  member  of  its 
Syndicate.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 


Advisory  Committee  of  the  Languages 
Department  and  Press  Advisory  Committee  of 
the  Punjab  Government,  and  of  the  Indian 
Academy  of  Letters  (1973-1978).  He  was  also 
president  of  the  Kendri  Punjabi  Lekhak  Sabha 
during  1972-79  and  founder-president  of 
Bazm-i-Adab  (Urdu). 

Dr  Sadhu  Singh  Hamdard  was  also 
awarded  the  title  of  Padma  Shri  by  the  Central 
Government  in  January  1984,  but  he 
surrendered  the  honour  in  protest  against  the 
army  action  in  the  precincts  of  Golden  Temple, 
Amritsar,  in  Ju  ne  1984. 

Sadhu  Singh  Hamdard  died  at  Jalandhar 
on  29  July  1984. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suba  Singh,  Pahjabi  Pattarkari  da  Itihas. 
Chandigarh, 1978 

2.  The  Ajit  (Punjabi).  Jalandhar,  29  July  1995 

M.G'.S. 

SADHU  SINGH,  PANDIT  (1840-1907),  a 
schoolman  of  the  Nirmala  order,  was  born  in 
the  village  of  Saraliah,  in  Amritsar  district,  in 
1840.  From  his  very  childhood,  he  developed 
an  inclination  for  the  company  of  holy  men. 
This  was  cause  of  concern  for  his  father,  Sobha 
Singh,  and  mother,  Devi,  who  feared  that  their 
son  might  not  renounce  the  world  and  become 
a  recluse.  Sadhu  Singh  received  instruction 
from  a  sanf  in  his  own  village  with  whom  he 
read  the  Sikh  sacred  texts.  His  thirst  for 
knowledge  eventually  took  him  to  the  village 
of  Girvari,  in  the  modem  district  of  Hoshiarpur, 
where  he  joined  the  dera  or  school  of  Pandit 
Gulab  Singh,  a  noted  Nirmala  scholar  of  the 
day.  Sadhu  Singh,  then  eighteen,  resolved  to 
give  up  the  householder's  life  and  dedicate 
himself  to  learning  and  to  preaching  the  Sikh 
faith.  In  addition  to  Sikh  theology,  he/studied 
Vedanta  and  Vyakarana  (grammar).  Long  years 
of  labour  under  Pandit  Gulab  Singh  made  him 
an  accomplished  scholar  and  writer  of  Braj 
Bhasa. 

Pandit  Sadhu  Singh  spent  most  of  his 


SADHU  SINGH,  PANDIT 


10 


SAHA| 


years  at  Girvari.  For  some  time,  he  lived  at 
Patiala  with  another  celebrated  Nirmala 
theologian,  Pandit  Tara  Singh  Narotam,  who 
had  also  been  a  pupil  of  Pandit  Gulab  Siiigh. 
It  is  said  that,  at  Patiala,  he  became  the 
successor  of  Pandit  Tara  Singh  after  the  latter's 
death  in  1948  Bk/AD  1891.  He  was  also  the  Shri 
Mahant,  Abbot  Senior,  of  t,he  Nirmal 
Panchayati  Akhara  from  1905  tity  his  death  in 
1907. 

Two  of  Pandit  Sadhu  Singh's  works  which 
have  survived  are  Shri  Mukhvakya  Sidhant Jyoti 
and  Guru  Sikhya  Prabhakar.  Both  of  these  were 
lithographed  in  Chasma-i-Nur  Press,  Lahore, 
in  1950  Bk/ At)  1893,  in  a  single  volume,  under 
the  title  Guru  Sikhya  PraBhakar.  The  volume 
has,  in  addition  to  the  Vigyapana  notice  or 
introduction,  one  small  chapter  containing 
eulogy  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  and  another 
in  praise  of  Guru  as  accepted  in  Sikh  tradition 
and  in  praise  of  his  teacher,  Pandit  Gulab 
Singh.  Then  begins  the  first  book  Shri 
Mukhvakya  Sidhant Jyoti,  which  contains  1 , 100 
difficult  and  obscure  words  selected  by  the 
author  from  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  with  their 
meanings  given  in  Punjabi,  or  Sadh  Bhasa 
mixed  with  Punjabi.  The  vocables  are  arranged 
in  alphabetical  order  of  the  first  two  letters  of 
the  words. 

Next  comes  the  main  book  Guru  Sikhya 
Prabhakar,  which,  much  larger  in  size,  consists 
of  five  sections.  The  work,  as  the  tide  indicates, 
deals  with  the  teachings  of  the  Sikh  Gurus.  A 
verse  from  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  or  the 
Dasam  Granth,  containing  some  principle  of 
Sikhism  or  a  point  of  instruction,  is  set  down 
or  explained  in  detail,  sometimes  with  further 
textual  quotation.  The  format,  in  which  the 
original  verses  are  at  places  printed  in  separate 
lines  in  older  letters  and  at  others  as  part  of 
the  running  text,  is  far  from  clear.  Further,  the 
language,  highly  stylized,  is  too  difficult  for  an 
average  reader. 

Part  one  of  the  book  deals  with  subjects 
like  the  qualifies  of  a  gursikh  (  Sikh  way  of 
life),  Divine  will,  and  omniscience  of  God.  In 


addition,  moral  values  such  as  humility  and 
selflessness  are  dilated  upon,  with  appropriate 
quotation  from  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Part 
two  treats  of  metaphysical  themes  such  as 
Brahman  and  atman  (atma,  in  Punjabi).  There 
are  additionally  sub-sections  on  the  qualities 
of  a  true  yogi  and  the  order  of  Khalsa.  Part 
three  is  a  large  section,  containing  212  sub— 
secdons,  each  discussing  a  separate  subject  like 
Nam,  various  forms  of  bhakti,  grace  and 
Advaita.  Part  four  discusses  the  nature  of 
Ultimate  Reality  according  to  Sikh  thought.  An 
important  subject  devoted  to  a  whole  section 
is  the  concept  of  haumai  (self-centredness). 
The  fifth  part  treats  of  subjects  like  sahaj 
(equipoise),  sahaj  samadhi  (mystic  trance,  and 
contentment.  An  index  of  the  subjects,  dealt 
with  in  different  sections,  is  given  at  the 
beginning.  Pandit  Sadhu  Singh  freely  mixed 
verse  with  prose  in  his  exposition.  His  poetry 
is  in  chaste  Braj  Bhasa,  whereas  his  prose  is 
mostly  in  Sadh  Bhasa,  overlaid  with  Sanskrit 
vocabulary. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Pritain  Singh,  Mahant,  Nirmal  Panth  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1953 

2.  Dial  Singh,  Mahant,  Nirmal  Panth  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1953 

3.  Ganesha  Singh,  Mahant,  Nirmal Bhushan  arthat 
Itihas  Nirmal  Bhekh.  Amritsar,  1957 

Gr.S. 

SAHAJ,  in  Sikh  vocabulary,  refers  to  a  state  of 
mental  and  spiritual  equipoise  without  the  least 
intrusion  of  ego;  unshaken  natural  and 
effortless  serenity  attained  through  spiritual 
discipline.  Ego  (aham  or  haumai)  develops  out 
of  the  undifferentiated  primordial  being  as  a 
result  of  the  socio-cultural  conditioning  factors 
that  generate  as  a  result  of  a  process  of 
individuation.  Ego  is  thus  a  mere  psychic 
substantive,  a  myth  that  not  only  begins  to 
shroud  the  primordial  nature  of  the  human 
soul,  but  also  is  responsible  for  all  kinds  of 
emotional  and  volitional  disturbances.  When 


SAHAJ 


11 


SAHAJ 


this  ego  is  quelled,  and  one  resides  once  again 
in  the  innate,  undisturbed,  effortless  state  of 
the  soul,  sahaj  is  said  to  have  been  attained. 
Although  called  a  state  (avastha),  in  fact  it 
transcends  all  states,  for  it  is  a  return  to  the 
soul  as  it  was  before  any  'states'  differentiated 
or  derived  from  it. 

The  word  sahaj  is  derived  from  Sanskrit 
twin  roots:  saha,  together,  and  ja,  born.  Thus, 
it  means  born  together  (with  oneself) ,  hence 
innate.  It  signifies  innate  nature,  or  one's 
natural  spontaneous  self  shorn  of  all  external 
conditioning  influences  that  cramp  the  soul. 
Sahaj  is,  thus,  renascent  freedom  or  liberation 
of  the  soul. 

The  term  has  a  long  history.  The  basic 
concept  came  from  the  leftist  Tannic  cults  in 
whose  vocabulary  sahaj  signified  a  protest 
against  the  formalism  of  orthodox  religion. 
They  decried  the  bondage  of  artificial 
conventions  and  affirmed  the  non| 
transgression  of  the  natural.  Sahaj  was,  thus, 
the  basic  tenet  of  the  Indian  antinomianism. 
The  Sahajyana  Buddhists,  Natha  Yogis,  and 
Sahajiya  £aivites,  all  in  their  own  time  and  in 
their  specific  way,  emphasized  the  cultivation 
of  sahaj,  but  they  were  all  in  a  sense  Tantric  in 
oudook,  for  the  i-aison  d'etre  of  these  schools 
with  the  solitary  exception  of  the  Nathapanthis 
was  to  be  found"  in  particular  sexoyogic 
practices  as  a  part  of  relgious  sadhna.  However, 
the  followers  of  these  sects,  in  fact,  seem  to 
have  stretched  their  antinomian  protest  to  its 
uUnost  limit  and  held  that  the  most  meritorious 
acts  are  such  natural  ones  as  eating  and 
drinking  which  sustain  life,  sexual  intercourse 
which  propagates  it,  and  the  natural  functions 
which  give  it  ease.  In  actual  practice,  it  really 
amounted  to  a  total  surrender  to  carnal 
appetites.  As  a  result  of  this,  these  cults  went 
into  disrepute  and  die  original  concept  of  sahaj 
became  besmirched  with  questionable  ethical 
connotations.  Its  reintroduction  into  the 
Indian  mystic  lore  by  the  preceptors  of  the  Sikh 
faith  signified  a  new  turn  in  the  history  of  this 
term,  for  they  invested  it  with  a  new  breadth 


of  meaning  and  mystical  import  coupled  with 
sublime  ethical  and  aesthetic  connotations  that 
conduced  to  the  elevation  of  the  soul. 

The  Sikh  concept  of  sahaj  shared  with  that 
of  the  sects  mentioned  (a)  rejection  of  external 
formalities,  (b)  rejection  of  priestly  authority, 
and  in  a  positive  way,  (c)  recognition  of  the 
guru  as  essential  for  spiritual  growth  and 
advancement,  arid  (d)  recognition  of  the 
Ultimate  Reality  as  an  experience  of  unruffled 
equipoise  and  ineffable  bliss.  However,  it 
differed  from  them  not  only  in  its  rejection  at 
once  of  sexoyogic  practices  (of  Sahajayanis)  as 
well  as  in  the  derogation  of  women  (of 
Nathapanthis),  but  even  in  the  breadth  of 
conceptualization.  For  the  Gurus,  man's 
original  nature  was  of  the  nature  of  light  or 
intuitive  knowledge  "man  tun  joti  sarupu  hai 
apana  \muiu  pachhanu"  (GG.441).  A 
reattainment  of  this  natural  self,  with  its 
attendant  peace  and  equipoise  is  sahaj.  In  this 
state,  life  is  unaffected  by  any  artificiality  or  put- 
up  appearances  for  they  are  but  the  defences 
of  the  empirical  ego  (haumai)  and  that,  in 
sahaj,  is  conquered.  Then  with  a  basic 
dispositional  spontaneity,  love,  goodness  and 
compassion  blossom  forth  from  the  being.  This 
widened  concept  of  sahaj  signifies  a 
transcendent  state-one  beyond  the  ordinary 
modes  of  being  (gxinas),  beyond  the  habitual 
levels  of  consciousness  and  beyond  the  illusion 
of  duality  or  maya. 

To  appreciate  fully  the  breadth  of 
meaning  of  the  Sikh  concept  of  sahaj,  it  may 
be  looked  at  from  various  aspects.  In  its 
cognitive  aspect,  it  can  be  seen  as  a  state  of 
illumination,  one  of  heightened  consciousness, 
mystical  awareness  (sahaj  rahas)  or  intuitive 
knowledge.  In  this  state  the  duality  of  subject 
and  object  (which  results  from  a  process  of 
individuation  and  ego-formation)  vanishes. 
Since  all  feelings  of  duality  basically  develop 
around  the  subject-object  dichotomy,  with  the 
dissolution  of  the  latter,  these  disappear, 
distances  vanish  and  reality  comes  to  be 
perceived  with  the  impact  of  immediacy.  In  its 


SAHA| 


12 


SAHA| 


conative  aspect,  sahaj  is  a  state  of  freedom 
wherein  everything  happens  with  natural  ease 
(sahaj  subhai).  Spontaneity  is  the  ground  of 
every  kind  of  behaviour-vegetative,  emotive 
and  moral.  On  the  emotive  or  aesthedc  planes, 
it  signifies  the  discovery  of  the  great  harmony 
within  as  well  as  without.  In  sahaj,  as  it  were, 
an  inner  door  (dasam  dvar)  of  aesthetic 
perception  opens  up  and  one  directly  perceives 
the  rhythmicity  of  one's  being  weave  an 
'unstruck  melody'  (anhat  nad)  which  is 
accompanied  by  a  pervading  feeling  of 
unconditioned  bliss  (sahaj  anand). 

A  deeper  significance  of  existence  seems 
to  emerge  in  sahaj.  When  one  becomes 
oriented  to  it,  emodonal  turbulence  ceases. 
Pleasures  and  pains  pass  like  ripples  over  the 
surface  while  the  mighty  deep  underneath 
remains  unruffled.  Then,  it  appears,  one  dons 
pleasures  and  pains  just  as  one  changes  one's 
garments  "sukhu  dukhu  dui  dari  kapare 
pahirahijai  manukh"  (GG,  149) .  This  is  how  sahaj 
epitomizes  mental  equipoise  in  which  all 
turbulence  of  emotions  is  calmed.  While  the 
egocentrics  abide  in  doubt  and  carry  anxieties 
in  their  heart  which  permit  them  to  sleep,  the 
wise  wake  and  sleep  in  sahaj-  "manmukhi 
bharamai  sahasa  hovai  antari  chinta  nld  na 
sovai  giani  jagahi  savahi  subhai  nanak  nami 
ratia  bali  jau  "(GG,  646).  Peace  being  the 
hallmark  of  this  state,  all  running  about  and 
all  feverish  pursuits  cease.  Wandering  itself  is 
worn  out  for  now  a  new  dignity  in  life  is  found. 

Sahaj  has  been  called  a  state  of  freedom. 
It  betokens  freedom  from  desire  ( frsna) ,  from 
conflict  (dvandva)  and  from  illusion  (maya). 
One  is  liberated  from  the  cramping  influence 
of  social  compulsions,  yet  one  does  not  become 
a  fugitive  from  social  responsibility.  On  the 
contrary,  since  one  is  also  cured  simultaneously 
of  the  equally  cramping  compulsion  of  egoism, 
one  no  longer  lives  for  oneself.  One  lives  more 
for  o.thers.  In  sahaj  one  is  also  liberated  from 
the  servility  of  carnal  needs.  In  this  state  neither 
drowsiness,  nor  hunger  remains;  and  one  ever 
abides  in  the  Divine  Bliss  of  Hari  Nam  (God's 


Name).  Pleasure  and  sorrow  occur  not  where 
the  all-pervading  self  shineth  forth-  "gurmukhi 
antari  sahaju  hai  manu  charia  dasavai  akasi 
tithai  iihgh  na  bhukh  hai  hari  amrit  namu  sukh 
vasu  nanak  dukhu  sukhu  viapat  nahijithai  atam 
ram  pragasu"  (GG.1414). 

Sahaj  also  spells  an  awareness  of  the  great 
vital  harmony  (sahajdhuni)  within  as  one  gets 
attuned  to  the  inner  rhythm  of  Being.  One  also 
simultaneously  discovers  self-same  harmony 
and  mystical  rhythmicity  pervading  the  entire 
gamut  of  the  mighty  cosmos.  The  intensity  of 
this  experience  is  a  great  aesthetic 
wonderment.  It  is  a  creative  joy  of  the  highest 
order-sheer  'joy'  in  contradistinction  to 
'enjoyment'  of  the  sense  objects.  It  is, 
therefore,  not  ephemeral  like  the  latter,  but  is 
an  abiding  state  of  undiminishing  bliss. 
Although  illumination,  spontaneity,  freedom, 
equipoise,  and  harmony  may  be  described  as 
the  chief  characteristics  of  sahaj,  there  are 
several  other  subtle  characteristics  of  this  state 
alluded  to  at  several  places  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  as,  for  example,  in  the  following  passage  : 

One  who  abideth  in  sahaj 

Looketh  alike  on  friend  and  foe. 

What  he  heareth  is  essence  true; 

And  in  his  seeing  is  meditation. 

He  sleepeth  in  calm,  he  riseth  in  peace 

From  'being'  to  'becoming'  with  natural  ease. 

Sad  or  glad,  he  abideth  in  sahaj; 

Effortless  his  silence;  spontaneous  his 
utterance. 

In  poise  he  eateth,  in  poise  he  loveth. 

In  sahaj  he  findeth  distances  bridged. 

(GG,23(i) 

It  is  thus  the  supremest  spiritual  state. 
How  can,  then,  this  state  be  attained  ?  Actions, 
however  meritorious,  do  not  bring  it  about.  In 
fact,  sahaj  does  not  sprout  so  long  as  one 
abideth  in  maya-  "maia  vichi  sahaju  na  upajai 
maia  dujai  bhai"(GG,  68).  To  become  detached 
from  the  world  of  maia  (maya) ,  one  does  not 
need  actions,  but  gian  (/nana) ,  which  comes 
from  the  grace  of  the  Guru.  Says  Guru  Arnar 
Das:  "O  brother  !  there  can  be  no  sahaj  without 


SAHAJDHARI 


13 


SAHAJDHARI 


the  Guru's  benevolence.  Sahaj  sprouts  from  the 
Word,  whereby  one  meets  the  Lord-  the  True 

One-  "bhai  re  gur  binu  sahaju  na  hoi  " 

(GG.68).  From  the  true  Word  emanates  the 
sahajdhuni  (  the  tune  of  sahaj)  and  the  mind 
gets  absorbed  in  Truth-  "sachai  sabadi  sahaj 
dhuni  upajai  mani  sachai  livlaT'  (GG,12M).  And 
then  the  very  music  of  sahaj  that  is  being  played 
at  His  door,  also  becomes  the  brandmark  of 
the  seeker-  "tere  duarai  dhuni  sahaj  ki  mathai 
mere  dagaT  (GG.970). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,1959 

2.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan.  Amritsar,  1962 

3.  Jodh  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurmat  Nirnai.  Lahore, 1932 

4.  Taran  Singh,  Sahaj  te  Anandu.  Amritsar,  n.d 

5.  Talib,  Gurbachan  Singh,  Guru  Nanak  :  His 
Personality  and  Vision.  Jalandhar,  1969 

6.  Harbans  Singh,  ed.,  Perspectives  on  Guru  Nanak. 
Patiala,1975 

7.  Diwana,  Mohan  Singh,  Guru  Nanak  Dev  and 
Sahaj.  Jalandhar,  1973 

8.  Ray,  Niharranjan,  The  Sikh  Gurus  and  the  Sikh 
Society.  Delhi,  1970 

9.  Wazir  Singh,  Philosophy  of  Sikh  Religion.  Delhi, 
1981 

J.S.N. 

SAHAJDHARI,  a  gradualist  among  Sikhs.  Like 
other  Sikhs,  the  Sahajdharis  believe  in  the  Ten 
Gurus  and  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  though 
they  exempt  themselves  from  the  obligation 
of  keeping  their  hair  unshorn.  Receiving  the 
rites  of  Khalsa  baptism  one  day  and 
maintaining  long  uncut  hair  and  beard  remain, 
nevertheless,  the  ultimate  ideal  which  they 
must  realize  in  their  lifetime  or  see  it  realized 
by  their  offspring.  Some  Sahajdhari  parents 
place  themselves  under  a  vow  to  rear  their  first- 
born son  as  a  full  Sikh.  The  Sahajdharis,  as  a 
rule,  are  not  given  the  Sikh  surname  of 'Singh' 
The  term  sahajdharis  is  a  compound  of  two 
words  -  sahaj  and  dhari.  The  word  sahaj  (in 
Sanskrit,  sahaja)  implies  poise,  unhurriedness 
and  the  word  dhari  stands  for  adopting  or 


accepting  a  creed  or  form.  This  term  came  into 
use  after  Guru  Gobind  Singh  inaugurated  the 
JChalsa  in  1699  A.D.,  introducing  the  khande  di 
pkhul,  i.e.  baptism  by  the  double-edged  sword. 
Those  who  took  khande  di  pahul  received  the 
title  of  the  'Khalsa',  and  those  who  for  one 
reason  or  another  could  not  came  to  be  known 
as  Sahajdharis,  i.e.  Sikhs  who  would  have 
themselves  baptized  as  Khalsa  at  some  later 
stage.  It  was,  in  the  first  instance,  not  possible 
to  have  baptism  administered  all  at  once  by  the 
rites  established  by  Guru  Gobind  Singh  to  Sikhs 
in  far-flung  sahgats.  Another  impediment  was 
the  conflict  which  broke  out  between  the  Sikhs 
and  the  ruling  authority  soon  after.  However, 
Sahajdharis  have  been  part  of  the  larger  Sikh 
body  since  the  time  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Two 
of  them  in  his  own  day  -  Bhai  Nand  Lai  and 
Bhai  Kanhaiya  -  enjoyed  great  esteem.  Bhai 
Nand, Lai,  a  great  Persian  scholar  and  poet, 
maintained  at  Anandpur  a  iarigaror  refectory 
open  to  visitors  all  the  twenty-four  hours.  Bhai 
Kanhaiya  won  the  Guru's  admiration  and  is 
remembered  in  the  Sikh  tradition  to  this  day 
for  the  devotion  with  which  he  served  the 
wounded  is  battle,  making  no  distinction 
between  friend  and  foe.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century  when  Sikhs  suffered 
fierce  persecution  and  when  to  be  a  Kesadhari, 
that  is  to  bear  kesa  or  long  hair,  was  to  invite 
sure  death,  the  Sahajdharis  looked  after  their 
places  of  worship  and  protected  the 
households  and  the  kith  and  kin  of  those 
driven  to  seek  safety  in  hill  and  jungle.  Some 
even  defied  the  persecutors  and  courted 
martyrdom  as  did  the  teenaged  Haqiqat  Rai, 
who  was  beheaded  in  public  for  his  refusal  to 
disown  his  Sikh  belief  and  accept  Islam.  A 
leading  Sahajdhari  Sikh  of  that  time  was  Kaura 
Mall,  a  minister  to  the  Mughal  governor  of 
Lahore,  Mu'in  ul-Mulk  (1748-53),  who  helped 
the  Sikhs  in  diverse  ways  in  those  days  of  severe 
trial.  He  had  so  endeared  himself  to  them  that 
they  called  him  Mlittha  ('sweet',  in  Punjabi) 
Mall  instead  of  Kaura  (which,  in  Punjabi,  means 
'bitter')  Mall.  Sikh  tradition  also  recalls  another 


SAHAJDHART 


14 


SAHARl  MALL,  BHAl 


Sahajdhari,  Des  Raj,  of  this  period  who  was 
entrusted  by  the  Khalsa  with  the  task  of  having 
reconstructed  the  Harimandar,  demolished  by 
the  Afghan  invader,  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  in 
1762.  Dina  Nath  was  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh's 
finance  minister.  Bhai  Vastl  Ram,  a  learned  man 
wefl  versed  in  Sikh  scripture,  enjoyed 
considerable  influence  at  the  court. 

Sahajdharis  have  continued  to  participate 
in  Sikh  life  right  up  to  modern  times  and  have 
associated  themselves  with  Sikh  institutions  and 
organizations  such  as  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan, 
Shiromani  Akali  Dal,  and  the  All-India  Sikh 
Students  Federation.  The  Singh  Sabhas  used 
to  have  seats  on  their  executive  committees 
reserved  for  the  Sahajdharis.  Among  their  own 
societies,  confined  prior  to  the  migrations  of 
1947,  mainly  to  north-western  India,  were  the 
Sahajdhari  Committee  of  Multan,  Guru  Nanak 
Sahajdhari  Diwan  of  Pahja  Sahib  and  Sri  Guru 
Nanak  Sahajdhari  Jatha  of  Campbellpore.  The 
Sahajdhari  Diwan  of  Pahja  Sahib  attained  the 
status  of  their  central  forum.  They  as  well  had 
their  annual  conference  which  met  for  its  first 
session  on  13  April  1929  under  the  chairman- 
ship of  Sir  Jogendra  Singh  who  passed  on  the 
office  to  the  famous  Sikh  scholar  and  savant, 
Bhai  Kahn  Singh.  A  Sahajdharis'  meeting 
formed  part  of  the  annual  proceedings  of  the 
Sikh  Educational  Conference. 

The  Sahajdharis  share  with  the  main  body 
of  the  Sikhs  all  of  their  religious  and  social 
customs  and  ceremonies  and  join  their 
congregations  in  the  gurdwaras.  The 
population  in  the  Punjab  of  Sahajdhari  Sikhs 
(another  name  used  is  Sikh  Nanakpanthis) 
according  to  1891  Census  was  397,  000  (20% 
of  the  total  Sikh  population);  according  to  1901 
Census,  297,  000  (13%  of  the  total  Sikhs); 
according  to  1911  Census,  451,  000  (14.9%  of 
the  total  Sikhs);  according  to  1921  Census,  229, 
000  (7%  of  the  total  Sikhs);  according  to  1931 
Census,.  282,  000  (6.5%  of  the  total  Sikhs). 
Outside  of  the  Punjab,  the  North-West  Frontier 
Province  and  Sindh  had  considerable  Sahajdhari 


populations.  Consequent  upon  the  partition 
of  India  in  1947,  Sahajdharis  became  widely 
dispersed  in  the  country.  Their  India-wide 
forum  was  the  Sarab  Hind  (All-India) 
Sahajdharis  Conference  which  rotated  from 
town  to  town  for  its  annual  sessions.  Three  of 
its  presidents  -  Mahant  Karam  Chand,  Bhai 
Sant  Ram  and  Bhai  Ram  Lai  Rah!  -  eventually 
took  the  vows  of  Khalsa  baptism,  receiving 
respectively  the  names  Gur  Darshan  Singh, 
Sant  Ram  Singh  and  Ram  Lai  Singh  Rahi. 

Kr.  S.,  H.L. 

SAHARl  MALL,  BHAI,  a  Sodhi  Khatri  of 
Lahore,  was  the  first  cousin  of  Guru  Ram  Das. 
Although  older  than  the  Guru  in  age,  he 
revered  him  like  a  disciple.  Once  Sahari  Mall 
visited  Amritsar  to  invite  Guru  Ram  Das  to  the 
wedding  of  his  son.  The  latter  deputed  his 
youngest  son,  Arjan,  to  represent  him  at  the 
marriage,  and  told  him  to  remain  in  Lahore 
and  preach  Guru  Nanak's  word  until  recalled. 
Arjan  remained  in  Lahore  for  several 
months,  and  Sahari  Mall  served  him  as  if  he 
was  the  Guru  himself.  This  embarrassed  Arjan 
who,  as  says  Bhai  Mani  Singh,  Sikhan  diBhagat 
Mala,  spoke  :  "Revered  uncle,  I  am  your 
nephew.  I  should  serve  you  rather  than  you 
serving  me." 

Sahari  Mall  replied,  "You  are  a 
mahapurakh,  the  exalted  one.  Do  not  deprive 
me  of  the  privilege  of  serving  you.  Your 
devotion  as  a  Sikh  is  unmatched.  Pray  bestow 
upon  me  the  gift  of  faith  too."  The  future  Guru, 
Arjan  remarked,  "You  already  possess  the 
quality  of  a  true  Sikh  for  your  mind  is  humble." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Macau tiife,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

T.S. 


SAHARU,  BHAI 


15 


SAHliRI 


SAHARU,  BHAI,  a  native  of  the  village  of  Dalla, 
in  present-day  Kapurthala  district  of  the 
Punjab,  was  a  devout  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru 
Amar  Das.  He  received  the  rites  of  initiation  at 
the  hands  of  the  Guru  at  the  time  of  the  latter's 
visit  to  Dalla.  As  he  heard  of  the  Guru's  arrival 
in  his  village,  he,  Bhai  Gaiigu  and  Bhai  Bhagu, 
waited  on  him  to- seek  instruction.  The  Guru, 
according  to  Bhai  Man? •Singh,  Sikhan  di 
Bhagat  Mala,  taught  them  to  love  their  fellow- 
Sikhs  as  their  own  brothers  and  be  always 
willing  to  share  their  victuals  with  them.  "Love 
the  divine  Name,"  said  the  Guru,  "and  have 
faith  in  the  Holy  Word.  Worship  not  tombs 
and  monuments."  Bhai  Saharu  and  his 
companions  made  the  Guru's  advice  the 
guiding  principle  of  their  life. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhaii  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion:  Its  Gurus, 
Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

B.S.D. 

SAHARU,  BHAI,  also  of  Dalla,  was  a  tailor  by 
profession.  He  too  was  initiated  a  Sikh  during 
Guru  Amar  Das'  stay  at  his  village. 
See  MALI  A,  BHAI 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  16 

2.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,1955 

B.S.D. 

SAHERI,  originally  called  Kheri,  is  a  village 
about  2  km  west  of  Morinda  (  30"-47'N,  76"- 
29'E)  in  Ropar  district  of  the  Punjab.  The 
village  was  destroyed  by  Ban  da  Singh  Bahadur 
in  1710,  and  the  habitation  that  reappeared 
upon  its  ruins  dropped  the  old  name  because 
of  its  dismal  associations  and  adopted  the  new 
name  of  Saheri.  It  was  at  Kheri  that  Mata  Gujari 


and  her  two  young  grandsons,  Zorawar  Singh 
and  Fateh  Sirigh,  aged  9  and  7  respectively, 
were  betrayed  to  their  captors.  Separated  from 
the  main  column  as  Guru  Gobind  Singh  crossed 
the  rivulet  Sarsa,  then  in  spate,  on  the  night  of 
5-6  December  1705,  they  were  escorted  by 
their  cook,  Gaiigu,  to  his  house  at  Kheri.  The 
travel  being  hazardous  and  slow,  they  reached 
their  destination  only  on  the  night  of  6-7 
December.  As  they  were  resting  in  the  attic, 
the  host  purloined  Mata  Gujari's  saddle-bag 
containing  cash  and  valuables.  In  hope  of  a 
reward  from  the  government  for  having  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  mother  and  two  of  his  sons 
seized,  he  spied  on  them,  through  the  village 
headman,  to  Jani  Khan  and  Mani  Khan. 
Raiighar  officials  at  Morinda.  Zorawar  Singh 
and  Fateh  Singh  were  taken  into  custody  and 
despatched  to  Sirhind  where  they  met  a  cruel 
fate  on  13  Poh  1762  Ilk/  12  December  1705. 

There  are  three  gurdwaras  in  Saheri. The 
one  on  the  site  of  Gaiigu's  house  is  a  double- 
storeyed  domed  building  inside  the  village.  The 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  seated  on  the  first  floor, 
while  the  hall  on  the  ground  floor  is  used  for 
bigger  gatherings  on  special  occasions.  The 
second  gurdwara,  outside  the  village,  marks  the 
spot  where,  it  is  believed,  Mata  Gujari  and  her 
grand  children,  were  handed  over  to  the  officers. 

These  two  gurdwaras  are  managed  by  the 
village  sarigarbut  the  third  one,  which  is  located 
half  a  kilometre  away  in  the  fields,  is  under  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee. 
It  is  said  that,  while  escorting  Mataji  and  the 
children  during  the  dark  night,  Gaiigu  lost  his 
way,  and,  bypassing  Kheri,  walked  towards  the 
village  of  Raiigia.  Discovering  his  error,  he  had 
Mata  Gujari  and  the  Sahibzadas  wait  in  a 
mango-grove  until  he  had  worked  out  the 
correct  route  to  his  village.  The  present 
gurdwara  marks  the  site  of  the  mango-grove. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sahtokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Sirigh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 


SAHIB  CHAND 


16 


SAHIB  DEVAN 


[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 
3.  Harbans    Singh,    Guru    Gobind  Singh. 
Chandigarh,1966 

M.G.S. 

SAHIB  CHAND  (d.1700),  a  Sikh  warrior  in 
attendance  upon  Guru  Gobind  Singh  (1666- 
1708).  He  took  part  in  the  batde  of  Bhahgani. 
The  Guru  in  his  autobiographical  composition. 
Bachitra  Natak,  makes  a  special  mention  of  his 
valour  during  this  battle.  Sahib  Chand  took 
part  in  the  various  encounters  with  the  imperial 
forces  as  well  as  with  the  hill  chiefs  until  he  fell 
in  the  battle  of  Nirmohgarh  in  1700.  A 
contemporary  poet,  Sainapati,  makes  a 
mention  of  his  having  been  killed  in  this  batde 
in  his  famous  work,  Sri  Gur  Sobha. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bachitra  Natak 

2.  Senapati,  Sri  Gur  Sobha.  Patiala,  1967 

3.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10.  Patiala,  1968 

4.  Chhibbar,  Kesar  Singh,  Barisavalinama  Dasan 
Patshahian  Ka.  Chandigarh,  1972 

5.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion. 
Oxford,1909 

P.S.P.. 

SAHIB  CHAND,  village  11  km  northeast  of 
Giddarbaha  (30"-12'N,  74°-39'E)  in  Faridkot 
district  of  the  Punjab,  is  sacred  to  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  (1666-1708).  Gurdwara  Patshahi  X, 
marking  the  site  where  the  Guru  had  stopped 
awhile  when  travelling  through  these  parts  in 
1706,  stands  on  the  bank  of  a  pond  at  the 
northwestern  edge  of  the  village.  The  present 
building  constructed  in  1960  comprises  a 
4-metre  square  sanctum,  with  a  hall  in  front. 
The  hall  is  skirted  by  a  verandah  on  three  sides. 
The  Gurdwara  owns  some  farming  land  and  is 
managed  by  a  local  committee  under  the 
overall  control  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sahgrahi. 


Kankhal,  1975 
2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduariari.  Amritsar, 
n.d. 

M.G.S. 

SAHIB  DEVAN,  by  tradition  mother  of  the 
Khalsa,  was  the  daughter  of  Bhai  Har  Bhagvan 
alias  Ramu,  a  Bassi  Khatri,  and  his  wife,  Jas  Devi, 
a  devout  Sikh  couple  of  Rohtas,  in  Jehlum 
district  (now  in  Pakistan).  Her  parents  had 
from  the  beginning  dedicated  her  to  the 
service  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  They  took  her 
along  as  they  came  to  Anandpur  on  the 
occasion  of  the  Baisakhi  festival  of  1700,  and 
disclosed  to  the  Guru  their  heart's  wish  to  give 
away  their  daughter  in  marriage  to  him.  The 
Guru,  who  already  had  two  wives  and  was  the 
father  of  four  sons,  refused  the  offer.  But  when 
Bhai  Har  Bhagvan  insisted  that  their  daughter 
had  been  brought  up  as  a  prospective  spouse 
of  the  Guru  and  would  not  countenance 
marriage  with  anyone  else,  he  agreed  ,  but 
made  it  explicit  that  she  would  remain  virgin 
all  her  life.  The  nuptials  took  place  at 
Anandpur  on  15  April  1700.  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  proclaimed  Mata  Sahib  Devaii  to  be  the 
mother  of  the  Khalsa.  Ever  since  the  custom 
has  been  that,  at  the  time  of  initiation,  the 
novitiates  declare  themselves  to  be  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh  and  Mata 
Sahib  Devah. 

During  the  fateful  night  of  5-6  December 
1705,  after  Anandpur  had  been  evacuated,  the 
Guru's  withdrawing  column  was  attacked  on 
the  bank  of  the  rivulet  Sarsa.  In  the  confusion 
that  followed,  the  Guru's  family  and  disciples 
got  scattered,  and  Mata  Sahib  Devan  and  Mata 
Sundari  were  escorted  by  Bhai  Mam  Singh  to 
Delhi. They  re-joined  the  Guru  at  Talvandi 
Sabo  for  some  time  during  1706  and  were  sent 
back  to  Delhi  before  Guru  Gobind  Singh  set 
out  on  his  journey  through  the  desert  of 
Rajasthan  on  his  way  to  meet  Emperor 
Auraiigzib  in  the  South.  But  on  learning  of  the 
emperor's  death,  he  changed  his  course  and 
went  to  Agra  via  Delhi  to  meet  the  new 


SAHIB  DIAL 


17 


SAHIB  GAN| 


emperor,  Bahadur  Shah,  whom  he 
accompanied  to  Rajasthan  and  onward  to  the 
Deccan  in  1708.  This  time  Mata  Sahib  Devah 
accompanied  Guru  Gobind  Singh  to  Nanded, 
but  again,  shortly  before  his  assassination  in 
early  October  1708,  she  was  persuaded  to 
return  to  Delhi  and  stay  with  Mata  Sundari.  She 
brought  with  her  from  Nanded  five  weapons 
said  to  have  originally  belonged  to  Guru 
Hargobind.  From  Delhi  she,  jointly  with  Mata 
Sundari,  supervised  the  affairs  of  the 
community  as  is  evident  from  some  of  the 
hukamnamas  issued  to  sangats  in  her 
name. The  exact  date  of  Mata  Sahib  Devari's 
death  is  not  known,  but  it  is  believed  that  she 
passed  away  some  time  before  Mata  Sundari 
who  died  in  1747.  The  available  hukamnamas 
issued  by  Mata  Sahib  Devah  bear  dates  between 
1726  and  1734  indicating  that  she  must  have 
expired  some  time  between  1734  and  1747. 
The  memorial  in  her  honour  stands  close  to 
the  one  commemorating  Mata  Sundari  in  the 
premises  of  Gurdwara  Bala  Sahib,  New  Delhi. 
The  weapons  said  to  have  been  brought  by  her 
from  Nanded  are  preserved  as  sacred  relics  in 
Gurdwara  Rikabgahj  in  Parliament  Street,  New 
Delhi. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10.  Patiala  1968 

2.  Chhibbar,  Kesar  Singh,  Bansavalmama.  Dasah 
Patshahiah  Ka.  Chandigarh,  1972 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gut  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

4.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

5.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

S.S.A. 

SAHIB  DIAL  (b.1801),  second  of  the  five  sons 
of  Misr  Ralia  Ram,  entered  the  Sikh  service  as 
a  munshi  (clerk)  in  the  Customs  Department 
under  his  father.  In  1832  he  was  transferred  to 
the  Paymaster's  office  of  the  regular  army  and 
in  1839  was  made  chief  of  the  customs  at 


Jalandhar  which  appointment  he  held  until  the 
end  of  the  first  Anglo-Sikh  war.  After  the 
separation  of  the  large  district  of  Jhahg  from 
the  province  of  Multan  of  which  it  formed 
nearly  a  third  in  1846,  Sahib  Dial  was  appointed 
to  revise  its  system  of  imports.  In  September 
1847,  the  whole  customs  network  of  the 
country  was  placed  under  his  superintendence. 
Sahib  Dial  helped  the  British  during  the  second 
Anglo-Sikh  war  as  well  as  during  the  revolt  of 
1857.  To  reward  him  the  British  granted  him 
several  jagirs  and  created  him  a  Raja.  In 
February  1864,  Sahib  Dial  was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  India. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel  and  C.F.Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

S.S.B. 

SAHIB  GANJ  (25"-13'N,  87"-38'E),  a  town  in 
Santhal  Pargana  district  of  Bihar,  was  visited 
by  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  in  1666.  He  is  said  to 
have  stayed  here  at  the  Old  Nanak  Shahi 
Sahgat,  commemorating  Guru  Nanak's  visit  in 
the  early  sixteenth  century.  The  Sahgat  still 
exists.  The  Guru  Granth  Sahib  was  installed 
here  in  a  hut  with  a  sloping  roof  of  baked  tiles 
till  1938,  when  the  present  room  was 
constructed  by  a  Marvari  businessman  Lattu 
Mall.  An  old  hand-written  copy  of  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  and  several  breviaries  containing 
the  sacred  hymns  are  preserved  in  this  room. 
The  shrine  is  managed  by  hereditary  priests. 
However,  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  stacked  away 
in  an  almirah  and  Sikh  worship  is  no  longer 
observed. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavah  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

M.G.S. 


SAHIB  KAUR,  BIBI 


18 


SAHIB  SINGH  BEDI,  BABA 


SAHIB  KAUR,  BIBI  (1771-1801),  warrior  and 
leader  of  men  who  played  a  prominent  part  in 
the  history  of  the  cis-Sutlej  states  from  1793 
to  1801,  was  the  elder  sister  of  Raja  Sahib  Singh 
of  Patiala.  Born  in  1771,  Sahib  Kaur  was 
married  at  an  early  age  to  Jaimal  Singh  of  the 
Kanhaiya  clan,  who  resided  at  Fatehgarh  and 
was  master  of  a  greater  part  of  the  Ban  Doab 
above  Dina  Nagar  in  present-day  Gurdaspur 
district  of  the  Punjab.  In  1793,  Raja  Sahib 
Singh,  in  view  of  mounting  dissensions  within 
his  state,  recalled  his  sister  Bibi  Sahib  Kaur  to 
Patiala  and  entrusted  to  her  the  office  of  prime 
minister.  She  had  not  been  long  in  Patiala  when 
she  had  to  return  to  Fatehgarh  at  the  head  of 
a  large  Patiala  army  to  rescue  her  husband  who 
had  been  captured  by  Fateh  Singh,  a  rival  chief. 
Back  in  Patiala  she  faced  a  large  Maratha  force 
marching  towards  the  town  in  1794  under  the 
command  of  Anta  Rao  and  Lachhman  Rao. 
Raja  Bhag  Singh  of  JTnd,  Jodh  Singh  of  Kalsia 
and  Bhariga  Singh  of  Thanesar  joined  hands 
with  her  while  Tara  Singh  Ghaiba  sent  a 
detachment  of  troops.  The  joint  force, 
numbering  about  7,000  men,  met  the  enemy 
at  Mardaripur  near  Ambala  where  a  fierce 
engagement  took  place.  The  Sikhs  were 
severely  outnumbered  and  would  have 
retreated  had  not  Sahib  Kaur,  alighting  from 
her  rath,  i.e.  chariot,  made  a  brave  call  with  a 
drawn  sword  in  hand  for  them  to  stay  firm  in 
their  ranks.  The  next  morning  they  made  a 
sudden  charge  on  the  Marathas  who,  taken  by 
surprise,  retired  towards  Karnal  in  utter 
confusion.  Bedi  Sahib  Singh  of  Una  charged 
the  Pathan  chief  of  Malerkotla  with  cow-killing 
and  attacked  him.  He  was  saved  by  the  timely 
succour  given  him  by  Sahib  Kaur.  In  1796,  in 
response  to  the  request  of  the  Raja  of  Nahan 
who  had  sought  help  from  Raja  Sahib  Singh  of 
Patiala  to  quell  a  revolt  in  his  state,  Sahib  Kaur 
proceeded  to  the  hills  with  a  strong  force  and 
soon  reduced  the  insurgents  to  submission. 
The  Raja  was  reinstalled  on  the  gaddi  and,  at 
the  time  of  Sahib  Kaur's  departure,  he 
presented  her  with  many  rich  and  valuable  gifts 


in  token  of  his  gratitude.  In  the  summer  of 
1799,  George  Thomas,  an  English  adventurer, 
who  had  become  very  powerful  and  who  ruled 
the  country  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hans! 
and  Hissar,  turned  his  attention  to  the  Sikh 
territories  on  his  northern  frontier  and 
marched  upon  Jind.  Sahib  Kaur  led  out  a 
strong  contingent  to  relieve  the  besieged  town 
and,  assisted  by  the  troops  of  other  Sikh  chiefs, 
she  forced  George  Thomas  to  withdraw. 

Owing  to  differences  with  her  brother, 
Bibi  Sahib  Kaur  had  to  leave  Patiala  to  take  up 
residence  in  Bheriari,  near  Sunam,  which  fell 
within  her  jagir  and  where  she  had  built  a  fort 
changing  the  name  of  the  village  to  Ubheval. 
She  died  there  in  1801  in  the  prime  of  her  life. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Atma  Singh,  Rani  Sahib  Kaur.  Patiala,  n.d. 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Rajas  of  the  Pun/'ab[Reprint]. 
Delhi,  1977 

3.  Pool,  John  J.,  Women's  Influence  in  the  East. 
London,  1892 

S.S.B. 

SAHIB  SINGH,  a  resident  of  Sarigla  Hill  in 
present-day  Faisalabad  district  of  Pakistan,  was 
a  veteran  of  the  Khalsa  army  under  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh  and  his  successors.  After  the  first 
Anglo-Sikh  war  (1845-46),  he  joined  the 
rebellious  band  of  Bhai  Maharaj  Singh 
(d.1856).  He  commanded  the  contingent  of 
400  horsemen  that  Bhai  Maharaj  Singh  took 
out  to  Multan  in  June  1848  in  aid  of  Dlwan 
Mul  Raj. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Ahluwalia,  M.L.,  Bhai  Maharaj  Singh.  Patiala, 
1972 

M.L.A. 

SAHIB  SINGH  BEDI,  BABA  (1756-1834), 
tenth  in  direct  descent  from  Guru  Nanak,  was 
much  revered  in  Sikh  times  for  his  piety  as  well 
as  for  his  martial  prowess.  He  was  born  at  Dera 
Baba  Nanak,  Gurdaspur  district  on  Chet  sudi 


SAHIB  SINGH  BEDl,  BABA 


19 


SAHIB  SINGH,  BHAl 


5,1813  Ilk/5  April  1756.  Around  1770,  his 
parents  Baba  Ajit  Singh  and  Mata  Sarupari 
Devi,  shifted  from  Dera  Baba  Nanak  to  Una,  a 
town  now  in  Himachal  Pradesh  in  the  Sivalik 
foothills,  where  the  family  held  extensive  jagirs. 
As  a  young  boy,  Sahib  Singh  studied  the  Sikh 
sacred  texts  and  had  training  in  the  use  6f  arms. 
On  the  death  of  his  father  in  Calcutta  in  1773, 
Sahib  Singh  succeeded  to  the  ancestral  estate. 
He  became  widely  reputed  for  his  religious 
learning  and  devotees  flocked  to  his 
magnificently-built  fortress  at  Una  to  listen  to 
his  discourses.  A  charisma  grew  around  his 
person  and  it  was  considered  a  signal  honour  to 
receive  pah  id  or  the  Sikh  initiatory  rite  at  his 
hands.  At  the  same  time,  he  became  die  arbiter 
of  political  feuds  among  the  misldars,  then 
engaged  in  occupying  territories  in  parts  of  the 
Punjab.  The  sardars  settled  upon  him  grants 
of  lands  and  he  came  to  acquire  great  influence 
in  the  Jalandhar  Doab  and  the  Majha  region. 

In  1794,  he  led  a  punitive  campaign 
against  the  Afghan  ruler,  Ata  Ullah  Khan,  of 
Malerkotla.  Tara  Singh  Ghaiba,  Baghel  Singh 
and  Bhaiiga  Singh  of  Thanesar  joined  forces 
with  him  in  this  expedition.  But  Patiala,  Nabha, 
JTnd  and  Kalsla  troops  intervened  on  behalf  of 
'Ata  Ullah  Khan  and  Sahib  Singh  withdrew 
after  receiving  a  war  indemnity.  In  1798, -helped 
by  the  forces  of  Tara  Singh,  Gurdit  Singh  and 
Jodh  Singh,  he  attacked  Rai  lliyas,  of  Raikot, 
about  40  km  from  Ludhiana.  He  occupied 
Jagraoh,  Dakha  and  Baddoval,  and  then 
advanced  towards  Ludhiana  and  Mansurari  and 
took  both  these  places.  A  gurdwara  in  the 
village  of  Akhara  (Ludhiana  district) 
comrrfemorates  his  victory.  During  Shah 
Zaman's  invasion  of  northern  India  (1796-98), 
Sahib  Singh  spearheaded  Sikh  resistance. 
When  on  7  July  1799,  the  young  Sukkarchakkia 
chief  Ranjit  Singh  took  possession  of  Lahore, 
Sahib  Singh  threw  his  weight  on  his  side  and 
helped  him  to  vanquish  Gulab  Singh  Bharigi 
in  the  batde  of  Bhasin  in  March  1800. 

At  the  time  of  Ranjit  Singh's  coronation 
at  Lahore  on  11  April  1801,  Baba  Sahib  Singh 


placed  the  tilak  or  mark  of  sovereignty  on  his 
forehead.  In  1807,  he  helped  to  setde  a  long- 
standing dispute  between  the  rulers  of  Nabha 
and  Patiala.  He  was  also  instrumental  in  arranging 
a  meeting  between  Sahib  Singh  of  Patiala  and 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  at  Lakhnaur  in  November 
1 808,  when  they  entered  into  a  bond  of  mutual 
fraternity  by  exchanging  turbans.  He  accompanied 
Ranjit  Singh  on  several  of  his  military 
expedidons.  Later  in  his  life,  Baba  Sahib  Singh 
devoted  himself  endrely  to  preaching  Guru 
Nanak's  word.  He  travelled  extensively  in  the 
Pothohar,  Majha  and  Malva  regions  and 
wherever  he  went  people  thronged  in  large 
numbers  to  see  him  and  to  pay  homage  to  him. 
Baba  Sahib  Singh  died  at  Una  on  17  July  1834. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sobha  Ram,  Gur-Bilas  Sahib  Singh  Bedi.  Ed. 
Gurmukh  Singh.  Patiala,  1988 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1890 

3.  Khushwant  Singh,  Ranjit  Singh  :  Maharajah  of 
the  Punjab.  Bombay,  1962 

Rj.S. 

SAHIB  SINGH,  BHAl  (1665-1705),  one  of  the 
Parij  Piare  or  the  Five  Beloved  of  revered 
memory  in  the  Sikh  tradition,  was  born  the  son 
of  Bhai  Guru  Narayana,  a  barber  of  Bidar  in 
Karnataka,  and  his  wife  Arikamma.  Bidar  had 
been  visited  by  Guru  Nanak  early  in  the 
sixteenth  century  and  a  Sikh  shrine  had  been 
established  there  in  his  honour.  Sahib  Chand, 
as  Sahib  Singh  was  called  before  he  underwent 
the  rites  of  the  Khalsa,  travelled  to  Anandpur 
at  the  young  age  of  16,  and  attached  himself 
permanendy  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  He  won  a 
name  for  himself  as  marksman  and  in  one  of 
the  batdes  at  Anandpur  he  shot  dead  the  Gujjar 
chief  Jamatulla.  In  another  action  the  raja  of 
Hindur,  Bhup  Chand,  was  seriously  wounded 
by  a  shot  from  his  musket  following  which  the 
enure  hill  army  fled  the  field.  Sahib  Chand  was 
one  of  the  five  Sikhs  who,  on  the  Baisakhi  day 
of  30  March  1699,  offered,  upon  Guru  Gobind 


SAH  Hi  SINGH  B HANOI 


20 


SAHIB  SINGH  ISAPURlA 


Singh's  call,  to  lay  down  their  heads.  They  were 
greeted  by  the  Guru  as  the  five  beloved  of  him. 
These  five  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  Khalsa. 
the  Guru's  own,  inaugurated  dramatically  on 
that  day.  Sahib  Chand,  after  undergoing  the 
rites  of  the  Khalsa,  became  Sahib  Singh, 
receiving  the  surname  of  Singh  common  to  all 
members  of  the  Khalsa  brotherhood. 

Bhai  Sahib  Singh  fell  in  the  battle  of 
Chamkaur  on  7  December  1705. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kuir  Singh,  Gubilas  Patshahl  10.  Patiala,  1968 

2.  Chhibbar,  Kesar  Singh,  Barisava/inaina  Dasan 
Patshahiah  Ka.  Chandigarh,  1972 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Guru  Panth  Prakash 
[Reprint],  Patiala,  1970 

S.S.A. 

SAHIB  SINGH  BHANGI  (d.1811),  son  of 
Gujjar  Singh  of  the  Bharigl  clan,  one  of  the 
numerous  principalities  into  which  Punjab  was 
divided  during  the  latter  part  of  the  18th 
century,  ruled  over  the  territory  of  Gujrat  in 
central  Punjab.  He  was  married  to  Raj  Kaur, 
daughter  of  Charhat  Singh  Sukkarchakkia,  the 
grandfather  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh.  On  the 
eve  of  the  first  invasion,  in  1794,  of  Shah 
Zaman,  grandson  of  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  it 
was  estimated  that  Sahib  Singh's  state  yielded 
an  annual  revenue  of  thirteen  lakh  rupees.  He 
owned  twelve  forts  and  had  a  body  of  2,000 
horse  in  permanent  employ,  besides  a  big  gun 
called  Shah  Pasand.  In  June  1797,  Sahib  Singh 
joined  Ranjit  Singh  in  his  campaign  against 
Hashmat  Khan,  the  chief  of  the  Chattha  tribe, 
whose  possessions  lay  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
River  Chenab.  At  the  time  of  the  last  invasion 
of  Shah  Zaman  in  1798,  Sahib  Singh,  along  with 
Ranjit  Singh,  attacked  him  with  500  horse.  On 
the  withdrawal  of  Shah  Zaman  from  the  Punjab 
in  January  1799,  Sahib  Singh  under  instruction 
from  Ranjit  Siiigh  led  a  force  towards  Kashmir, 
and  in  1806  accompanied  him  on  his 
expedition  into  the  cis-Sutlej  region.  As  his 
own    position    became    vulnerable  in 


consequence  of  the  hostility  of  the  surrounding 
Sikh  chiefs,  Ranjit  Singh  ended  Sahib  Siiigh 's 
authority  by  annexing  his  country.  In  1810,  the 
Maharaja,  upon  the  intercession  of  Mai 
Lachhmi,  mother  of  Sahib  Singh,  granted  him 
a  jagir  worth  one  lakh  of  rupees  which  he  held 
until  his  death  the  following  year.  On  Sahib 
Singh's  death,  Maharaja  Ranjit  Siiigh  married 
by  the  customary  rite  of  chkdar  dalna,  two  of 
the  former's  wives,  Daya  Kaur  and  Ratan  Kaur, 
who  were  real  sisters,  celebrated  for  their  beauty. 
Daya  Kaur  gave  birth  to  Kashmiri  Singh  and 
Pashaura  Siiigh  and  Ratan  Kaur  to  Multana  Singh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sin  I,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

3.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  I. 
Princeton,  1963 

4.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,  Life  and  Times  of  Ranjit 
Singh.  Nabha,  1977 

5.  Gian  Siiigh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

S.S.B. 

SAHIB  SINGH  ISAPURlA  (b.1805),  son  of 
Ram  Siiigh  Randhava, belonged  to  the  Isapur 
branch  of  the  Randhava  family  founded  by  his 
great-grandfather,  Dasaundha  Siiigh.  At  the 
time  of  his  father's  death  in  1836,  he  was 
serving  under  Raja  Suchet  Siiigh  Dogra.  He 
participated  in  many  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh's 
campaigns  of  conquest.  He  was  present  when 
Multan  was  conquered  in  1818  and  alsojoined 
the  expedition  to  Kashmir  the  following  year. 
He  served  under  Prince  Kharak  Siiigh  and  Raja 
Suchet  Siiigh  at  Mankera,  Bannu  and  Derajat. 
He  survived  long  after  the  occupation  of  the 
Punjab  by  the  British  and  resided  at  Isapur. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Griffin,  Lepel,  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore, 1909 

G.S.N. 


SAHIB  SINGH  MRIGIND,  BHA1 


n 


SAHIB  SINGH,  PROFESSOR 


SAHIB  SINGH  MRIGIND,  BHAl  (c.  1804- 
1876),  poet  and.  author,  served  in  the  princely 
court  ofjmd  under  Raja  Sarup  Singh  (d.  1864) 
and  Raja  Raghbir  Singh  (1834-1887).  His 
father,  Divan  Singh,  was  a  granthiin  the  employ 
of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh.  He  was  a  Kamboj  by 
caste  and  belonged  to  fagmal  village  in 
Hoshiarpur  district  of  the  Punjab.  His  output 
is  voluminous,  but  he  has  not  left  many  details 
about  his  personal  life.  However.on  the  basis 
of  scattered  references  in  his  works  it  can  be 
made  out  that  he  went  for  higher  learning  to 
Kashi  (VaranasI)  where  he  spent  ten  years 
studying  sastras,  earning  the  popular  title  of 
Khatsastri,  or  master  of  the  six  sastras.  He 
returned  to  Lahore  but  had  soon  to  leave 
under  the  displeasure  of  Maharan'i  Jind  Kaur, 
widow  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh.  His  Rani 
Rajindramati  Charitra  which  presents  a 
somewhat  distorted  portrait  of  Maharani  Jind 
Kaur  is  perhaps  the  result  of  his  anger  against 
the  queen.  He  went  to  Kurukshetra  where  the 
ruler  of  Kaithal  gave  him  refug;e  and  from 
where  Raja  Sarup  Singh  brought  him  to 
Sahgrur,  the  capital  tifjind.  state,  and  gave  him 
appointment  as  a  court  poet.  Sahib  Singh 
wrote,  translated  and  edited  books  on  a  variety 
of  subjects.  The  language  of  all  of  his  works  is 
Braj,  written  in  Gurmukhi  script.  Among  the 
nearly  nineteen  works  credited  to  him  are 
Sabda  Kumud  Kalanidhi  (1821),  a  translation 
of  Varad  Raj's  Laghu  Siddhant  Kaumudi which 
deals  with  verbal  forms;  Ras  Mandal  Lilk  ( 1 846) , 
a  free  rendering  of  the  tenth  skandh  (chapter) 
of  the  Bhagvata  Purana  covering  the  life  of 
Lord  Krsna;  Ast  Mahal  (1846),  a  poetical  note 
on  political  ethics;  Rani  Rajindramati  Charitra 
(1851) i';  Bkji Brind Bodh  Granth  (1855)  which 
has  ethics  of  love  for  its  theme;  jog  fas  Prakas 
(1858),  an  exposition  of  the  yogic  philosophy 
based  on  the  famous  Hatha  Yoga  Pradipika; 
Kabit  Kusum  Batika  Granth  (1859),  an 
anthology  of  Kabits  of  poets  like  Senapati, 
Sripat,  Gwal,  Padmakar,  el:,  al.;  Suman  Sanjivan 
(1860)  which  deals  with  the  ethics  of 
matrimonial  love  ;  Sri  Guru  Dasain  Pahchasika; 


Tarak  Prakksh  Nyaya  (1863),  a  gist  of  Nyaya 
Sutra;  Baramaha  (1864),  a  traditional  poem 
about  the  love  of  Radha  for  Lord  Krsna;  Sri 
Bhagati  Bhav  Prabhakar  (1869),  a  song  of 
devotion  depicting  the  colourful  show  or  Mia 
of  Lord  Krsna,  PhulBans  Prakas  (1873),  history 
of  the  Phulkiah  states;  Nij  Kartutan  Natija. 
Granth  (1881)  which  book  was  begun  by  the 
author  but  was  completed  by  his  son  and  which 
advises  man  to  desist  from  evil  and  do  good; 
Murakh  Satak,  a  poem  depicting  folly  in  its  100 
forms;  and  Mrigind  Gurmukhi  Marg.  Besides 
being  a  poet  and  scholar,  Sahib  Singh  was  a 
great  lover  of  music  and  painting.  Though  most 
of  the  specimens  of  paintings  he  had  collected 
or  himself  painted  are  lost,  those  few  preserved 
by  his  descendants  are  of  great  value.  These 
include  portraits  of  the  Gurus,  of  Kabir  and 
Farid  made  in  the  Guler  and  Basohli  style. 

bhai  Sahib  Singh  died  at  Sahgrur  in  1876. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  ed.,  Panjabi  Sahhya  Kosh, 
Part  I.  Chandigarh,  1972 

Gr.S. 

SAHIB  SINGH,  PROFESSOR  (1892-1977), 
grammarian  and  theologian,  was  born  on  16 
February  1892  in  a  Hindu  family  of  the  village 
of  Phattevali  in  Sialkot  district  of  undivided 
Punjab.  He  was  originally  named  Natthu  Ram 
by  his  father,  Hiranand,  who  kept  a  small  shop 
in  the  village.  Soon  the  family  shifted  to 
Tharpal,  another  village  in  the  same  district. 
AS  a  youth,  Natthu  Ram  was  apprenticed  to  the 
village  Maulawi,  Hayat  Shah,  son  of  the  famous 
Punjabi  poet,  Hasham,  upon  whom  his  royal 
patron,  Ranjit  Singh,  the  Maharaja  of  the 
Punjab,  had  settled  a  permanent jagfr.Winning 
a  scholarship  at  his  middle  standard  examination, 
Natthu  Ram  joined  the  high  school  at  Pasrur 
where  he  received  in  1906  the  rites  of  the 
Khalsa  and  his  new  name  Sahib  Singh.  The 
untimely  death  of  his  father  made  the  situation 
hard  for  him,  yet  he  managed  to  plough 
through  first  Dyal  Singh  College,  Lahore,  and 


SAHIB  SINGH,  PROFKSSOR 


22 


SAHIIi  SINGH,  RAJA 


then  the  Government  College,  Lahore.  At  the 
latter,  he  obtained  his  bachelor's  degree.  In 
1917,  he  joined  as  a  lecturer  in  Sanskrit  at  Guru 
Nanak  Khalsa  College,  Gujrahwala. 

Sahib  Singh,  now  commonly  known  as 
Professor  Sahib  Singh,  took  part  in  the 
Gurdwara  Reform  movement  in  the  twenties 
of  the  century.  He  was  appointedjoint  secretary 
of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  in  1921.  During  this  period  he 
suffered  jail  twice-once  during  the  Guru  ka 
Bagh  agitation  (1922)  and  then  in  the  Jaito 
morcha  (1924).  In  1927  he  returned  briefly  to 
his  college  in  Gujrahwala  which  he  soon  quit 
to  join  the  Khalsa  College  at  Amritsar.  From 
1929  to  1952  he  remained  at  Khalsa  College 
producing  a  succession  of  learned  works  and 
commentaries  on  the  Sikh  sacred  texts.  Retiring 
from  the  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar,  after  many  a 
long  year  of  unbroken  and  luminous  scholarly 
work,  he  became  principal  of  the  Shahid  Sikh 
missionary  College.  He  also  worked  as  principal 
at  the  Gurmat  College,  Patiala. 

Professor  Sahib  Singh  was  known  for  his 
erudition  and  assiduous  pursuit  of  scholarship. 
Nearly  50  of  his  works  were  published  between 
1927  and  1977.  These  included  exposition  of 
several  of  the  Sikh  sacred  texts  and  his 
monumental  10-volume  commentary  on  Sikh 
Scripture,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpan, 
published  during  1962-64.  A  most  original  and 
earlier  work  was  his  Gurbani  Viakaran,  a  textual 
grammar  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  No 
exegetical  work  since  the  publication  of  this 
book  in  1932  has  been  possible  without  resort 
to  the  fundamental  principles  enunciated  in 
it,  especially  those  concerning  die  interpretation 
of  vowel  endings  in  inflexions  of  nouns  and 
verbs.  Sahib  Singh  made  a  notable  contribution 
to  Punjabi  prose  through  his  essays  on  moral 
and  spiritual  themes,  religious  philosophy  and 
issues  in  history  arid  biography. 

Sahib  Singh's  contribution  to  Sikh  studies 
and  Punjabi  letters  received  wide  recognition 
in  his  own  lifetime.  The  Punjabi  Sahitya 
Akademi,  Ludhiana,  honoured  him  in  1970 


with  a  life  fellowship,  and  Punjabi  University, 
Patiala,  conferred  upon  him,  in  1971,  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Literature  (honoris  causa) . 
Earlier,  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  had  made  award  to  him  for  his 
Gurbani  Viakaran,  and  the  Government  of 
Patiala  and  East  Punjab  States  Union  had 
honoured  him  in  1952  marking  his  services  to 
Punjabi  literature. 

Professor  Sahib  Sirigh  died  of  Parkinson's 
disease  at  Amritsar  on  29  October  1977. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Punjabi  Sahit  de  Pahj  Ratan.  Patiala,1952 

2.  Abinash  Kaur,  Professor  Sahib  Singh:  Jivan  te 
Rachna.  Patiala,  1983 

3.  Sahib  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpan. 
Jalandhar,  1962-64 

W.S. 

SAHIB  SINGH,  RAJA  (1773-1813),  born  on  18 
August  1773  to  Raja  Amar  Singh  and  Rani  Raj 
Kaur,  ascended  the  throne  of  Patiala  after  his 
father's  death  in  February  1781.  In  1787  he  was 
married,  at  Amritsar,  to  Ratan  Kaur,  daughter 
of  Ganda  Sirigh,  the  Bhahgl  chief.  Five  years 
later,  he  contracted  a  second  marriage,  with 
As  Kaur,  daughter  of  Gurdas  Sirigh  Chattha. 
During  his  minority,  Diwan  Nanu  Mall,  first  with 
the  advice  and  counsel  of  Mai  Hukmari, 
grandmother  of  Sahib  Sirigh,  and  after  her 
death  with  the  help  of  Bibi  Rajindar  Kaur,  the 
aunt  of  the  Raja,  managed  the  affairs  of  the 
state.  Even  when  he  assumed  ruling  powers, 
Sahib  Singh,  was  guided  and  helped  by  his 
sister,  Sahib  Kaur,  who  by  her  strong  leadership 
saved  the  state  in  1794  from  usurpation  by  the 
Marathas.  After  Sahib  Kaur's  death  the  real 
power  passed  into  the  hands  of  Rani  As  Kaur, 
the  Raja's  wife. 

Raja  Sahib  Siiigh  died  at  Patiala  on  26 
March  181 3.  It  was  during  his  rule  that  the  state 
came  under  British  protection. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Rajas  of  the  Punjab  [Reprint] . 


SAHOVAL 


23 


SAID  BEG 


Delhi,  1977 

2.  Ganda  Singh,  The  Patiala  and  the  East  Pary'ab 
States  Union.  Patiala,  1951 

S.S.B. 

SAHOVAL,  village  8  km  southwest  of  Sialkot 
(32"-30'N,  74"-32'E)  in  Pakistan,  is  sacred  to 
Guru  Nanak  (1469-1539)  who  once  cairne  here 
travelling  from  Sialkot  and  ,  according  to  local 
tradition,  stayed  under  a  ber  tree  (Ziziphus 
mauritiana)  near  a  pond  for  seven  days.  A 
gurdwara  was  later  raised  here  and  the  pond 
lined  into  a  sarovar  or  holy  tank  named 
Nanaksar.  Gurdwara  Nanaksar  preserved  wi  thin 
its  compound  the  ber  tree,  reverently  called 
Ber  Sahib,  under  which  Guru  Nanak  is  said  to 
have  halted  temporarily.  The  shrine  was 
abandoned  at  the  time  of  the  1947  exodus 
following  the  partition  of  the  Punjab. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  S&ngrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurdukre  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduariah.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

M.G.S. 

SAHVA,  a  village  in  Churu  district  of  Rajasthan, 
40  km  southwest  of  Bhadra  (29"-10'N,  75"-15'E), 
is  referred  to  as  Suheva  in  Sikh  chronicles  and 
is  popularly  called  Suhava  Sahib.  Guru  Gobind 
Singh,  while  travelling  from  the  Punjab  to  the 
South  in  October-November  1706  arrived  here 
from  Nohar  via  Surpur  along  the  old  cart-road 
which  still  exists.  He  established  his  camp  near 
the  eastern  bank  of  a  pond.  Parain  Singh  and 
Dharam  Singh,  sons  of  Bhal  Rup  Chand,  used 
to  make  the  Guru's  bed  at  every  stage  of  the 
journey.  Not  finding  a  suitable  cot  here,  they 
improvised  a  bedstead  with  tree  branches  and 
wild  grass.They  were  blessed  by  the  Guru  for 
their  service  and  devotion.  Near  the  Guru's 
camp  there  stood  an  old jand  tree  through  which 
had  sprouted  a  pipai.  The  Guru  remarked  that 


as  the  pjpaJ  tree  overgrew  the  rough,  thorny 
jand,  the  Khalsa  would  prosper.  At  present  only 
the  old  pipai  tree  stands.  It  was  probably  during 
his  stay  here  that  the  Guru  visited  Bhadra.  A 
platform  was  constructed  on  the  spot  consecrated 
by  the  Guru's  stay,  and  was  looked  after  by  a  local 
devotee,  Daulat  Ram,  and  his  descendants  till 
1873  when  a  Punjabi  Sikh,  Ram  Singh,  setded 
here  as  a  permanent  granthi.  The  Maharaja  of 
Patiala  sanctioned  ajagir  in  1 882,  which  continued 
till  1951.  The  cornerstone  for  the  present 
building  was  laid  on  the  1st  of  Baisakh  1942 
Ilk/  11  April  1885.  In  1966  Baba  Baghel  Singh, 
a  Icar-sevavaJe  activist  acquired  it  from  Mahant 
Harnam  Singh  (d.7  May  1976).  The  principal 
annual  festival  is  the  birth  anniversary  of  Guru 
Nanak  when  Sikhs  from  the  surrounding  area 
come  to  pay  homage  at  this  gurdwara. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sahgrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guiduariaji.  Amritsar,  n.d. 

M.G.S. 

SAID  BEG  (d.  1703),  a  Mughal  general,  in 
company  with  another  general,  Alif  Khan,  was 
marching  at  the  head  of  an  army  on  his  way 
from  Lahore  to  Delhi  when  the  Rajput  hill 
rulers  led  by  Raja  Ajmer  Chand  of  Bilaspur 
persuaded  him  to  join  them  in  an  attack  on 
Guru  Gobind  Singh,  who,  according  to  Bhai 
Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth, 
was  then  camping  at  Chamkaur  on  his  way  back 
from  Kurukshetra.  As  Said  Beg  saw  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  majestically  ride  his  steel-blue 
steed,  he  felt  deeply  moved.  He  left  his  army 
and  crossed  over  to  the  Guru's  side.  Alif  Khan, 
surprised  and  dispirited  by  Said  Beg's  action, 
also  withdrew  from  the  contest.  Said  Beg 
remained  with  Guru  Gobind  Singh  and  fell 
fighting  for  him  when  another  imperial  force 
under  General  Said  Khan  attacked  Anandpur 
jointly  with  the  hill  rajas  in  February  1703. 


SAID  KHAN 


24 


SAIDO,  BHAI 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Chandigarh, 
1966 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion. 
Oxford,  1909 

P.S.P. 

SAID  KHAN,  a  Mughal  general,  came  in 
February  1703  at  the  head  of  a  large  army  to 
invade  Anandpur  and  force  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  into  submission.  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
who,  according  to  Gur  Ratan  Mai  (Sau  Sakhi), 
had  only  500  warriors  with  him  at  the  time, 
came  out  of  the  town  to  face  the  attack.  A 
severe  battle  followed  in  which  Maimun  Khan 
with  his  contingent  of  1 00  Muslim  retainers  and 
Said  Beg,  a  former  general  of  the  Mughals  who 
had  changed  sides  some  time  earlier,  fought 
on  the  Guru's  side  with  conspicuous  courage. 
While  the  battle  was  raging,  Guru  Gobind 
Singh,  riding  his  famous  charger,  made  a  dash 
through  the  ranks  and  reached  where  Said 
Khan  was  ancj.  challenged  him.  Said  Khan  had 
heard  many  marvellous  stories  about  the 
Guru's  spiritual  power  and  had  secretly 
cherished  in  his  heart  a  wish  to  meet  him  in 
person.  Now  that  he  was  face  to  face  with  him, 
Said  Khan  was  so  much  impressed  by  the 
Guru's  presence  that  all  intent  of  war  vanished 
from  his  heart.  Dismounting  his  horse,  he 
touched  the  Guru's  stirrup  to  do  homage  to 
him.  Guru  Gobind  Singh  blessed  him  and  he 
quiedy  left  the  field.  He  became  a  recluse  and 
spent  the  rest  of  his  life  in  prayer. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion. 
Oxford,  1909 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,1970 

4.  Nayyar,  G.S.,  ed.,  Sau  Sikh!.  Patiala,1985 

P.S.P. 


SAIDO,  BHAI,  a  Gheho  Jatt,  worshipper  of 
Khwaja  Khizr,  a  mythical  Muslim  saint,  became 
a  disciple  of  Guru  Nanak.  According  to  Puratan 
Janam  Sakhi,  he  accompanied  Guru  Nanak 
during  his  journey  to  the  South.  While  in 
Ceylon,  Guru  Nanak  is  said  to  have  uttered 
Pran  Sangali,  a  metrical  composition  desribing 
the  state  of  true  spiritual  discernment.  Bhai 
Saido  is  said  to  have  reduced  the  text  to  writing. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Vir  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Puratan  Janam  Sakhi. 
Amritsar,  1971 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,   The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gums,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

P.S.P. 

SAIDO,  BHAI,  of  Lahore,  received  the  rites  of 
initiation  during  the  time  of  Guru  Amar  Das. 
He  once  led  a  sarigat  to  the  presence  of  Guru 
Amar  Das  to  request  him  to  lift  the  "curse" 
pronounced  by  Guru  Nanak  upon  Lahore. 
There  is  a  line  in  Guru  Nanak  :  "The  city  of 
Lahore  went  through  a  quarter  of  a  day's  cruel 
atrocity"  (GG14I2).  The  somewhat  obscure 
reference  appears  lo  be  to  the  sack  of  Lahore 
by  Babar's  invading  host  in  1524.  Guru  Nanak 
was  alluding  to  the  terror  let  loose  upon  the 
citizens  for  well  over  three  hours,  to  which  he 
had  probably  been  a  witness.  But  the  Sikhs  of 
Lahore,  says  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur 
Pratap  Suraj  Granth,  thought  that  Guru 
Nanak's  words,  implied  a  curse  foretelling  a 
future  calamity.  Bhai  Saido  accompanied  by 
Bhai  Sain  Ditta,  a  goldsmith,  Jhanjhi  by  caste, 
waited  on  Guru  Amar  Das  and  invited  him  to 
visit  Lahore.  In  Lahore,  the  enure  sarigat,  full 
of  apprehension,  requested  the  Guru  to  cancel 
the  curse.  Guru  Amar  Das  allayed  their  fear 
saying  "The  city  of  Lahore  is  the  very  pool  of 
nectar."  The  verse  is  recorded  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  like  Guru  Nanak's. 

Bhai  Saido  and  Bhai  Sain  Ditta  went  to 
see  Guru  Arjan  and  narrated  to  him  the  event. 


SA1F  UD-DiN  MAHMUD 


25 


SAIN 


Guru  Arjan  instructed  them  to  repeat  always 
Vahiguru,  the  single  word  denoting  the 
formless  as  well  as  the  manifest  nature  of  God. 
Bhai  Saido  and  his  companion  fell  at  the  Guru's 
feet  and  felt  blessed. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SAIF  UD-DIN  MAHMUD,  also  called  Saif  Khan 
(d.  1685) ,  a  high-  ranking  noble  in  the  reign  of 
Aurahgzib,  was  a  man  of  religious  disposition 
which,  earned  him  the  popular  title  of 
Faqirullah,  meaning  a  holy  man  of  God.  His 
father,  Tarbiat  Khan,  had  been  a  Bakhshi  or 
paymaster  under  Emperor  Shah  Jahan,  and  his 
elder  brother,  Fidai  Khan,  was  Aurahgzib's 
foster-brother.  During  the  war  of  succession 
(1658)  Saif  ud-Din  had  fought  gallantly  on  the 
side  of  Aurahgzib,  who  rewarded  him  with  the 
tide  of  Saif  Khan  and  the  governorship  of  Agra. 
Relieved  of  his  post  later,  Saif  Khan  redred  to 
his  small  fief  in  Sirhind  territory  where  he 
founded,  in  1668,  a  fortified  habitation  named 
Saifabad,  now  Bahadurgarh,  near  Patiala.  He 
was  governor  of  Kashmir  twice  -  in  1665-68  and 
again  in  1669-1671.  In  1671,  he  quit  the  post 
and  turned  a  hermit.  He  was  restored  to  his 
tide  and  rank  at  the  end  of  1675,  and  made 
Subahdar  of  Bihar  in  1678,  but  was  dismissed 
in  1683.  He  died  on  23  April  1685. 

Nawab  Saif  Khan  was  an  admirer  of  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  whom  he  met  on  several 
occasions.  Once  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  is  said  to 
have  put  up  with  him  at  Saifabad  for  over  three 
months. The  Guru  encamped  in  Saif  Khan's 
garden,  outside  the  fort,  enclosing  his  mansion 
and  mosque.  The  Nawab  also  took  him  into 
the  inner  apartments  of  his  mansion  to  enable 
the  ladies  of  his  household  to  meet  him.  An 
old  Gurdwara  across  the  road  from  the 
Bahadurgarh  Fort  now  marks  the  site  where 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  had  stayed  as  Saif  Khan's 
guest.  Saif  Khan's  tomb  is  also  located  near  the 


Fort.  People  still  remember  him  with  reverence 
as  Saifa  Baba  and  visit  his  tomb,  especially  on 
Thursdays. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  and  Giani  Garja  Singh,  eds., 
Guru  kian  Sakhian.  Patiala.  1986 

2.  Trilochan  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur :  Prophet 
and  Martyr.  Delhi,  1967 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  Delhi, 
1982 

A.C.B. 

SAIN  or  SAIN,  whose  one  hymn  has  been 
included  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  is  counted 
among  the  disciples  of  Ramanand  (1300- 
141 1 ) .  Guru  Arjan,  Nanak  V,  says  in  one  of  his 
hymns  in  the  Holy  Book  that  the  name  of  Sain 
was  a  household  word  as  a  bhakta  of  rare 
devotion  (GO,  487).  In  another,  hymn,  he  refers 
to  him  as  an  example  of  dedication  to  the 
service  of  holymen.  Bhakta  Ravidas  in  a  sabda 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  ranks  Sain  with 
Namdev,  Kabir,  Trilochan  and  Sadhna  in  piety 
(GG.  1 1  ()6) .  According  to  Bhai  Gurdas,  Sain  was 
the  disciple  of  Ramanand  and  he  had  adopted 
him  as  his  preceptor  on  hearing  of  the  fame  of 
Kabir  (1398-1518)  who,  too,  was  Ramanand's 
disciple.  All  accounts  agree  that  Sain  was  a 
barber,  some  stating  that  he  served  at  the  court 
of  the  king  of  Reva,  then  called  Bandhavgarh, 
in  Central  India,  while  others  hold  that  he  was 
attached  to  the  court  of  the  ruler  of  Bidar  in 
South  India. Those  supporting  the  South 
Indian  tradition  believe  that  Sain  was  a  disciple 
of  Jhanadeva. 

What  is  the  best  arati  or  form  of  adoration 
of  the  Lord  is  the  theme  of  Sain's  pada 
incorporated  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 
According  to  Sain  singing  of  His  praise  and 
meditating  on  His  Name  constitute  the  highest 
worship.  These  alone  will  ferry  one  across  the 
fearful  ocean  and  bring  him  liberation. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  £abadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 


SAIN,  BHAl 


26 


SAIN  DAS,  BHAI 


2.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  X.16 

3.  Gurdit  Singh,  Giani,  Itihas  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
(Bhagat  Bam  Bhag).  Chandigarh,  1990 

4.  Sahib  Singh,  Bhagat  Bani  Satik.  Amritsar,  1959- 
60 

5.  Chaturvedl,  Parshu  Ram,  Uttari  Bharat  ki  Sant 
Prampra.  Allahabad,  1964 

6.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

T.S. 

SAIN,  BHAI,  or  Bhai  Saiari,  a  Sethi  Khatri,  was 
a  devout  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan.  He 
was  a  talented  musician  who  sang  the  Guru's 
bani  with  love  and  devotion.  Thus  he  spread 
Guru  Nanak's  word  far  and  wide.  His  name 
finds  mention  among  the  Guru's  devotees  in 
Bhai  Gurdas,  Varari,  XI.  24. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SAIN  DAS,  BHAI,  skilled  in  setting  precious 
stones,  was  a  devoted  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru 
Arjan.  Once  he  waited  upon  the  Guru  and 
submitted  :  "O  True  King,  you  tell  us  that  we 
should  listen  to  the  shabadwith  concentration. 
But  my  mind  wanders  as  I  sit  listening."  The 
Guru,  according  to  Bhai  Mani  Singh,  Sikhan 
di  Bhagat  Mala,  said  that  the  remedy  lay  in  holy 
company.  The  more  he  sat  in  the  sahgat  the 
greater  would  be  his  absorption  in  the  Word. 
Bhai  Sain  Das  followed  the  Guru's  precept  and 
led  a  pious  life. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varari,  XI.28 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  SrJ  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 


SAIN  DAS,  BHAI,  Bhai  Bala  and  Bhai  Ram  Das, 
Khatris  of Bhandari  clan,  Bhai  Mula  and  Bhai 
Suja  of  Dhavan  clan,  and  Bhai  Chandu 
Chaujhar,  all  Sikhs  of  Guru  Arjan's  time,  once 
came  to  him  and  begged  to  be  enlightened 
about  the  basis  of  the  dispensation  of 
consequences  of  good  and  bad.  actions.  They 
wanted  to  know  whether  each  action,  virtuous 
or  sinful  has  its  corresponding  reward  or 
punishment,  or  a  person's  destiny  is  decided 
by  the  balance  of  his  good  and  evil  deeds.  Guru 
Arjan  according  to  Bhai  Mani  Singh,  Sikhan 
di  Bhagat  Mala,  explained,  "One  who  acts  with 
a  definite  end  in  view  must  face  the 
consequence  of  his  each  individual  action. 
Those  who  perform  selfless  actions,  not 
because  of  a  desire  for  reward  but  because  they 
must  act  as  a  duty,  suffer  the  consequence  of 
their  total  performance.  Normally,  the  virtuous 
worshippers  of  God  do  not  commit  sin 
deliberately.  Any  unintentional  wrong  on  their 
part  is  counterbalanced  by  their  good  deeds. 
Those  among  them  who  are  blessed  with  divine 
knowledge  as  well  as  with  devotion,  the  bhagal- 
gianis,  consider  both  body  and  bodily  actions 
as  illusion.  As  darkness  cannot  touch  the  Sun, 
actions  have  no  effect  on  them.  They  are 
jivanmukt,  that  is,  already  liberated  while  yet 
alive."  Bhai  Sain  Das  and  his  companions,  writes 
Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth,  found  complete  mental  peace  and 
tranquillity  on  listening  to  the  Guru. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varari,  XI.  19 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SAlN  DAS,  BHAI  (d.  1631),  married  to  Ramo, 
the  elder  sister  of  Guru  Hargobind's  wife,  Mata 
Damodari,  lived  in  Darauli,  renamed  Darauli 
Bhai  after  him,  in  present-day  Moga  district. 
He  became  a  Sikh  under  the  influence  of  his 


SAlN  DITTA 


27 


SAJJAN,  SHAIKH 


wife  and  her  father,  Narain  Das.  Such  was  his 
devotion  to  Guru  Hargobind  that,  once  as  he 
constructed  a  new  house,  he  vowed  that  he 
would  not  occupy  it  until  the  Guru  had  blessed 
it  by  a  visit.  Guru  Hargobind  did  visit  Darauli 
with  his  mother  and  wife  and  stayed  with  Bhai 
Sairi  Das  in  his  new  house  for  a  considerable 
time  awaiting  the  birth  of  his  first  child,  Baba 
Gurditta.  This  was  in  1613.  Eighteen  years  later, 
Mata  Damodari,  on  another  visit  to  Darauli, 
expired  in  the  home  of  Sain  Das  after  a  brief 
illness.  Sain  Das'  wife,  Ramo,  pined  away  at  the 
loss  of  her  sister  and  died  soon  after.Bhai 
Sain  Das  did  not  survive  her  long  and  died  in 
1631. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurbilas  Patshahi  Chhevih.  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giant,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

SAIN  DITTA,  of  Jhahjhi  caste  of  goldsmiths 
who  belonged  to  Lahore,  was  a  pious  Sikh, 
contemporary  with  Guru  Amar  Das,  Guru  Ram 
Das,  and  Guru  Arjan.  His  name  included 
among  the  leading  devotees  in  Bhai  Mani 
Singh,  Sikhah  di  Bhagat  Mala. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Man!  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhah  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.25 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SAIN  DITTA,  a  pious  Sikh  of  Sultaftipur  Lodhi, 
contemporary  with  Guru  Amar  Das,  Guru  Ram 
Das  and  Guru  Arjan.  Bhai  Gurdas  describes  him 
in  one  of  his  stanzas  as  "Sain  Ditta  the  humble 
saint"  (Varan,  XI.  21). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhah  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SAISArO,  BHAI,  a  devoted  Sikh  of  the  time  of 
Guru  Ram  Das.  His  name  occurs  in  Bhai 
Gurdas,  Varan,  XI.  17. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,   Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,    Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

Gr.S. 

SAISARU,  BHAI,  a  Talvar  Khatri  of  Agra,  was  a 
devoted  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan.  He 
once  had  the  privilage  of  the  Guru's  audience 
and  of  receiving  blessing  from  him.  His  name 
occurs  among  Guru  Arjan's  leading  Sikhs  in 
Bhai  Gurdas,  Varan,  XI.  27.  _ 

See  ALAM  CHAND  HANDA 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sixhari  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SAJJAN,  SHAIKH,  a  resident  of  Makhdumpur, 
20  km  southwest  of  the  ancient  town  of 
Talumbha  or  Tulambha,  now  in  Multan  district 
of  Pakistan,  was  a  thug  or  cutthroat  who, 
according  to  the  Janam  Sakhi»tradition,  was 
once  visited  by  Guru  Nanak.  Sajjan  lived  in 
apparent  piety  and  prosperity  and  maintained 
a  mosque  for  Muslims  and  a  temple  for  Hindus. 
The  sleeping  guests  were  despatched  by  Sajjan 
and  his  band  of  thugs  and  their  goods  became 
his  property.  As  Guru  Nanak  accompanied  by 
Mardana  passed  that  way  during  his  travel 
across  southwestern  Punjab  and  stopped  by, 


SAKA  PANJA  SAHIB 


28 


SAKA  PANJA  SAHIB 


Shaikh  Sayan  read  in  his  lustrous  face  the  signs 
of  affluence  and  treated  him  with  more  than 
usual  courtesy.  At  night,  however,  the  Guru 
tarried  long  before  going  to  bed  which  made 
Sajjan  impatient.  At  last  he  came  near  the  door 
to  see  inside.  He  discovered  Mardana  was 
playing  on  his  rabab  and  Guru  Nanak  was 
singing  a  hymn  in  enraptured  devotion.  Sajjan 
was  overwhelmed  and  falling  at  the  Guru's  feet 
confessed  remorsefully  how  sinful  he  was.  The 
Guru  said  that  he  could  yet  hope  for  God's 
grace  and  forgiveness  if  he  confessed  and 
repented  and  delivered  all  of  his  possessions 
which  he  had  collected  by  impious  means. 
"Then,"  says  Puratan  Janam  Sakhi,  "Sajjan 
obeyed.  He  brought  out  all  8ie  things  and  gave 
them  away  in  God's  name."  He  converted  his 
house  into  a  dharamsala  which,  according  to 
the  Janam  Sakhi,  was  the  first  such  centre 
established  in  the  history  of  early  Sikhism. 

Sajjan's  tomb  still  exists  near 
Makhdumpur,  in  Pakistan.  A  ruined  mound 
near  it  is  also  known  by  his  name. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Nanak  and  Origins  of  the 
Sikh  Faith.  Bombay,  1969 

2.  Vir  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Sri  Guru  Nanak  Chamatkar. 
Amritsar,  1928 

3.  -.Puratan  Janam  Sakhi.  Amritsar,  1926 

4.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Panth  Prakash.  Delhi,  1880 

5.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  ed.  Janamsakhi  Bhai  Bala. 
Chandigarh,  1975 

Gn.S. 

SAKA  PANJA  SAHIB,  the  heroic  event  which 
took  place  at  Hasan  Abdal  railway  station,  close 
to  the  sacred  shrine  of  Pahja  Sahib  on  the 
morning  of  30  October  1922  and  which  has 
since  passed  into  folklore  as  an  instance  of  Sikh 
courage  and  resolution.  A  non-violertt  morcha 
or  agitation  to  assert  the  right  to  felling  trees 
for  Guru  ka  Larigar  from  the  land  attached  to 
Gurdwara  Guru  ka  Bagh  in  Amritsar  district, 
already  taken  over  from  the  priests  by  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 


after  a  negotiated  settlement,  had  started  on  8 
August  1922.  At  first  Sikh  volunteers  were 
arrested  and  tried  for  trespass,  but  from  25 
August  police  resorted  to  beating  day  after  day 
the  batches  of  Sikhs  that  came.  This  went  on 
till  13  September  when,  on  the  intervention 
of  the  Punjab  Governor,  the  beating  stopped 
and  the  procedure  of  arrests  resumed. The 
prisoners  were  tried  summarily  at  Amritsar  and 
then  despatched  by  special  trains  to  distantjails. 
One  such  train  left  Amritsar  on  29  October 
1922  for  the  Attock  Fort  which  would  touch 
Hasan  Abdal  the  following  morning.  The  Sikhs 
of  Pahja  Sahib  decided  to  serve  a  meal  to  the 
detenues  but,  when  they  reached  the  railway 
station  with  the  food,  they  were  informed  by 
the  station  master  that  the  train  was  not 
scheduled  to  halt  there.  Their  entreaties  and 
their  plea  that  such  trains  had  been  stopped 
at  other  places  for  the  prisoners  to  be  fed  went 
unheeded.  Two  of  the  Sikhs,  Bhai  Pratap  Singh 
and  Bhai  Karam  Singh  who  were  leading  the 
sari  gat  went  forward  as  the  rumbling  sound  of 
the  approaching  train  was  heard  and  sat  cross- 
legged  in  the  middle  of  the  track.  Several 
others,  men  and  women,  followed  suit.  The 
train-driver  slowed  down  suddenly  and  brought 
the  train  to  a  screeching  halt,  but  not  before  it 
had  run  over  eleven  of  the  squatters.  The  worst 
mauled  were  Bhai  Pratap  Singh  and  Bhai 
Karam  Singh,  who  succumbed  to  their  injuries 
the  following  day.  Their  dead  bodies  were  taken 
to  Rawalpindi  where  they  were  cremated  on  1 
November  1922.  They  were  hailed  as  martyrs 
and,  until  the  partition  of  1947,  a  three-day 
religious  fair  used  to  be  held  in  their  memory 
at  Pahja  Sahib  from  30  October  to  1  November 
every  year. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Some  Confidential  Papers  of 
the  Akali  Movement.  Amritsar,  1965 

2.  Mohinder  Singh,  The  Akali  Movement.  Delhi, 
1978 

3.  Teja  Singh,  Gurdwara  Reform  Movement  and  the 
Sikh  Awakening.  Jalandhar,  1922 


SAKHIAN  RHA1  ADD  AN  SHAH 


29 


SAKHI  SARWAR 


4.  Sahni,  Ruchi  Ram,  Struggle  for  Reform  in  Sikh 
Shrines,  Ed.  Ganda  Singh.  Amritsar,  n.d 

5.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwkra  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

6.  Josh,  Sohan  Singh,  Aka.li  Morchian  da  Itihas. 
Delhi,  1972 

Gmt.S. 

SAKHIAN  BHAI  ADDAN  SHAH  is  a  collection 
of  sakhis  or  anecdotes  concerning  Bhal  Addan 
Shah,  a  celebrated  saint  of  the  SevapanthI  sect  . 
The  extant  manuscripts  of  the  work  are  all 
undated,  but  the  surmise  is  that  these  were 
written  around  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  when  Bhal  Addan  Shah  was  putting  up 
at  Munde  Sharih  in  Lahore  addressing  sahgats 
and  preaching  the  Sikh  way  of  life.  The 
manuscripts  are  also  silent  about  their 
authorship,  but  tradition  attributes  them  to 
Bhal  Sahaj  Ram,  a  disciple  of  Addan  Shah,  and 
himself  a  renowed  SevapanthI  saint.  The  work 
was  first  published  in  1886  at  Matba  Gulshan 
Punjab,  Rawalpindi,  and  reprinted  in  1958  by 
the  Sevapanthi-Addan  Shah!  Sabha,  Patiala. 
Another  edition  of  the  book  was  brought  out 
in  1973  by  Lahore  Book  Shop,  Ludhiana,  under 
the  title  Sakhian  Addan  Shah  ate  Bachan 
Mahanpurkhan  De.  The  work  comprises  a  total 
of  83  sakhis  homiletic  in  style.  The  emphasis 
in  all  the  sakhis  is  on  the  virtues  of 
remembrance  of  the  Divine  name  and  humble 
and  selfless  service  of  fellow  men.  Written  in 
simple  prose  the  book  seems  directed  to  the 
layman  to  enable  him  to  understand  the  basic 
principles  of  Sikhism. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Sevapandijari  di  Pahjahi  Sahil 
nun  Den.  Patiala,  1986 

Gm.S. 

SAKHI  SARWAR,  lit.  the  Bountiful  Master,  also 
known  by  various  other  appellations  such  as 
Sultan  (king),  Lakh-data  (bestower  of 
millions),  Lalanvala  (master  of  rubies),  Nigahia 
Plr  (  the  saint  of  Nigaha)  and  Rohlarivala  (lord 


of  the  forests),  was  the  founder  of  an 
obscurantist  cult  whose  followers  are  known  as 
Sultanias  or  Sarwarias.  His  real  name  was  Sayyid 
Ahmad.  He  was  the  son  of  Sayyid  Zain 
ul-Abidln,  an  immigrant  from  Baghdad  who 
had  settled  at  Shahkot,  in  present-day  Jhang 
district  of  Pakistan,  Punjab,  and  Ayesha, 
daughter  of  the  village  headman  married  to 
the  Sayyid.  Accounts  of  Ahmad's  life  are  based 
on  legend  and  not  many  factual  details  are 
known  about  him.  It  is  said  that  the 
maltreatment  he  received  from  his  own 
relations  after  the  death  of  his  father  took  him 
to  Baghdad  where  he  was  blessed  with  the  gift 
of  prophecy  by  three  illustrious  saints  -  Ghaus 
ul-Azam,  Shaikh  Shihab  ud-Din  Suhrawardi  and 
Khwaja  Maudud  Chishtl.  On  his  return  to 
India,  he  first  settled  at  Dhaunkal,  in 
Gujraiiwala  district,  and  then  at  Shahkot.  At 
Multan  he  had  married  the  daughter  of  a 
noble.  In  due  course  he  became  famous  for 
his  miraculous  powers  and  soon  had  a 
considerable  following.  This  aroused  the 
jealousy  of  his  family  who  planned  to  kill  him. 
Sakhi  Sarwar  got  to  know  of  their  plans  and 
escaped  to  Nigaha  at  the  foot  of  the  Sulaiman 
mountain,  in  Dera  Ghazi  Khan  district,  but  his 
relatives  pursued  him  there  and  ultimately 
murdered  him  in  1174.  He  was  buried  there 
and  his  followers  built  a  shrine  on  the  spot 
which  subsequently  became  a  place  of 
pilgrimage  for  the  devotees.  Within  the 
enclosures  of  the  shrine  are  the  tombs  of  Sakhi 
Sarwar,  his  wife,  known  as  Bibl  Bal,  and  of  the 
jinn  (demon)  whom  he  had  held  in  his  power 
and  who  brought  many  miracles  for  him.  Near 
the  shrine  at  Nigaha  there  are  two  other  holy 
spots  called  Chom  and  Moza,  both  associated 
with  'Ah  Murtaza,  the  son-in-law  of  Sakhi 
Sarwar.  At  Chom,  an  impression  of  the  former's 
hand  was  said  to  have  been  imprinted  when 
he  prevented  a  mountain  from  collapsing  over 
the  cave  in  which  he  had  taken  shelter. 

Nothing  is  known  about  the  religious 
belief  or  teachings  of  Sultan  Sakhi  Sarwar.  It 
was  stories  of  his  miracles  and,  especially,  the 


SAKHI  SARWAR 


30 


SAKTU,  BHAI 


protection  he  gave  the  animals  that  attracted 
many  people  to  him.  He  did  not  lay  down  any 
creed  or  doctrine  for  his  disciples,  nor  any  code 
of  conduct  or  ritual.  His  followers  commonly 
known  as  Sultanias  thus  had  the  freedom  to 
retain  their  Hindu  or  Muslim  affiliations. 
Hindus  as  well  as  Muslims  visited  the  Pir's 
shrine  at  Nigaha  usually  in  locality-wise 
organized  groups  called  sarig  led  by  bharais, 
the  drum-beating  Muslim  bards  who  acted  as 
professional  guides  and  priests  at  local  shrines 
called  pirkhanas.  Members  of  a  sarig- addressed 
each  other  as  pirbhai  or  plrbahin  (brother  or 
sister-in-faith).  Their  halting  points  on  well- 
marked  routes  were  known  as  chaukis  (posts) 
where  the  pilgrims  slept  on  the  ground. 
Devotees  who  were  unable  to  undertake  the 
pilgrimage  to  Nigaha  went  at  least  to  one  of 
the  chaukis.  If  they  could  not  do  even  that,  they 
went  to  any  other  village  on  the  route  for  a 
night.  Those  who  could  not  go  anywhere  at 
all  slept  on  the  ground  at  home  for  at  least 
one  night  in  a  year.  This  ritual  of  sleeping  on 
the  ground  instead  of  on  a  cot  was  called  chaukl 
bharna.  The  greatest  number  of  visitors  from 
central  Punjab  visited  the  shrine  during  the 
week-long  Baisakhi  fair  in  the  month  of  April. 
A  month-long  fair  was  also  held  at  Dhauhkal 
in  Gujrariwala  district  during  June-July. 
Other  fairs  were  Jhanda  Mela  (fair  of  the 
flag)  at  Peshawar  in  November,  and 
Qadamori  ka  Mela  (fair  of  the  feet)  at  Lahore 
in  February. 

Another  common  ritual  was  offering  of  a 
rot,  i.e.  a  huge  loaf  prepared  from  1 8  kilograms 
of  wheat  flour  sweetened  with  gur  or  jaggery 
weighing  half  that  quantity,  once  a  year  on  a 
Friday.  It  was  prepared  by  a  Bharai,  who  took 
one  fourth  of  the  rotas  offering,  the  remaining 
being  consumed  by  the  donor  family  and 
distributed  among  fellow  Sultanias. 

During  the  time  of  the  Gurus,  many 
Sultanias  especially  those  from  Jatt  castes  in 
southern  Punjab  embraced  Sikhism,  though 
several  of  them  continued  to  adhere  to  their 
former  beliefs  and  practices.  The  travels  of 


Guru  Har  Rai,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  and  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  through  this  region  brought  a 
large  number  of  Sultanias  into  the  Sikh  fold. 
But  as  time  passed  the  Sultania  influence 
asserted  itself  in  certain  sections  among  the 
Sikhs.  The  Singh  Sabha  reform  movement 
gaining  strength  in  the  closing  decades  of  the 
nineteenth  century  attempted  to  counter  this 
influence.  In  1896,  Giani  Ditt  Singh,  the  erudite 
Singh  Sabha  crusader,  published  a  pamphlet 
Sultan  Puara  attacking  the  worship  by  Sikhs  of 
the  grave  of  Sakhi  Sarwar  or  of  any  other  saint 
or  sufi.This  was  a  common  plank  of  the  Singh 
Sabha  and  Akali  reformers.  But  what  ended  the 
Sakhi  Sarwar  legend  among  the  Sikhs  was  the 
forcible  exchange  of  populations  between 
India  and  Pakistan  at  the  time  of  the  partition 
of  1947.  Most  of  the  Bharais,  who  were 
exclusively  Muslim,  migrated  to  Pakistan, 
Secondly,  Nigaha  and  other  places  connected 
with  Sakhi  Sarwar  being  all  in  Pakistan  were 
suddenly  rendered  out  of  reach  for  his  Indian 
devotees.  Even  now  p/rkJiarjas  marked  by  flags 
with  peacock  tail  on  top  may  be  seen  in  some 
villages  in  the  Malva  area,  but  the  number  of 
the  followers  of  Sakhi  Sarwar  has  dwindled 
drastically. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Oberoi,  Harjot  Singh,  "The  Worship  of  Pir  Sakhi 
Sarwar  :  Illness,  Healing  and  Popular  Culture  in 
the  Punjab,"  in  Studies  in  History. 

2.  Census  Reports 

D.L.D. 

SAKTU,  BHAI,  a  Mahita  Khatri  of  Agra,  was  a 
devoted  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan.  The 
Guru,  as  says  Bhai  Mani  Singh,  Sikhan  di 
Bhagat  Mala,  instructed  him  in  the  way  of  the 
contempladon  of  God's  Name. 

Also  See  NIHALU  CHADDHA,  BHAI 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar  1955 

2.  Gurdas.Bhai,  Varan,  XI.27 


SAL  AS  RAI 


31 


SALUK  MAHALLA  9 


3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SALAS  RAI  was,  according  to  Bhai  Balajanam 
Sakhi,  a  jeweller  of  Bishambharpur,  present 
Bishnupur  in  Barikura  district  of  West  Bengal, 
although  a  tradition  recorded  by  Giani  Gian 
Singh,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa,  identifies  the 
place  as  the  city  of  Patna  in  Bihar.  As  Guru 
Nanak  travelling  in  the  eastern  parts 
approached  Bishambharpur,  Bhai  Mardana, 
says  the  Janam  Sakhi,  complained  of  fatigue 
and  hunger.  The  Guru  gave  him  a  stone  he 
had  picked  up  in  the  jungle  and  asked  him  to 
go  into  town,  sell  it  and  buy  what  he  needed. 
Mardana  showed  the  stone  from  shofi  to  shop 
but  had  it  returned  to  him  every  time  as 
worthless  until  he  came  to  Salas  Rai,  the 
jeweller.  Salas  Rai  scanned  the  stone 
spellbound.  Then  he  handed  it  back  to 
Mardana  and  said  that  he  must  meet  the  owner 
of  such  a  priceless  jewel.  He  asked  his  servant 
Adhraka  to  take  some  presents  and  fruit  with 
him  and,  led  by  Mardana,  came  to  the  place 
where  the  Guru  was.  Both  master  and  servant 
entered  the  path  of  discipleship  and  became 
dedicated  to  the  Guru's  word.  Adhraka's 
service  was  valued  equally  with  Salas  Rai.  They 
were  assigned  to  running  a  sangat.  in  their 
town. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  ed.,Janamsakhi Bhai  Bala. 
Chandigarh,  1975 

2.  Kirpal  Singh,  Janam  Sakhi  Parampark.  Patiala, 
1969 

3.  Harbans  Singht  Guru  Nanak  and  Origins  of  the 
Sikh  Faith.  Bombay,  1969 

4.  McLeod,  W.H.,  Early  Sikh  Tradition.  Oxford,  1980 

Gn.S. 

SALHO,  BHAI  (d.  1628),  a  prominent  Sikh  of 
the  time  of  Guru  Arjan,  rendered  devoted 
service  during  the  excavation  of  the  sacred  tank 
and  the  construction  of  the  Harimandar  at 


Amritsar.  He  was  especially  assigned  to  keeping 
record  of  all  receipts  and  expenditure,  in  cash 
as  well  as  in  kind.  Later,  Guru  Arjan  entrusted 
to  him  the  general  administration  of  Amritsar, 
and  he  induced  many  people  to  come  and 
settie  in  the  town.  Bhai  Salho  was  among  those 
chosen  to  accompany  the  marriage  party  of 
(Guru)  Hargobind  in  January  1605.  Guru  Arjan 
once  described  him  as  one  "matchless  in 
devotion,  most  dear  to  me."  Bhai  Salho  lived 
up  to  the  time  of  Guru  Hargobind.  He  died  in 
1628  and  the  Guru  personally  performed  the 
obsequies.  A  gurdwara,  called  Dharamsala  Bhai 
Salhoji,  in  Amritsar,  commemorates  him.  Close 
by  a  samadh,  or  memorial  shrine,  marks  the 
spot  where  his  mortal  remains  were  cremated. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Givnth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

T.S. 

SAL'OK  MAHALLA  9,  i.e.  .s/oicas  of  the 
composition  of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur,  Nanak  IX, 
form  the  concluding  portion  of  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib,  preceding  Guru  Arjan's 
Mimdavam  (GG,  1426-29).  These  slokas  are 
intoned  as  part  of  the  epilogue  when  bringing 
to  a  close  a  reading  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
on  a  religious  or  social  occasion  and  should 
thus  be  the  most  familiar  fragment  of  it,  after 
the  Japu,  Sikhs'  morning  prayer.  £loka,  in 
Sanskrit,  signifies  a  verse  of  laudation.  In  Hindi 
and  Punjabi,  it  has  come  to  imply  a  couplet 
with  a  moral  or  devotional  content.  Its  metrical 
form  is  the  same  as  that  of  a  doha  or  dohira,  a 
rhymed  couplet.  Guru  Tegh,  Bahadur's  slokas, 
57  in  number,  were  incorporated  into  the 
(Guru)  Granth  Sahib  by  Guru  Gobind  Singh. 
As  is  commonly  believed,  they  were  composed 
by  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  while  in  incarceradon 
in  the  kotwali,  in  the  Chandni  Chowk  of  Delhi, 


SALOK  MAHALLA  9 


32 


SALOK  MAHA1AA  9 


before  he  met  with  a  martyr's  death.  Whether 
the  $lokas  were  written  during  the  days  just 
before  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's  execution  or 
earlier  in  his  career  as  some  say,  their  mood  is 
certainly  in  consonance  with  the  crisis  of  that 
time,  when  the  Guru  confronted  the  imperial 
might  of  the  last  great  Mughal  emperor, 
Aurahgzib,  to  defend  the  freedom  of  religion 
and  worship  in  India  and  gave  his  life  for  a 
cause  which  to  him  meant  true  commitment 
to  God.  The  message  of  the  slokas  is 
fundamentally  the  same  as  that  of  the  rest  of 
the  Sikh  Scripture.  Here,  as  everwhere  else  in 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the  stress  is  on 
remembrance  and  contemplation  of  God  and 
recitation  of  nam,  i.e.  God's  Name.  To  quote 
the  opening  iloka  : 

To  the  praise  of  God  you  have  not  lent 
yourself, 

Your  life  you  have  thus  wasted  away. 
Says  Nanak  cherish  God's  name  in  your 
heart, 

As  the  fish  cherishes  water. 
The  same  message  is  repeated  almost  in  every 
other  line.  The  underlying  assumption  is  that 
God,  referred  to  by  various  names  such  as 
Gobind,  Ram,  Hari,  Bha'gvan,  is  the  only  true 
reality  and  the  source  of  all  existence. 
Everything  except  God  is  a  passing 
phenomenon.  Since  all  things  of  the  world,  no 
matter  how  much  sustenance  and  satisfaction 
they  may  appear  to  give,  must  pass,  there  is 
nothing  permanendy  valuable  in  them.  Their 
value  as  well  as  their  existence  is  ultimately 
derived  from  the  eternal  source  of  Being,  God. 
It  is,  therefore,  short-sightedness  to  seek  lasting 
happiness  in  worldly  things  as  such,  without 
realizing  that  the  happiness  we  associate  with 
them  does  not  proceed  from  them  but  from 
God.  On  the  other  hand,  since  prayer  and 
contemplation  on  the  Name  are  the  means  to 
God^realization,  the  enjoyment  of  the 
ephemeral  things  of  the  world,  accompanied 
by  these,  becomes  an  enjoyment  of  the 
perennial  Divine  Reality.  Without  constant 
remembrance  of  the  Divine  Name  such 


enjoyment  remains  absorption  in  merely  short- 
lived things  and  is,  therefore,  bound  to  end  in 
grief.  While  advocating  devotion  to  God,  the 
slokas  also  preach  detachment  from  worldly 
pleasures.  The  need  for  detachment  is  the 
theme  here  as  important  and  as  closely 
intertwined  with  the  importance  of  prayer  as 
it  is  in  other  parts  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 
The  argument  for  detachment  is  the 
unreliability  of  the  world.  The  slokas  depict 
unremittingly  the  fickleness  and  inconstancy 
of  all  that  most  of  us  ordinarily  seek  and  cherish 
in  life  -  material  possessions,  power  and 
authority,  love  and  loyalty  of  friends  and 
relations,  strength  of  limbs  and  faculties.  The 
focus  is  on  the  short-livedness  and  transience 
of  human  life.  Life  passes  all  too  soon,  youth 
being  quickly  replaced  by  decrepitude  and 
senility.  But  blind  to  reality  and  overconfident 
of  our  strength,  most  of  us  continue  to  spend 
ourselves  in  mundane  pursuits  and  remain 
oblivious  of  God.  A  life  completely  devoted  to 
worldly  pursuits  is  a  life  spent  in  delusion, 
unreality  taken  for  Reality. 

The  vanity  of  worldly  things  and  the 
attitude  of  renunciation  seem  to  be  much 
more  pronounced  in  the  slokas  than  anywhere 
else  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Yet  in  keeping 
with  the  spirit  of  the  entire  gurbani  this 
feature  of  the  slokas  does  not  imply  a  rejection 
of  life.  On  the  contrary,  the  message  is  one  of 
a  strong  affirmation  of  human  life.  The  advice 
is  not  to  renounce  living,  only  to  give  up 
wrong  living.  That  life  should  be  lived  right 
and  not  wasted  in  wrong  pursuits  clearly 
indicates  a  belief  in  its  intrinsic  worth.  The 
essence  of  the  teaching  here  is  that  one  should 
not  cling  to  life  indiscriminately  without 
regard  to  right  or  wrong.  It  is  such  loss  of 
discrimination  that  robs  life  of  its  meaning 
and  makes  it  worthless,  even  evil.  Lived  right, 
life  is  meaningful  and  precious.  To  follow 
good  in  the  world  and  to  renounce  only  that 
which  is  opposed  to  good  is  the  essential 
lesson  of  the  slokas. 

While  the  slokas  advocate  detachment, 


SALOK  MAH ALIA  9 


33 


SALOK  SAHASKRITl 


there  is  also  implicit  in  them  the  advice  to  be 
involved  with  the  world.  Detachment  is 
enjoined  because  the  evanescent  world 
provides  no  basis  for  building  anything 
permanent  in  it.  But  at  the  same  time,  there  is 
a  deep  concern  for  accomplishment  and  for 
full  Use  of  one's  time  and  energy  to  do  so. 
Regret  over  time  lost  without  significant 
achievement  is  a  sentiment  as  strongly  and 
frequendy  expressed  as  the  tendency  towards 
aloofness.  The  best  use  of  dme  is  to  devote  it 
to  remembering  God.  But  contrary  to  what 
might  be  assumed,  immersing  oneself  in  nam- 
simaran,  does  not  mean  withdrawal  from  the 
world  but  contemplation  of  God  in  the  midst 
of  k.  It  does  not  imply  an  ascedc:  life;  it  does 
not  necessarily  require  the  abandonment  of 
things  that  yield  the  common  pleasures  and 
satisfacdons.  These  things  are  given  by  God. 
God's  gifts  cannot  be  but  good  and  their 
enjoyment  wholesome.  We  should  be  grateful 
for  them.  Our  lack  of  gratitude  is  to  be 
deplored.  Only  when  worldly  things  are 
considered  sufficient  in  themselves  and  God  is 
forgotten,  attachment  to  them  becomes 
unwholesome.  Otherwise,  acceptance  of  the 
world  is  essential  to  godliness. 

The  slokas  comprise  some  of  the  most 
moving  poetry  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Their 
music,  imagery  and  other  poetic  features 
combine  to  capture  the  experience  of  life  with 
lyrical  intensity.  The  music  of  the  slokas  can  be 
appreciated  only  in  reading  or  listening  to  them 
in  the  original.  There  is  in  this  music  quality 
that  makes  one  sad  and  is  yet  very  charming  to 
the  ear  and. soothing  to  the  soul.  It  arouses  a 
keen  awareness  of  the  tragic  in  life  and  at  the 
same  time  allays  the  pain  of  this  awareness.  Only 
a  few  examples  need  be  cited  here  in  order  to 
convey  the  poetic  quality  of  the  slokas: 

As  a  bubble  on  water,  momentarily 

appears  and  bursts, 
The  same  is  the  way  the  world  is  made; 
Remember  this,  my  friend,  says  Nanak  ! 
Head  shaking  from  old  age.  steps  infirm, 


eyes  devoid  of  light; 

Says  Nanak,  this  is  the  state  you  have  come  to, 

Yet  you  seek  not  the  joy  from  God  flowing. 
*      *  * 

False,  utterly  false,  is  this  world,  my  friend, 

Know  this  as  the  truth; 

Says  Nanak,  it  stays  not,  as  stays  not 
a  wall  made  of  sand. 
Here  is  poetry  that  strongly  evokes  the  fleeting 
spectacle  of  human  existence.  It  fills  the  mind 
with  deep  thoughts,  producing  a  mood  in 
which  all  fretfulness  about  worldly  gains  or 
losses  in  a  fundamentally  unstable  world  seem 
utterly  senseless.  The  effect  is  not  lassitude. 
Instead,  the  mind  is  released  from  all  those 
oppressive  feelings  such  as  anxiety,  despair 
and  grief  which  the  setbacks  and  difficulties 
of  life  generally  bring  with  them.  There  prevails 
an  inner  peace  giving  intimations  of  abiding 
self  and  reality  as  perennial  reservoirs  of 
security  accompanying  one  in  the  passage 
through  an  impermanent  world.  A  renewed 
commitment  to  life,  in  spite  of  life's  limitations, 
is  the  gende  yet  powerful  message  of  the  slokas. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarath  Sri  Guriji,  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar, 
1969 

2.  Sahib  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpan. 
Jalandhar,  1962-64 

3.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  A  Critical  Study  ofAdi 
Granth.  Delhi,  1961 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

5.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  Delhi,  1994 

Rv.S.,S.S.D. 

SALOK  SAHASKRITl,  title  of  a  composition 
comprising  seventy-one  verses  incorporated  in 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  The  term  'Sahaskriti'- 
denotes  the  language-form,  a  mixture  of 
Sanskrit,  Pali  and  Prakrit,  in  which  these  slokas 
have  been  written.  'Gatha'  is  another  word  used 
for  'Sahaskriti'.  Of  the  seventy-one  verses 
collected  under  the  title  Salok  Sahaskriti.  sixty- 


SALOK  SAHASKRJTl 


34 


SALOK  VARAN  TE  VADHIK 


seven  are  of  the  composition  of  Guru  Arjan 
and  the  remaining  four  of  Guru  Nanak.  Terse 
and  cryptic  in  style  and  the  favourites  of 
classical  scholars  such  as  the  Nirmalas,  these 
verses  denounce  ritualism  and  hypocritical 
religious  behaviour  and  present  loving 
devotion  and  absorption  in  the  Divine  Name 
as  the  true  ideal.  They  call  attention  to  the 
futility  of  formal  practices  and  ceremonial,  and 
impress  upon  man  constandy  to  meditate  upon 
His  Name,  for  this  is  the  only  'treasure'  which 
will  last  and  which  will  procure  him  release 
from  bondage.  The  grace  of  God  and  help  of 
the  Guru  are  necessary  prerequisites  for  this. 
It  is  the  succour  of  the  Gugu  and  company  of 
the  holy  that  drive  away  sins  and  evils  which 
nullify  man's  spirituality.  God  is  the  only  Reality: 
He  is  most  beautiful,  He  is  eternal,  perfect,  full 
of  virtues,  sustainer  of  all,  sublime,  high,  all- 
knowing,  beyond  comprehension,  illimitable, 
beloved  of  the  devotees  and  their  protector. 
He  banishes  darkness,  destroys  evil  and  sins  ; 
He  places  those  who  are  at  the  tail  in  the  front, 
raises  hope  in  the  hopeless,  makes  the 
penniless  wealthy,  cures  all  maladies  ;  He  is  the 
fountain-head  of  mercy,rguide  of  the  world, 
protector  of  the  helpless.  The  holy  man,  the 
perfect  saint  is  he  who  meditates  on  Him,  takes 
woe  and  weal  alike  and  whose  life  is  pure  and 
without  rancour  ;  who  is  compassionate  to  all 
and  has  rid  himself  of  all  the  five  deadly  sins  ; 
who  subsists  on  God's  praises  and  who  abides 
in  the  world  untouched  by  it  as  lotus  in  the 
water. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabdarath  Sri  Guru  Cranth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1969 

2.  Sahib  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpan. 
Jalandhar,  1962-69 

3.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  A  Critical  Study  of  Adi 
Granth.  Delhi,  1961 

4.  Macauliffe,  M.A.,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its  Gurus, 
Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

5.  Gurbachan  Singh  Talib,  tr.,  Sri  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  Patiala,  1991 

T.S. 


SALOK  VARAN  TE  VADHIK  is  the  title  given 
to  a  miscellany  comprising  152  slokas  or 
couplets  appearing  in  the  concluding  portion 
of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Guru  Arjan,  when 
compiling  the  Holy  Volume  introduced  slokas 
by  the  Gurus  he  had  collected  into  the  texts  of 
vars,  another  favoured  form  of  composition. 
The  couplets  left  over  in  the  process  were 
assembled  under  the  caption  Salok  Varan  Te 
Vadhik,  i.e.  slokas  in  excess  of  the  vars.  The 
first  chapter  in  this  section  consists  of  33  slokas 
-32  by  Guru  Nanak  and  one  (No  28)  by  Guru 
Amar  Das  forming  a  sequel  to  Guru  Nanak's 
sloka  27.  The  second  chapter  contains  67  slokas 
by  Guru  Amar  Das,  the  third  30  by  Guru  Ram 
Das,  and  the  fourth  22  by  Guru  Arjan. 

Guru  Nanak's  slokas  touch  upon  themes 
of  moral  conduct,  social  behaviour  and 
spiritual  transformation.  More  pointedly  they 
stress  that  egoity  must  be  overcome.  The  only 
way  to  attain  this  goal  is  to  take  a  mentor,  the 
Guru,  who  will  release  one  from  dubiety  and 
teach  him  to  love  God.  Man  in  misguided 
company  does  not  realize  the  need  of  a  mentor. 
Body  need  not  be  tormented.  Those  afflicted 
with  ego  remain  devoid  of  wisdom, 
discernment  and  true  learning.  Absorption  in 
God  keeps  life  green  forever.  Only  He  and  His 
actions  are  complete,  and  the  gurmukh,  i.e. 
one  who  towards  Him  leans,  alone  merges  in 
•  the  Complete  whole. 

Guru  Amar  Das'  slokas  reaffirm  the  value 
of  the  mentor.  They  who  are 'so  destined  meet 
with  the  Guru.  A  believer  in  the  Guru  achieves 
nam,  i.e.  absorption  in  the  remembrance  of 
God,  and  thereby  completes  himself.  Of  the 
wayward,  discarded  brides  lost  in  the  cycle  of 
transmigration,  the  true  Guru  alone  can  be  the 
redeemer.  The  Guru  dispensesnam  and  he 
promotes  virtue.  Maya  is  a  poisonous  snake  ; 
the  antidote  is  the  Lord's  Name.  Thus  are  they 
saved  who  are  blinded  by  maya.  Guru  leads  one 
to  God.  Association  with  gurmukhs  helps,  but 
all  depends  on  the  grace  of  God,  ultimately. 
Loving  faith  in  the  Guru  is  central  to  the  slokas 
of  Guru  Ram  Das.  The  Guru's  guidance 


SALURI 


35 


SAMANA 


removes  all  the  impediments.  The  ego-ridden 
burn  in  the  fire  of  craving  and  the  cycle  of 
coming  and  going  is  not  sundered  for  them. 
Only  by  seeking;  refuge  in  the  Guru  is  one 
emancipated.  According  to  Guru  Arjan,  those 
imbued  with  the  Lord's  love  never  turn  their 
faces  away  from  Him.  The  Guru's  word  rescues 
man  from  the  five  enemies-lust,  anger,  avarice, 
attachment  and  ego.  Myriads  are  asleep  in 
ignorance  and  they  alone  awake  who  constantly 
remember  Lord's  Name. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabdarath  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Arnritsar,  1969 

2.  Sahib  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpan. 
Jalandhar,  1962-69 

3.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  A  Critical  Study  of  Adi 
Granth.  Delhi,  1961 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

5.  Gurbachan  Singh  Talib,  tr. ,  Sri  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  Patiala,  1991 

D.S.V. 

SALURI,  a  village  16  km  north  of  Una  along 
the  Una-Amb  road  in  Himachal  Pradesh,  is 
sacred  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  who  stayed  here 
on  his  way  to  Nadaun  early  in  1691  AO. 
Gurdwara  Patshahi  Dasviii  commemorating  the 
Guru's  visit  is  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Suah,  a  tributary  of  the  river  Sutlej.  The 
2-metre  square  domed  sanctum  was  built  by 
the  Sikh  sovereign  Ranjit  Singh  in  1829 
through  mason  Naudh  Singh.  The  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  is  displayed  on  a  1. 25-metre 
square  dais  said  to  be  built  on  the  spot  whereon 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  alighted  for  rest.  The 
Gurdwara  is  administered  by  Sevavale  sants  in 
the  line  of  Sant  Seva  Singh  of  Qila  Anandgarh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Sirigh,  Giani,  Sn"  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Arnritsar,  1923 


3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Arnritsar, 
n.d 

4.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Arnritsar,  1995 

Gn.S. 

SAMADH  BHAI,  commonly  called  Bhai  ki 
Samadh,  a  village  36  km  south  of  Moga  (30°- 
48  . N,  75"-10'.E)  in  Faridkot  district,  has  a 
historical  shrine  dedicated  to  Guru  Hargobind, 
who  visited  the  place  in  the  course  of  ajourney 
across  the  Malva  region.  The  Gurdwara  is  a 
large  rectangular  hall  with  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  seated  in  a  square  sanctum  inside  it. 
Two  storeys  of  square  pavilions  with  a  lotus 
dome  on  top  rise  above  the  sanctum.  A  large 
sarovar,  rectangular  in  shape,  is  outside  the 
gurdwara  compound.  The  Gurdwara  is 
affiliated  to  the  ShiromanI  Gurdwara 
Parb|indhak  Committee. 

Adjacent  to  the  Gurdwara  is  an  octagonal 
domed  structure,  the  samadh  of  Bhai  Rup 
Chand  (1613--T709),  an  eminent  pious  Sikh  of 
his  times.  From  this  monument  the  village 
derives  its  name. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Sirigh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
„  [Reprint].  Patialai  1970 

2.  Santokh  Sirigh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Arnritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Arnritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

SAMANA  (30"-l]'N,  76"-ll'E),  an  old  historic 
town  30  km  southwest  of  Patiala,  was  visited  by 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur,  who  arrived  here  from 
Saifabad,  now  Bahadurgarh.  A  troop  of 
imperial  soldiers  had  been  in  pursuit  of  him 
and,  to  afford  him  a  safe  asylum,  Muhammad 
Bakhsh,  a  local  Muslim  noble  of  Sufi  leanings 
who  is  said  to  have  already  met  the  Guru  at. 
Saifabad,  took  him  to  his  own  house  in  Garhi 
Nazir  3  km  away.  The  Guru  had  thus  stayed  at 
Samana  only  for  a  short  while.  In  1709,  Banda 


SAMAO 


36 


SAMARTK  RAMDAS 


Singh  Bahadur  attacked  and  destroyed  vengefully 
the  town  which  had  supplied  headsmen  for  the 
execution  of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  and  the  two 
younger  sons  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  The  only 
Sikh  shrine  in  Samana  was  established  but  in 
the  recent  decades.  It  is  called  Gurdwara  Thara 
Sahib"  and  marks  the  site  where  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  is  supposed  to  have  halted  before 
being  escorted  to  Garhi  Nazir. 

The  Gurdwara,  a  modern  flat-roofed 
building  with  a  small  sarovar  attached  to  it,  is 
managed  by  the  Nihaiigs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavan  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

M.G.S. 

SAMAO,  also  pronounced  Samhao,  a  village  2 
km  north  of  Bhikhi  (30°  -  3'N,  75"  -33'E)  in 
Bathinda  district  of  the  Punjab,  has  a  historical 
shrine  called  Gurdwara  Patshalil  Nauvih.  It  is 
said  that,  as  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  was  once 
travelling  from  Khiva  towards  Samao  and 
Bhikhi,  he  was  informed  that  a  sarigat  from 
Peshawar  and  Kabul  was  coming  to  see  him. 
The  Guru  halted  where  he  was  and  sat  under  a 
van  tree  to  wait  for  his  Sikhs.  Mats  were  spread 
out  to  receive  the  sarigat.  The  Sikhs  arrived 
singing  holy  hymns,  bowed  before  the  Guru 
and  received  his  blessing.  A  peasant  ploughing 
his  field  near  by,  struck  by  the  scene  of  pious 
devotion,  went  to  the  Guru  and  placed  before 
him  his  humble  fare  of  bread  and  buttermilk. 
The  Guru  partook  of  the  food  and  so  did  all 
the  Sikhs.  The  Guru  blessed  the  peasant  with 
the  words  :  "Milk  shall  always  abound  in  thy 
house." 

A  memorial  shrine  was  established  under 
the  van  tree  where  the  Guru  had  sat.  The 
present  building,  in  a  50-metre  square  low- 
walled  compound,  comprises  a  domed  sanctum 
with  a  rectangular  hall  in  front.  The  front  of 
the  sanctum  is  decorated  with  cylinderical 


pillars  and  a  floral  frieze  in  stucco.  A  gallery 
covers  three  sides  of  the  hall  while  on  the 
fourth,  behind  the  sanctum,  still  stands  the  old 
van  tree  sanctified  by  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's 
visit.  The  Gurdwara  owns  30  acres  of  land  and 
is  managed  by  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  through  the  local 
committee  of  Khiva  Kalah. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduariah.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

4.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavan  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

5.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  Delhi  1993 

6.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

SAMARTH  RAMDAS  (1608-1681),  Maharashtrian 
saint  remembered  as  the  religious  preceptor 
of  the  Maratha  hero  Chhatrapati  Shivaji  (1627- 
80),  was  born,  in  1608,  the  son  of  Suryaji  Pant 
and  Ranubai,  a  Brahman  couple  of  the  village 
of  Jamb,  near  Aurahgabad,  in  Maharashtra.  His 
original  name  was  Narayana.  His  father  died 
when  he  was  barely  seven  years  old.  Educated 
in  Sanskrit  according  to  the  tradition  of  his 
caste,  Ramdas  showed  strong  mystical 
proclivities  even  as  a  child.  He  left  home  during 
his  adolescence  to  join  the  Vaisnava  centre  at 
Pahchvati,  near  Nasik,  where  he  stayed  for  12 
years  engaged  in  study,  reflection  and  devotion 
to  Lord  Rama.  He  spent  the  next  12  years 
visiting  Hindu  centres  of  pilgrimage  across  the 
country.  Returning  to  Maharashtra  around 
1644,  he  established  himself  at  the  village  of 
Chaphal,  in  the  Satara  region  on  the  Western 
Ghats.  Here  he  built  a  temple  of  Rama  and 
Maruti  (Hanuman)  and  founded  a  math  or 
monastery  which  exists  to  the  present  day.  The 
community  of  his  followers  soon  expanded 


SAMARTH  RAM  DAS 


37 


SAMMAN  BURJ 


taking  on  the  character  of  a  well-marked  sect, 
the  Ramdasi  sect,  with  its  own  sacred  texts  and 
forms  of  worship.  Samarth  (an  appellation 
meaning  capable,  powerful,  mighty)  Ramdas' 
teaching  was  in  the  Vaisnava  tradition  with 
Rama  as  the  deity  to  be  adored  and 
worshipped,  but  he  infused  his  devotionalism 
with  Advaita  philosophy  and  practical  morality. 
He  also  preached  "Maharashtra  Dharma," 
aggressive  defence  of  Hindu  values.  It  is  in  this 
regard  especially  that  his  message  gained  the 
attention  of  Shivaji  who  led  the  Hindu 
"national"  struggle  against  the  "foreign"  rule 
of  the  Mughals.  It  is  noteworthy  that  while 
Brahman  scholars  have  tended  to  emphasize 
Ramdas'  influence  in  shaping  Shivajl's  political 
objectives,  Maratha  historians  argue  that  the 
two  came  in  close  contact  with  each  other  only 
after  Shivaji  had  fully  developed  his  ideology. 

According  to  Sikh  tradition  based  on  an 
old  Punjabi  manuscript  Panjah  Sakhian, 
Samarth  Ramdas  met  Guni  Hargobind  (1595- 
1644)  at  Srinagar  in  the  Garhval  hills.  The 
meeting,  corroborated  in  a  Marathi  source, 
Ramdasasva/ni's  Bakhar,  by  Hanumantsvami, 
written  in  1793,  probably  took  place  in  the  early 
1630's  during  Samarth  Ramdas'  pilgrimage 
travels  in  the  north  and  Guru  Hargobind's 
journey  to  Nanakriiata  in  the  east.  It  is  said  that 
as  they  came  face  to  face  with  each  other,  Guru 
Hargobind  had  just  returned  from  a  hunting 
excursion.  He  was  fully  armed  and  rode  a 
horse.  Ramdas  expressed  his  surprise  at  a 
successor  of  the  saindy  Guru  Niinak  living  in 
princely  style  and  allowing  himself  to  be 
addressed  as  Sachcha  Patshah  (true  king). 
Guru  Hargobind  said  "internally  a  hermit  and 
externally  a  prince.  Arms  are  to  protect  the 
poor  and  destroy  the  tyrant.  Baba  Nanak  had 
not  renounced  the  world,  but  had  only 
renounced  maya,  i.e.  illusion  and  ego."  'Yeh 
hamare  man  bhavati  hai  (this  appeals  to  my 
mind),  "  said  Ramdas.  This  encounter  between 
Guru  Hargobind  and  Samarth  Ramdas  is 
prominently  mentioned  in  modern  Sikh 
historiography. 


Samarth  Ramdas  died  in  1681. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Hanumantsvami,  Ramdasa  Svami's  Caritra  or 
Bakhar.  Bombay,  1910 

2.  Panjah  Sakhian.  MS. 

3.  Satbir  Singh,  Gur  Bhari.  Patiala,- 1983 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

P.B.C. 

SAMMAN,  BHAI,  was  the  masand  or  leader  of 
the  Sikh  sarigat  at  Shahbazpur,  now  in  Amritsar 
district  of  the  Punjab,  during  the  time  of  Guru 
Arjan.  He  was  known  for  his  firm  faith  and 
piety.  Bhai  Gurdas  praises  Bhai  Samman,  in  one 
of  his  stanzas,  for  the  care  he  took  of  the  Sikhs 
in  his  area.  According  to  Bhai  Mani  Singh, 
Sikhan  di  Bhagat.  Mala,  one  Bhai  Kapur  Dev 
once  asked  Guru  Arjan  to  show  him  one  of  his 
favourite  Sikhs.  The  Guru  directed  him  to  Bhai 
Samman.  Kapur  Dev  found  the  latter  a  model 
of  serenity  and  self-control,  who  was  neither 
excited  at  the  marriage  of  his  son  nor  upset  at 
his  sudden  death  the  following  day.  The  son, 
Musan,  was,  like  his  fadier,  a  devoted  Sikh,  too. 
See  KAPUR  DEV,  BHAI,  and  MUSAN  BHAI. 
The  first  two  couplets  of  Guru  Arjan's 
composition,  Chaubole,  included  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  (GG,  1363-64),  are  addressed  to 
Bhai  Samman.  They  extol  love  of  God  as  the 
highest  virtue.  The  first  couplet  for  instance, 
says  :  "Could  the  love  of  God,  O  Samman,  be 
bartered  with  wealth,  Ravan  and  others  like  him 
were  no  paupers  [  Yet  they  were  not  blessed 
with  such  love]". 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Man!  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SAMMAN  BURJ,  also  called  Musamman  Burj, 
an  octagonal  tower  commanding  a  wide  range 


SAMMAN  SINOH,  BHAl 


38 


SAM  PAT  PATH 


of  buildings  within  the  Lahore  Fort,  was  built 
by  Emperor  Akbar,  who  made  the  city  his 
capital  for  some  time.  Within  the  Fort  was 
situated  the  royal  palace  which  was  enlarged 
by  Jahahgir  and,  then,  by  his  successor,  Shah 
Jahari.  Shah  Jahan  is  also  said  to  have  laid  out 
the  gardens  in  the  Chinese  style  and  to  have 
constructed  inside  the  Musamman  Burj  a 
marble  pavilion  of  refined  architectural  design 
and  beauty.  Popularly  called  Samman  Burj,  this 
octagonal  tower  of  the  Lahore  Fort  overlooked 
the  River  Ravi,  which  then  flowed  closely  by  its 
side.  The  Mughal  rulers  of  Lahore  used  it  as 
the  audience  hall  and  carried  out  from  here 
their  day-to-day  administration.  The  Afghan 
invader,  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  also  held  his 
darbar'm  the  Samman  Burj.  When  in  1799,  the 
Sikhs  occupied  Lahore,  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh 
found  the  Samman  Burj  in  a  state  of  disrepair. 
Some  of  the  alterations  and  additions  made 
showed  up  poorly  as  against  the  superb  original 
Mughal  architecture.  He  made  efforts  to  have 
the  Burj  restored  to  its  former  glory.  He  held 
his  daily  court  in  it  and  transacted  business  of 
state  from  here.  The  Samman  Burj  figures 
prominendy  in  the  chronicles  and  diaries  of 
the  Sikh  times. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Hoti,  Prem  Singh,  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh. 
Amri  tsar,  1918 

3.  Hasrat,  B.J.,  Life  and  Times  of  Ranjit  Singh. 
Nabha,  1977 

4.  Latif,  Syad  Muhammad,  Lahore.  Lahore,  1892 

H.R.G. 

SAMMAN  SINGH,  BHAl  (1896-1921),  one  of 
the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  born  in  Savan 
1953  Bk/ July-August  1896,  the  son  of  Bhai  Pala 
Singh  and  Mai  Man  Kaur  of  Bandala  village  in 
Amritsar  district.  The  family  later  settled  in 
Chakk  No.  71  Bandala  Bachan  Sirighvala  in 
Lyallpur  district.  Samman  Singh  learnt  to  read 
Gurmukhi  at  the  village  gurdwara  where  he  was 


also  admitted  to  the  vows  of  the  Khalsa  Panth. 

He  served  in  the  92nd  Battalion  during 
the  Great  War  (1914-18)  for  about  four  years. 
After  his  release  from  the  army,  he  joined  the 
campaign  for  the  reform  of  shrine  management 
He  and  his  elder  brother,  Pritam  Singh, 
registered  themselves  as  Akali  volunteers. 
When  the  call  for  action  came  on  19  February 
1921,  Pritam  Singh  was  away  visiting  some 
relation,  but  the  youngest  of  the  seven 
brothers,  Bara  Singh,  offered  to  take  his  place. 
Both  Samman  Singh  and  Bara  Sihghjoined  the 
jatha  of  Bhai  Lachhman  Singh  and  fell  martyrs 
in  the  compound  of  Gurdwara  Janam  Asthan 
on  the  morning  of  20  February  1921.  Both 
brothers  dying  as  bachelors,  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  sanctioned 
a  pension  in  the  name  of  their  mother. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938. 

G.S.G. 

SAMPAT  PATH  is  a  variation  of  akhand  path 
in  which  the  reading  of  every  single  complete 
hymn  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  followed  by 
the  reading  of  a  predetermined  sabda  or  sloka 
(  from  the  Guru  Granth.  Sahib  itself)  which  is 
thus  repeated  throughout  the  recitation.  The 
path  is  performed  in  a  curtained  cabin  so  that 
the  reading  is  audible  outside  the  cabin  but 
the  path!  (reader)  and  the  Scripture  are  not 
in  the  view  of  the  audience.  In  the  Hindu 
tradition,  a  mantra,  prefixed  and  suffixed  by 
another  mystic  word  or  mantra,  is  called 
sampat  mantra.  Literally,  a  sampat  is  a  casket 
in  which  devout  Hindus  keep  their  idols  or 
stone  images  called  thakurs.  The  sampat  path 
obviously  takes  double  the  time  of  an  akhand 
path,  or  even  more.  Since  such  a  path  is  contrary 
to  the  Sikh  tenets,  it  never  became  an  accepted 
form  and  is  no  longer  in  common  vogue. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sikh  Rahit  Maryada.  Amritsar,  1975 


SAMPURAN  SINGH  RAMAN ,  J ATH ED AR 


39 


SAMUNDA,  BHAI 


2.  Kahn  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurushabad  Ratnakar  Mahan 
Kosh  [Reprint]  ,  Patiala,  1983 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  Berkeley  Lectures  on  Sikhism. 
Delhi,  1983 

4.  Cole,  W.  Owen,  and  Piara  Singh  Sambhi,  The 
Sikhs  :  Their  Religious  Beliefs  and  Practices. 
Delhi,  1978 

T.S. 

SAMPURAN  SINGH  RAMAN,  JATHEDAR 
(1895-1970),  active  in  Akali  politics  and  in  the 
Praja  Mandal  movement,  was  born  in  1895,  the 
son  of  Hari  Singh  Man  and  Bhag  Kaur  of'Maur 
Dhilvari  in  present-day  Bathinda  district  of  the 
Punjab.  The  family  later  shifted  to  Raman 
where  Hari  Singh  had  inherited  his  mother's 
property.  Both  these  villages  fell  within  the 
erstwhile  princely  state  of  Patiala.  Sampuran 
Singh  came  early  into  notice  for  his  interest  in 
Punjabi  folk  poetry  which  he  started  reciting 
at  fairs  and  religious  festivals.  His  political 
career  commenced  after  he  had  received  the 
rites  of  the  Khalsa  at  Anandpur  Sahib  in  1941, 
when  he  gave  up  his  role  as  a.  popular  balladeer 
and  became  a  wholetime  worker  of  the 
Shiromani  Akali.  Dal.  With  his  appointment  as 
district  jathedar  (leader)  of  Bathinda  Akali  Dal, 
the  epithet  jathedar  came  to  be  a  permanent 
prefix  to  his  name.  Raman,  the  name  of  his 
village,  was  suffixed  according  to  the  common 
Akali  custom  of  using  the  village  instead  of  caste 
as  surname.  Jathedar  Raman  soon  became 
president  of  the  Patiala  state  Akali  Jatha  and 
worked  in  collaboration  with  Jathedar  Pritam 
Singh  Gojrari,  president  of  Riyasti  Akali  Dal,  a 
body  representing  Sikhs  of  all  princely  states 
of  the  Punjab,  and  Shri  Sundar  Lai,  president 
of  Patiala  state  Praja  Mandal,  demanding 
democratic  reforms  in  Patiala  state.  A 
regrouping  of  political  parties  in  the  region  on 
the  eve  of  the  first  general  elections  (1952)  in 
the  wake  of  Independence  saw  the  state  Akali 
Dal  split  into  two  groups,  one  led  by  Pritam 
Singh  Gojrari  and  the  other  by  Sampuran  Singh 
Raman.  Sampuran  Singh  subsequently  broke 
away  from  the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal  and  formed 


a  separate  party  — Malva  Riyasti  Akali  Dal. 

Jathedar  Sampuran  Singh  Raman  was 
among  the  earliest  protagonists  of  Punjabi 
Suba,  a  new  state  to  be  created  comprising 
Punjabi-speaking  areas  of  the  region.  He 
advocated  the  proposition  through  a  Punjabi 
poem  published  in  Haftavar  Babar  on  13  April 
1952.  On  24  April  1956,  he  wrote  a  letter  on 
this  subject  to  Prime  Minister Jawaharlal  Nehru. 
After  saying  ardad  at  Sri  Damdama  Sahib,  he 
left  for  the  Indian  capital,  a  kafan  or  shroud 
wrapped  around  his  head,  to  sit  on  a  fast  unto 
death  in  front  of  the  Prime  Minister's  house 
to  have  his  demand  for  a  Punjabi-speaking  state 
conceded.  But  he  was  arrested  on  the  way  at 
Narela  railway  station  along  with  his  four 
companions  on  1  November  1953  and  lodged 
in  Tihar  Jail  in  Delhi.  He  immediately  went  on 
a  hunger  strike,  but  was  released  from  jail  and 
taken  to  his  village,  Raman,  under  escort. 
Repeated  hunger  strikes  shattered  his  health 
and  he  gradually  retired  from  active  politics. 

He  died  at  Bathinda  on  15  November 
1970. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sarhadi,  Ajit  Singh  Punjabi  Suba.  Delhi,  1970 

2.  Khalsa  Advocate.  Amritsar,  16-23  November 
1970 

Jn.S. 

SAMUNDA,  BHAI,  a  seeker  of  truth,  once 
waited  upon  Guru  Arjan  and  begged  to  know 
how  a  bemukh  was  distinguished  from  a 
sanamuJch.  The  Guru,  according  to  Bhai  Man! 
Singh,  Sikhan  dl  Bhagat  Mala,  spoke  thus 
"Sanamukh  is  one  who,  following  the  Guru's 
precept,  rises  early  to  make  ablutions, 
contemplates  on  the  Name,  and  practises 
charity.  A  bemukh,  on  the  other  hand,  is  one 
who  wastes  his  life  in  pursuit  of  sensual 
pleasures  and"  passions."  Bhai  Samunda,  says 
Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  became  a  Sikh.  He 
remained  in  the  Guru's  presence,  always 
listened  attentively  to  what  he  said,  and  acted 
upon  his  word. 


SAMUND  SINGH,  BHAI 


40 


SANDHVAN 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Manl  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  dl  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  18 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SAMUND  SINGH,  BHAI  (1901-1972),  a 
leading  Sikh  musicologist  of  the  twentieth 
century,  trained  in  music  under  leading 
maestros  of  the  art,  Sikhs  as  well  as  Muslims, 
was  born  on  3  March  1901,  at  the  village  of 
Mulla  Hamza,  in  Montgomery  district,  now  in 
Pakistan.  He  started  his  training  so  young  that 
for  many  years  after  he  had  started  giving 
public  performance,  he  was  known  as  Kaka 
(child)  Samund  Singh.  His  father,  Bhai  Hazur 
Singh,  was  a  ragi  (musician)  of  repute  and  for 
accompaniment  played  on  a  string  instrument 
called  taus,  so  named  because  of  its  peacock 
shape.  For  five  generations,  his  ancestors  had 
been  performing  kirtan  at  Gurdwara  Janam 
Asthan  at  Nankana  Sahib,  the  birthplace  of 
Guru  Nanak.  Among  them  Bhai  Gurdit  Singh 
had  won  renown  as  a  deft  tab/a-player. 

Samund  Singh's  first  major  performance 
came  at  the  age  of  nine  when  he  staged  kirtan 
before  a  large  gathering  at  a  session  of  the  Sikh 
Educational  Conference.  Soon  he  became  the 
rage  for  Sikh  divans  throughout  the  Punjab. 
His  training  continued  underlns  father  and 
under  other  masters.  He  was  quick  at 
memorizing  the  holy  word  of  the  Gurus.  Thus 
his  range  and  repertoire  from  Gurbani  were 
very  wide.  He  learnt  to  play  on  string 
instruments  such  as  the  taus,  dilruba  and 
tanpiira  besides  the  harmonium  and  tab/a.  He 
acquired  mastery  of  most  of  the  thirty-one  ragas 
in  which  Gurbani  is  composed.  He  excelled  in 
Khayal,  Thumari  Atig,  Multani  Ang,  Dhrupad 
and  Dhumar.  He  began  to  live  and  enjoy  the 
Word  he  sang  with  exceptional  ease  and  effect. 
His  presence  inspired  veneration  and  his 
performance  helped  to  create  a  devotional 
atmosphers. 


Samund  sihgh  was  given  employment  at 
Gurdwara  Janam  Asthan  at  Nankana  Sahib 
where  he  performed  kirtan  with  his  two 
companions,  Teja  Sihgh  and  Harnam  Singh. 
He  resigned  from  the  position  of  head  rigi 
after  a  few  years,  but  continued  to  live  in  the 
holy  city  of  Nankana.  He  travelled  to  the 
remotest  corners  of  the  country  on  invitations 
from  Sikh  societies  and  institutions  to  perform 
kirtan.  He  introduced  Gurbani  kirtan  to  Hindu 
and  Muslim  lovers  of  music  and  great  artists, 
including  Bare  Ghulam  'All  Khan.  He  was  among 
the  first  Sikh  musicians  to  broadcast  kirtan  from 
the  Lahore  station  of  All  India  Radio. 

After  the  partition  of  1947,  he  migrated 
to  Amritsar  and  performed  Airtan  at  the 
Golden  Temple,  later  shifting  to  Ludhiana. 
He  continued  to  command  respect  as  the 
most  accomplished  Sikh  musician.  In  1970, 
he  was  given  the  Bhai  Mardana  Music  Award 
by  the  Punjab  Government  at  a  state 
ceremony  at  Chandigarh.  He  gave  on  the 
occasion  what  turned  out  to  be  his  last  major 
performance.  Samund  Sihgh  died  at 
Ludhiana  on  5  January  1972. 

Jd.SJ. 

SANDHVAN,  village  13  km  northeast  of 
Phagwara  (31°  -14'N,  75°  -46'E),  in  Nawashahr 
district  of  the  Punjab,  claims  a  historical  shrine 
dedicated  to  Guru  Har  Rai  (1630-61),  who 
passed  through  here  while  on  his  way  from 
Kartarpur  to  Kiratpur.  The  shrine,  called 
Gurdwara  Danda  Sahib  Sri  Guru  Har  Rai  Sahib 
Patshahi  VII,  marks  the  site,  about  300  metres 
to  the  west  of  the  old  village,  where  the  Guru 
is  believed  to  have  stopped  awhile  to  meet  the 
waiting  sarig-at..  According  to  local  tradition,  the 
Guru  stuck  his  walking  staff  (danda,  in  Punjabi, 
hence  the  name  of  the  Gurdwara)  in  the  soft 
soil  which  later  sprouted  into  a  tree.  The  dried 
trunk  of  the  tree  stands  inside  a  square  hall 
which  has  in  its  middle  the  sanctum.  The  present 
building  was  constructed  during  the  1960's 
replacing  the  small  old  domed  maiiji  sahib. 
The  Gurdwara  is  managed  by  the  village  sarigaf. 


SANDHVAN 


41 


SANGAT 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tinith  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d. 

M.G.S. 

SANDHVAN,  a  small  village  4  km  northwest  of 
Kot  Kapura  (30°  -45'  N,  74°  -49'  E)  in  Faridkot 
district  of  the  Punjab.  Giani  Zail  Singh,  the  first 
Sikh  President  of  the  Republic  of  India  came 
of  this  village.  He  held  office  from  1982-1987. 
On  the  railway  station,  the  village  has  since 
been  redesignated  as  Giani  Zail  Singh 
Sandhvari. 

M.G.S. 

SANGAT,  Punjabi  form  of  the  Sanskrit  term 
saiigti,  means  company,  fellowship,  association. 
In  Sikh  vocabulary,  the  word  has  a  special 
connotation.  It  stands  for  the  body  of  men  and 
women  met  religiously,  especially  in  the 
presence  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Two  other 
expressions  carrying  the  same  connotation  and 
in  equally  common  use  are  sadh  sangat 
(fellowship  of  the  seekers  of  truth).  The  word 
sangat  has  been  in  use  since  the  time  of  Guru 
Nanak  (1469-1539).  In  his  days  and  those  of 
his  nine  successors,  sangat  referred  to  the  Sikh 
brotherhood  established  in  or  belonging  to  a 
particular  locality.  The  term  is  used  in  this  sense 
in  the  Janam  Sakhis,  i.e.  traditional  life-stories 
of  Guru  Nanak,  and  in  the  hukamnamas,  i.e. 
edicts  issued  by  the  Gurus  to  their  followers  in 
different  parts  of  the  country.  In  the 
hukamnamas  there  are  references,  for 
instance,  to  Sarbatt  Sangat  Banaras  KI,  i.e.  the 
entire  Sikh  community  of  Banaras  (Varanasi), 
Patna  ki  Sangat,  i.e.  the  Sikhs  of  Patna,  Dhaul 
ki  Sangat,  the  Sikhs  of  Dhaul.  In  common 
current  usage,  the  word  signifies  an  assembly 
of  the  devotees.  Such  a  gathering  may  be  in  a 
gurdwara,  in  a  private  residence  or  in  any  other 
place,  but  in  the  presence  of  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  The  purpose  is  religious  prayer, 
instruction  or  ceremony.  The  sangat  may 


collectively  chant  the  sacred  hymns,  or,  as  it 
more  often  happens,  there  may  be  a  group  of 
musicians  to  perform  kirtan.  At  sangat  there 
may  be  recitals  of  the  holy  writ  with  or  without 
exposition,  lectures  on  religious  or  theological 
topics,  or  narration  of  events  from  Sikh  history. 
Social  and  political  matters  of  interest  for  the 
community  may  as  well  be  discussed. 

In  Sikh  faith  highest  merit  is  assigned  to 
meeting  of  the  followers  in  sangat.  This  is 
considered  essential  for  the  spiritual  edification 
and  progress  of  an  individual.  It  is  a  means  of 
religious  and  ethical  training.  Worship  and 
prayer  in  sangat  count  for  more  than  isolated 
religious  practice.  The  holy  fellowship  is 
morally  elevating.  Here  the  seeker  learns  to 
make  himself  useful  to  others  by  engaging  in 
acts  of  seva,  or  self-giving  service,  so  highly 
prized  in  Sikhism.  The  seva  can  take  the  form 
of  looking  after  the  assembly's  shoes  for 'all 
must  enter  the  presence  of  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  barefoot;  preparing  and  serving  food  in 
Guru  ka  Lahgar  ;  and  relieving  the  rigour  of  a 
hot  summer  day  by  swinging  over  the  heads  of 
the  devotees  large  hand-fans.  It  is  in  the 
company  of  pious  men  that  true  religious 
discipline  ripens.  Those  intent  on  spiritual 
advantage  must  seek  it. 

Though  sarigat  has  freedom  to  discuss 
secular  matters  affecting  the  community,  it  is 
its  spiritual  core  which  imparts  to  it  the  status 
and  authority  it  commands  in  the  Sikh  system. 
As  Guru  Nanak  says,  "satsarigat  is  where  the 
Divine  Name  alone  is  cherished"  (GG.72).  This 
is  where  virtues  are  learnt.  "Satsarigat  is  the 
Guru's  own  school  where  one  practises  godlike 
qualities"  (GG,  1316).  Attendance  at  sarigat  wins 
one  nearness  to  God  and  release  from  the 
circuit  of  birth  and  death.  "Sitting  among 
sarigat  one  should  recite  God's  praise  and 
thereby  swim  across  the  impassable  ocean  of 
existence"  (GG.95).  As  satsarigat  is  obtained 
through  the  Guru's  grace,  the  Name  blossoms 
forth  in  the  heart  (GG,G7-68).  "Amid  sarigat 
abides  the  Lord  God"  (GG.94).  *God  resides  in 
the  sarigat.  He  who  comprehends  the  Guru's 


SANGAT 


42 


SANGAT 


word  realizes  this  truth(GG,13l4).  "Deprived  of 
sarigat,  one's  self  remains  begrimed"  (GG.96). 
"Without  sangat  ego  will  not  be  dispelled" 
(GO,  1098).  Says  Guru  Arjan  in  Sukhmani, 
"Highest  among  all  works  is  joining  the  sangat 
and  thereby  conquering  the  evil  propensities 
of  the  mind"  (GG.266).  Again,  "As  one  lost  in  a 
thickjungle  rediscovers  one's  path,  so  will  one 
be  enlightened  in  the  company  of  the  holy" 
(GG.282). 

Sangat,  fellowship  of  the  holy,  is  thus 
applauded  as  a  means  of  moral  and  spiritual 
uplift ;  it  is  as  well  a  social  unit  which  inculcates 
values  of  brotherhood,  equality  and  seva. 
Sarigats  sprang  up  in  the  wake  of  Guru  Nanak's 
extensive  travels.  Group  of  disciples  formed  in 
different  places  and  met  together  in  sangat  to 
recite  his  hymns. 

As  an  institution,  sarigat  had,  with  its 
concomitants  dharamsal,  where  the  devotees 
gathered  in  the  name  of  Akal,  the  Timeless 
Lord,  to  pray  and  sing  Guru  Nanak's  hymns, 
and  Guru  ka  Lahgar,  community  refectory, 
where  all  sat  together  to  partake  of  a  common 
repast  without  distinction  of  caste  or  status- 
symbolized  the  new  way  of  life  emerging  from 
Guru  Nanak's  teachings.  At  the  end  of  his 
\udasis  or  travels,  Guru  Nanak  settled  at 
Kartarpur,  a  habitation  he  had  himself  founded 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  River  Ravi.  There  a 
community  of  disciples  grew  around  him.  It  was 
not  a  monastic  order,  but  a  fellowship  of 
ordinary  men  engaged  in  ordinary  occupation 
of  life.  A  key  element  in  this  process  of 
restructuring  of  religious  and  social  life  was  the 
spirit  of  seva.  Corporal  works  of  charity  and 
mutual  help  were  undertaken  voluntarily  and 
zealously  and  considered  a  peculiarly  pious 
duty.  To  quote  Bhai  Gurdas:  "dharamsai 
kartarpur  sadhsangati  sach  khandu  vasai'a", 
Varan,  XXIV.  11,  i.e.  in  establishing  dharamsal 
at  Kartapur,  with  its  sarigat  or  society  of  the 
holy,  Guru  Nanak  brought  the  heaven  on  earth. 

These  sarigats  played  an  important  role 
in  the  evolution  of  the  Sikh  community.  The 
social  implications  of  the  institutions  were  far- 


reaching.  It  united  the  Sikhs  in  a  particular 
locality  or  region  into  a  brotherhood  or 
fraternity.  A  member  of  the  sarigat,  i.e.  every 
Sikh  was  known  as  bhai,  lit.  brother,  signifying 
one  of  holy  living.  The  sarigat  brought  together 
men  not  only  in  spiritual  pursuit  but  also  in 
worldly  affairs,  forging  community  of  purpose 
as  well  as  of  action  based  on  mutual  equality 
and  brotherhood.  Though  sarigats  were  spread 
over  widely  separated  localities,  they  formed  a 
single  entity  owning  loyalty  to  the  word  of  Guru 
Nanak.  Sarigats  were  thus  the  Sikh  community 
in  formation. 

In  these  sarigats  the  disciples  mixed 
together  without  considerations  of  birth, 
profession  or  worldly  position.  Bhai  Gurdas, 
in  his  Var  XI,  mentions  the  names  of  the 
leading  Sikhs  of  the  time  of  Guru  Nanak  and 
his  five  spiritual  successors.  In  the  first  12 
stanzas  are  described  the  characteristics  of  a 
gursikh,  or  follower  of  the  Guru.  In  the 
succeeding  stanzas  occur  the  names  of  some 
of  the  prominent  Sikhs,  in  many  cases  with 
caste,  class  or  profession  of  the  individual.  In 
some  instances,  even  places  they  came  from 
are  mentioned.  In  these  stanzas,  Bhai  Gurdas 
thus  provides  interesting  clues  to  the 
composition,  socially,  of  early  Sikhism  and  its 
spread,  geographically.  Out  of  the  19  disciples 
of  Guru  Nanak  mentioned  by  Bhai  Gurdas,  two 
were  Muslims-  Mardana,  a  mirasi,  or  bard,  from 
his  own  village,  and  Daulat  Khan  Lodi,  an 
Afghan  noble.  Bura,  celebrated  as  Bhai 
Buddha,  who  was  contemporary  with  the  first 
six  Gurus,  was  a  Jatt  of  Randhava  subcaste.  So 
was  Ajitta,  of  Pakkhoke  Randhava,  in  present- 
day  Gurdaspur  district.  Phirna  was  a  Khaihra 
Jatt;  Malo  and  Manga  were  musicians;  and 
Bhagirath,  formerly  a  worshipper  of  the 
goddess  Kali,  was  the  chaudharl,  i.e.  revenue 
official  of  Malsihari,  in  Lahore  district.  Of  the 
several  Khatri  disciples,  Mula  was  of  Kir 
subcaste,  Pritha  and  Kheda  were  Soinis,  Prithi 
Mall  was  a  Sahigal,  Bhagta  was  Ohri,  Japu  a 
Vaiisi,  and  Sihari  and  Gajjan  cousins  were 
Uppals.  The  Sikh  sarigat  was  thus  the  melting- 


SANGAT,  IJHAl 


43 


SANGAT  SINGH 


pot  for  the  high  and  the:  low,  the  twice-born 
and  the  outcaste.  It  was  a  new  fraternity 
emerging  as  the  participants'  response  of 
discipleship  to  the  Guru. 

Sarigats  were  knit  into  an  organized 
system  by  Guru  Amar  Das  who  established 
manjis  or  preaching  districts,  each  comprising 
a  number  of  sangats.  Guru  Arjan  appointed 
masands,  community  leaders,  to  look  after 
sarigats  in  different  regions.  Sangat  was  the 
precursor  to  the  Khalsa  manifested  by  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  in  1699.  That  was  the  highest 
point  in  the  evolution  of  the  casteless  Sikh 
commonwealth  originating  in  the  insdtution 
of  sangat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  Outlines  of  Sikh  Thought. 
Delhi,  1966 

2.  McLeod,  W.H.,  The  Evolution  of  the  Sikh 
Community.  Delhi,  1975 

3.  Ray,  Niharranjan,  The  Sikh  Gurus  and  the  Sikh 
Society.  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Cunningham,  Joseph  Davey,  A  History  of  the 
Sikhs.  London,  1849 

KJ.S. 

SANGAT,  BHAI  or  Sangat  Sahib,  was  an  aJias 
of  Bhal  Pheru  (1640-1706),  the  well-known 
masand  of Nakka  region  of  the  Punjab.  He  was 
the  recipient  of  an  Udasi  bakhshish  or  bestowal 
from  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Members  of  the 
Udasi  sect  founded  by  him  are  called  Sangat 
Sahib  Ke  or  Sangat  Sahibie. 
See  PHERU,  BHAI 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Randhir  Singh,  ed.,  Udasi  Sikhah  di  Vithia. 
Amritsar,  1959 

PS. P. 

SANGAT  RAI  (d.  1696),  also  referred  to  in  Sikh 
chronicles  as  Sahgatla  Singh,  was,  according  to 
Guru  Gobind  Siiigh's  autobiographical  Bachitra 
Natak,  sent  on  an  embassy  of  peace  to  the  court 
of  Raja  Gopal  of  Guler.  At  that  time  a  Mughal 


commander,  Husain  Khan  marching  upon 
Anandpur  was  extorting  along  the  way  heavy 
tribute  from  the  hill  chiefs.  While  the  rulers  of 
Bilaspur  and  Kahgra  submitted  to  and  aided 
Husain  Khan.  Raja  Gopal  of  Guler  expressed 
his  inability  to  pay  the  excessive  levy.  This  led 
to  a  battle  in  which  Sangat  Rai  and  his  seven 
companions  took  the  part  of  Raja  Gopal.  Both 
Husain  Khan  and  his  ally  from  Kahgra  were 
killed  in  batde  and  the  ruler  of  Guler  won  a 
decisive  victory.  Sangat  Rai  and  his  tiny  Sikh 
contingent,  which  according  to  Bhatt  sources, 
also  included  Sangat  Rai's  brother,  Hanumant, 
also  fell  in  this  action.  According  to  the  Bhatt 
Vahis,  this  batde  took  place  on  20  February  1696. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bachit(U  Natak 

2.  Padam,  Piara  Siiigh,  and  Giani  Garja  Singh,  eds., 
Guru  kian  Sakhiah.  Patiala,  1986 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Chandigarh, 
1966 

M.G.S. 

SANGAT  SINGH  (d.  1705),  one  of  the  forty 
Sikhs  who  were  besieged  with  Guru  Gobind 
Siiigh  in  an  improvised  fortress  at  Chamkaur, 
bore  a  close  resemblance  to  the  Guru  in 
physical  appearance.  Both  Kuir  Singh  and 
Sukkha  Siiigh  in  their  poetical  biographies  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  refer  to  him  as  Sangat 
Singh  Bahgesar  from  which  it  appears  that 
Sangat  Singh  was  either  a  native  of  Bang 
(Bengal)  or  came  from  Bahgash  region 
(Kurram  valley)  on  the  northwest  fronder  of 
India.  On  the  fateful  night  of  7-8  December 
after  all  but  five  Sikhs  had  been  killed  in  the 
unequal  battle  of  Chamkaur,  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  at  the  insistence  of  these  five  agreed  to 
make  a  bid  to  escape.  He  made  Sangat  Singh 
don  his  dress  and  plume  in  order  to  beguile 
the  enemy  while  the  Guru  along  with  three 
other  survivors  broke  through  the  encircling 
horde  under  cover  of  darkness.  The  following 
morning  when  the  besiegers  stormed  the 
fortress,  Saiigat  Singh  opposed  them  single- 


SANGAT  SINGH 


44 


SANGAT  SINGH,  SANT 


handed  and  fell  fighting  valiandy.  The  enemy 
commanders  initially  took  him  for  Guru 
Gobind  Singh,  but  were  soon  disillusioned. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10..Patiala,  1968 

2.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  and  Giani  Garja  Singh,  eds., 
Guru  kian  Sakhian.  Patiala,  1986 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Chandigarh, 
1966 

M.G.S. 

SANGAT  SINGH,  son  of  Lahaura  Singh,  was 
one  of  the  followers  of  Banda  Siiigh  Bahadur 
collectively  known  as  Bandai  Khalsa,  a  faction 
set  against  the  mainstream  Tat  Khalsa.  Bhai 
Mani  Singh  tried  to  setde  the  issue  by  floating 
two  slips  of  paper  carrying  the  names  of  two 
contestants  in  the  holy  water.  The  slip  which 
floated  across  was  declared  to  be  the  winner. 
The  Bandais,  by  and  large,  accepted  their 
defeat  and  joined  the  Tat  Khalsa,  yet  many 
among  them  remained  adamant.  The  next 
solution  suggested  was  a  wresding  duel  between 
a  champion  each  from  the  two  factions.  Sahgat 
Singh  came  forward  as  the  Bandai  champion. 
Opposite  him  was  Bhai  Miri  Singh,  son  of  Baba 
Kahn  Singh,  and  grandson  of  Baba  Binod 
Singh  Trehan.  The  latter  emerged  as  the 
winner,  and  Sahgat  Singh  with  his  supporters 
joined  as  a  whole  the  Tat  Khalsa. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhahgu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa  [Reprint] . 
Patiala,  1970 

M.G.S. 

SANGAT  SINGH,  SANT  (1882-1950),  a  Sikh 
saint  revered  for  his  piety  as  well  as  for  his 
learning,  was  born  in  1882,  at  Kamalla,  a  small 
town  in  Lyallpur  district,  now  in  Pakistan.  His 
father,  Bhai  Sital  Das,  a  Sahajdhari  Sikh,  was  a 
descendant  of  Bhai  Shamu  Sachiar,  one  of  the 
recipients  of  a  bakhshish,  i.e.  a  missionary  seat, 


from  Guru  Har  Rai.  Young  Sahgat  Das,  as  he 
was  originally  named,  was  brought  up  in  an 
atmosphere  of  religious,  devotion  and 
discipline.  He  was  imparted  such  educadon  as 
was  available  at  home  in  those  days  -  reading 
and  writing  in  Gurmukhi  and  some  knowledge 
of  Sikh  sacred  texts.  Sahgat  Das  proved  a 
precocious  child  possessing  a  phenomenal 
memory.  At  the  age  of  9  he  started  participating 
in  akhand  paths,  or  continuous  ceremonial 
readings  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  His 
recitation  was  marked  by  ease,  accuracy  and 
fluency.  Soon  he  joined  the  monastery  of  an 
eminent  Sevapanthi  saint,  Bhai  Fateh  Chand, 
who  lived  in  Shah  Jivana,  a  village  in  Jhahg 
district,  and  studied  with  him  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  In  1901,  he  came  hi  contact  with  Pandit 
Kala  Singh  from  whom  he  learnt  Sanskrit.  For 
the  Vedas.he  served  his  apprenticeship  with 
Pandit  Ram  Saran.  To  take  to  a  life  of  seclusion 
and  meditation,  Sahgat  Das  improvised  a 
thatched  hut  for  himself  a  few  miles  away  from 
the  town  of  Shujabad,  in  Multan  district.  The 
period  of  uninterrupted  concentration  on  the 
Guru's  word  spent  there  aroused  in  him  a 
longing  to  have  himself  initiated  a  Sikh  and 
he  was  from  now  onwards  in  search  of  a  holy 
man  who  should  admit  him  to  the  fold.  He  at 
last  met  the  poet  and  savant  Bhai  Vir  Singh 
whose  Rana  Surat  Singh  had  deeply  moved  him 
and  at  whose  hands  he  now  received  the  rites 
of  initiation.  At  the  ceremony  Sahgat  Das  was 
renamed  Sangat  Singh. 

Sant  Sahgat  Singh  got  married  and  led  the 
life  of  a  householder,  but  he  spent  most  of  his 
time  preaching  the  gospel  of  Guru  Nanak. 
Thousands  thronged  the  gurdwaras  to  hear 
him  expound  the  holy  writ  in  his  gentle  and 
persuasive  manner  and  with  a  wealth  of 
quotation  from  classical  sources.  His  style  of 
platform  exposition  of  Sikh  lore  and  thought 
became  the  most  popular  and  authentic. 
Through  his  preaching,  many  were  converted 
to  the  Sikh  faith  in  the  regions  of  Sindh, 
Multan,  North-West  Frontier,  Pothohar, 
Sargodha  and  Jhahg.  After  the  partititon  of  the 


SANGHRKRl 


45 


SANGRAND 


Punjab,  Sant  Sarigat  Singh  shifted  to  Patiala 
(January  1948).  He  wrote  a  number  of  tracts 
published  by  the  Khalsa  Tract  Society,  Amritsar. 
His  discourses  on  the  Japu  delivered  during 
1949-50  at  Patiala  were  first  published  in 
January  1959  under  the  tide  Shrijapuji  Katha. 

Sant  Sahgat  Singh  died  at  Patiala  on  24 
October  1950,  bequeathing  to  his  son  and 
successor  Sant  Kartar  Singh  the  family 
heritage —  the  bakhshish  from  Guru  Har  Rai. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kartar  Singh,  Sant,  Kathariah  Santah.  Patiala,  n.d 

2.  Visakha  Singh,  Malva  Itihas.  Kishanpura,  1954 

G.S.D. 

SANGHRERI,  village  5  km  West  of  Bareta 
(29°  -52'N,  75"  -42'E),  in  Mansa  district  of  trie 
Punjab,  claims  a  historical  shrine  dedicated  to 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur,  who  is  believed  to  haye 
halted  here  during  one  of  his  travels  through 
these  parts.  The  old  shrine,  Gurdwara  Patshahi 
IX,  on  the  northern  edge  of  the  village  near  a 
pond,  is  a  square  domed  room  with  only  a  small 
platform  in  it.  The  Guri.  Granth  Sahib  is  seated 
in  the  adjacent  hall.  A  Nihahg  Sikh  looks  after 
the  Gurdwara  under  the  overall  control  of  the 
village  sarigat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sahgrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavah  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

4.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

SAN  GRAM  SHAH  (popular  name  Sarigo 
Shah),  the  eldest  son  of  Bhai  Sadhii  and  Bibl 
Viro  (the  daughter  of  Guru  Hargobind)  and 
one  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  cousins.  Sarigram 
Shah,  along  with  his  four  brothers,  Jit  Mall, 
Gulab  Rai,  Mahari  Chand  and  Gariga  Ram, 


fought  in  the  battle  of  Bharigani  (1688).  Guru 
Gobind  Sirigh  in  his  autobiographical 
composition  Bachitra  Natak,  especially 
applauds  the  heroism  of  Sarigram  Shah 
•  confronting  the  Pathan  mercenaries  who  had 
earlier  deserted  the  Guru's  camp  and  joined 
the  enemy  ranks.  Fighting  valiantly,  he  came 
face  to  face  with  their  commander,  Najabat 
Khan,  They  hurled  their  spears  at  each  other, 
both  falling  simultaneously  in  the  mutual 
combat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Bachitra  Natak 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth,  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Sirigh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Guru's,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

Gn.S. 

SANGRAND,  sankranti  in  Sanskrit,  is  the  first 
day  of  each  month  of  the  Indian  solar  calendar, 
based  on  the  shifting  of  the  sun  from  one  house 
(rasi)  to  another.  From  quite  early  in  human 
history,  the  sun,  and  its  satellites,  the  planets, 
came  to  be  regarded  as  objects  endowed  with 
celestial  mind,  a  definite  personality  and  the 
capability  of  influencing  the  destinies  of  human 
beings.  They  became  the  deities  whose 
favourable  intervention  was  sought  by  men  in 
their  affairs.  The  worship  of  Surya,  the  Sun  god, 
was  a  feature  of  Vedic  times,  and  it  has 
continued  one  way  or  another  in  the  Indian 
tradition.  A  popular  form  has  been  the 
observance  of  Sarikranti  with  ritual 
performances  such  as  fasts,  bathing  at  holy 
places  and  distribution  of  charity.  In  the  Sikh 
system,  the  only  object  of  adoration  is  the 
supreme  Being.  No  other  deity  is 
acknowledged.  In  the  Sikh  metaphor,  the  Guru 
is  the  Sun  which  illumines  the  mind  of  the 
disciple.  Guru  Nanak  and  Guru  Arjan 
composed  Baramahas  or  calendar  poems  with 


SANHKR 


46 


SANHSlS 


stanzas  devoted  to  each  of  the  twelve  solar 
months.  Guru  Nanak  in  his  poem  describes  the 
natural  landscape  from  month  to  month  along 
with  the  yearning  of  the  bride  (devotee)  for 
God,  the  Beloved.  In  Guru  Arjan's  stanzas  is 
rendered  the  mood  of  the  devotees  in  each 
month.  To  quote  Guru  Nanak  :  The  month  of 
Chet  (Chaitra)  is  marked  by  Basant  (Spring) 
and  blossoming,  but  the  human  mind,  even  in 
such  a  season,  will  not  effloresce  without  union 
with  God  achieved  through  meditation  on  the 
Name  under  the  Guru's  instruction.  Guru 
Arjan  in  the  stanza  on  Chet  observes  that 
meditation  on  the  Name  in  this  month  would 
bring  boundless  bliss;  the  Name  is  received 
through  the  grace  of  the  saints  ;  living  without 
the  Name  renders  life  futile  and  brings 
suffering.  The  Lord  pervades  all  existence. 
Both  of  them  in  the  end  say  that  each  moment, 
day  or  month  spent  in  meditation  on  the  Name 
brings  bliss.  Besides  the  Name,  no  other 
propitiation  or  worship  will  help. 

But,  in  course  of  time,  the  practice  of 
celebrating  the  Sahgrand  (Sahkranti)  entered 
the  Sikh  way  of  life,  if  only  to  provide  an 
occasion  for  the  recitation  of  one  of  the 
Baramahas.  Special  divans  take  place  at 
giirdwaraswhen  Guru  Arjan's  Baramahais  read 
in  addition  to  the  performance  of  usual 
services.  Devotees  turn  up  in  large  numbers 
and  bring  offerings,  especially  of  karah 
prasad.  Individuals  who  cannot  join  the 
recitation  in  gurdwaras,  may  say  the  Baramaha 
privately.  In  homes  where  the  Holy  Book  is 
ceremonially  installed  special  services  will  be 
set  up  to  mark  the  day  and  families  will  gather 
to  listen  to  the  Baramaha.  being  recited  from 
Scripture. 

T.S. 

SANHER,  8  km  southeast  of  Zira  (30°  -58'N, 
74°  -59  °  E),  in  Firozpur  district,  is  sacred  to 
Guru  Hargobind,  who  visited  the  village  on  his 
way  from  Amritsar  to  DaraulL  The  Gurdwara 
Patshahi  Chhevih  was  in  the  control  of  Udasi 
priests  before  it  came  under  the  administration 


of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee.  It  has  been  reconstructed  since. 
The  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  seated  on  a  square 
platform  at  the  north  end  of  a  large  rectangular 
hall.  Above  the  sanctum,  there  are  two  storeys 
of  rooms  with  a  narrow  and  tall  dome  on  top. 
The  dome  has  an  ornamental  gold  pinnacle 
with  a  khanda  as  finial.  The  sarovar  has  a 
peculiar  design.  It  is  a  small  circular  tank 
around  a  wide  well,  with  steps  leading  down  to 
the  water  level  from  the  direction  of  the  hall. 

BIBILIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Kahn  Singh,  Gurushabad  Ratnakar  Mahan  Kosh 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1982 

3.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

SANHSIS,  also  called  Sahsls,  Saihsis  and 
Bhatus,  are  a  nomadic  people  counted  among 
one  of  the  Scheduled  Tribes  in  the  Constitution 
of  India  which  entitles  them  to  certain  special 
rights  and  privileges.  They  claim  descent  from 
one  of  the  Aryan  tribes  entering  India  centuries 
ago.  Some  of  the  immigrants  settled  in 
Rajasthan  and  parts  of  the  Punjab  while  others 
continued  in  their  wandering  state  like  their 
original  Aryan  forefathers.  The  number  of 
these  latter  increased  as  those  settled  in 
Rajasthan  kept  joining  them  under  the 
pressure  of  Mughal  influx.  The  nomenclature, 
Sanhsi  is  said  to  have  been  derived  from  their 
Rajput  ancestor  Sansi  or  Sahsmal,  described  as 
the  thirteenth  descendant  of  Bhatti,  a  Rajput 
ruler  of  Bhatner,  in  Rajasthan.  He  is  now 
worshipped  as  a  tribal  deity. 

Sahhsis  are,  by  and  large,  still  a  wandering 
tribe,  without  any  fixed  settlements  of  their 
own.  They  keep  moving  from  place  to  place, 
using  pack  animals  such  as  camels  and  donkeys 
for  transporting  their  belongings.  The  dog  has 
been  their  reliable  companion,  as  a  guard  for 
their  animals  and  encampments.  Their 


SANHSiS 


47 


SANKARNATH,  PANDIT 


temporary  settlements  are  always  on  the  fringes 
of  villages  which  they  leave  at  their  will.  These 
encampments,  however,  are  never  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  village,  near  a  cremation 
ground  or  near  the  tomb  of  a  Muslim  saint. 
They  earn  their  living  by  hunting  and  by  doing 
odd  jobs  for  the  villagers  where  they  settle. 
Punjab  is  perhaps  the  first  state  where  they  have 
now  started  settling,  mostly  as  lagis  or  village 
menials,  but  hunting  and  predatory  excursions 
are  still  not  uncommon. 

Socially  Sahhsls  are  divided  into  two 
sections,  Mahla  and  Bihda,  commonly  called 
BIhdu,  named  after  the  two  sons  of  Sarismal. 
They  are  exclusively  exogamous  and  select 
their  mates  from  the  other  group  and 
marriages  with  the  children  of  mother's 
brother  and  father's  sister  are  preferred: 
however,  marriages  with  the  children  of 
mother's  sister  are  taboo.  The  prominent  form 
of  marriage  among  them,  as  in  the  case  of  other 
people  in  the  region,  is  punn  (lit,  charily  or 
gift),  but  the  practice  of  marriage  by  exchange, 
capture,  and  elopement  has  not  yet  entirely 
died  out.  Widow  remarriage  and  divorce  are 
permissible.  Sahhsls  are  by  and  large  a 
monogamous  people  but  cases  of  surrogate 
polyandry  and  levirate  polygyny  are  also  found 
among  them.  Marriage  rites  of  the  Sahhsls  vary 
from  settlement  to  settlement. 

The  Hindus  among  them  observe  Hindu 
rituals  whereas  those  who  have  embraced 
Sikhism  follow  the  Sikh  rites.  Their  Pahchayats 
represent  a  strong  political  structure.  They  help 
them  settle  their  disputes  and  they  are  a  potent 
factor  in  determining  their  voting  behaviour. 
They  have  their  distinctive  dialect,  but  they  can 
claim  no  script  or  literature  of  their  own. 

Most  of  the  Sahhsls  living  beyond  the  state 
of  Punjab  are  Hindus  as  those  in  Pakistan  are 
Muslims,  but  the  Sahhsls  of  the  central  Punjab 
are  by  and  large  Sikhs,  though  their 
assimilation  in  the  Sikh  way  of  life  is  still 
incomplete  because  they  continue  believing  in 
evil  spirits  and  many  magical  devices  for  their 
protection.  They  have  also  transformed  several 


important  mendicants  of  their  tribe  into  deifies 
whom  they  worship. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Rose,  H.A.,  ed.,  A  Glossary  of  the  Tribes  and 
Castes  of  the  Punjab  and  North-West  Frontier 
Province.  Lahore,  1911-19 

2.  Sher  Singh  Sher,  The  Sanhsis  of  Punajb.  Delhi, 
1965 

S.S.Sh. 

SANKARNATH,  PANDIT  (1789-1858), 
astrologer  and  diplomat,  belonging  to  the 
village  of  Karivallur,  in  north  Kerala,  was  a 
celebrated  scholar  of  ancient  lore.  His 
reputation  especially  as  an  astrologer  spread 
far  beyond  the  confines  of  his  native  Kerala 
and  he  was  in  1816  invited  by  Raja  Sahsar 
Chand  of  Kahgra  to  become  his  spiritual 
adviser.  From  Kahgra,  he  came  to  Lahore  as 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh's  counsellor  and 
astrologer.  It  is  said  that  besides  the  Maharaja 
and  his  courtiers,  even  the  English  consulted 
him  on  matters  of  diplomacy.  He  was  held  in 
high  esteem  by  Lord  William  Bentinck,  the 
governor-general,  and  Sir  Claude  Wade  and 
other  English  officials.  In  recognition  of  his 
services,  the  Maharaja  granted  him  a  jagir 
worth  3,000  rupees  per  annum.  At  the  time  of 
the  intrusion  of  Muhammad  Akbar  Khan  into 
the  frontier  area,  Sahkarnath  accompanied  the 
Maharaja's  armies  despatched  to  punish  him. 
He  was  wounded  in  one  of  the  encounters  with 
the  Af  ghans. 

Sahkarnath  had  a  large  number  of 
disciples  at  Lahore  where  he  performed 
numerous  penances  and  yajnas.  He  stayed  in 
the  Punajb  for  nine  years  and  left  in  1827  to 
join  the  Maharaja  of  Travancore  who  gave  him 
appointment  as  chiefjustice  of  the  Sadar  Court. 
In  1834,  he  returned  to  Lahore  where  he 
resumed  his  old  position  at  the  court.  He 
continued  to  serve  until  1844  when  he  rejoined 
Travancore  service.  He  died  in  1858  after 
having  served  as  Faujdari  Commissioner  for 
several  years. 


SANSAR  CHAND 


48 


SANT 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
The  Tribune.  Chandigarh,  9  August  1981 

S.S.B. 

SANSAR  CHAND  ( 1 765-1 823) ,  Katoch  Rajput 
Raja  of  Kahgra  who  ascended  the  throne  in 
1775.  He  was  an  ambitious  ruler  and  began 
extending  his  influence  over  the 
neighbouring  hill  states  as  well  as  over  the 
plains  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  Sivalik  ranges. 
He  came  as  far  as  Hoshiarpur  in  the  Punjab 
where  he  built  the  famous  fort  of  Bajvara. 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  however  drove  him 
away  from  the  plains  in  1804.  In  1805,  the 
Nepalese  general,  Amar  Singh  Thapa,  crossed 
the  Yamuna  at  the  invitation  of  Raja  of  Sirmur 
to  suppress  a  rebellion  of  his  subjects,  but  went 
on  and  laid  siege  to  the  Fort  of  Kahgra.  Sahsar 
Chand  resisted  the  Gurkhas  for  four  long 
years.  When  he  could  fight  no  more,  he 
solicited  the  help  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh. 
The  Maharaja  marched  an  army  to  Kahgra 
and  defeated  the  Nepalese,  but  he  seized  the 
Fort,  accepting  Sahsar  Chand  as  a  tributary 
of  his  government. 

Sahsar  Chand  died  in  December  1823. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  Ranjit  Singh.~bxiord,  1905 

3.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,  Life  and  Times  of  Ranjit 
Singh.  Nabha,  1977 

4.  Sinha,  N.K.,  Ranjit  Singh.  Calcutta,  1908 

5.  Hutchinson  J.,  and  Ph.  Vogel,  History  of  the 
Punjab  Hill  States.  Lahore,  1933 

H.R.G. 

SANSRAM,  son  of  Baba  Mohan  and  a  grandson 
of  Guru  Amar  Das.  According  to  Sarup  Das 
Bhalla,  Mahima  Prakash,  he  lost  his  mother  in 
infancy.  His  father  being  indifferent  to  worldly 
affairs,  Guru  Amar  Das  took  him  under  his  care. 
Saiisram  grew  up  to  be  a  gifted  young  man. 
He  mostly  remained  in  attendance  upon  Guru 
Amar  Das  or  spent  his  time  memorizing  hymns 


coming  down  from  the  Gurus.  These  he  wrote 
down  in  Gurmukhi  characters.  Two  of  the 
pothis  or  volumes  he  prepared  are  to  this  day 
preserved  in  the  descendant  families.  It  is  said 
that  Guru  Arjan  made  use  of  Saiisram's  pothis 
when  compiling  the  Sikh  canon  in  the  form  of 
the  Adi  Granth. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Paliala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Sura/' 
Granth.  Ainritsar,  1927-35 

B.S.D. 

SANT,  commonly  translated  as  saint  though 
not  very  exactly,  for  the  English  term,  used  in 
the  adjectival  sense  'saintly'  for  a  person  of 
great  holiness,  virtue  or  benevolence,  has  a 
formal  connotation  in  the  Western  culture,  is 
a  modified  form  of  sat  meaning  lasting,  real, 
wise  and  venerable.  Sat  or  Satya  has  been  used 
since  the  Vedic  times  for  the  Ever-existent, 
Unchanging  Reality  or  the  Self-existent, 
Universal  Spirit,  Brahman  or  God.  The  term 
sant  came  into  vogue  much  later.  The  word 
occurs  frequently  in  the  ancient  Pali  literature 
of  Buddhism  in  the  sense  of  tranquil,  true  or 
wise.  From  Pali  it  was  resuscitated  during  the 
middle  ages  when  Bhakti  movement  took  its 
birth.  The  epithet  sant  was  usually  added  to 
the  names  of  the  Vaisnava  bhaktas  of 
Maharashtra  belonging  to  Vitthal  or  Varkari 
school  such  as  Jhandev,  Namdev,  Eknath  and 
Tukaram.  According  to  R.D.  Ranade,  Mysticism 
in  Maharashtra,  "Now  'Santa'  is  almost  a 
technical  word  in  the  Vitthal  Sampradaya,  and 
means  any  man  who  is  a  follower  of  that 
Sampradaya.  Not  that  followers  of  other 
Sampradayas  are  not  'Santas'  but  the  followers 
of  the  Varkari  Sampradaya  are  santas  par 
excellence."  Within  the  Bhakti  movement 
there  is  a  distinct  Sant  tradition  clearly 
distinguishable  from  South  Indian  Saiva  bhakti 
and  the  Vaisnava  tradition  of  Northern  and 
Central  India.  The  Sant-bhaktas  were 
essentially  non-sectarian.  They  were  strict 


SANT 


49 


SANTA  SINGH,  BABU 


monotheists  and  were  opposed  to  Brahinanical 
ritualism,  idol-worship  and  caste  system.  Like 
other  bhaktas,  they  valued  love-relationship 
between  the  individual  and  the  deity,  but  their 
deity,  although  usually  given  Vaisnava  names, 
is  the  Absolute  Reality,  Unborn,  Formless,  All- 
pervading,  Self-existent,  nirguna  (without 
attributes)  God,  who  makes  Himself  manifest 
in  the  Name  (nam)  which  may  be  uttered  or 
meditated  upon.  Nirgum  bhaktas  refute 
avatarvada  or  incarnation,  but  they  believe  that 
the  sant,  through  living  a  life  of  piety  and 
practising  nam,  can  attain  final  release. 

Through  Bhakti  the  term  passed  into  the 
Sikh  tradition.  In  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  there 
is  'frequent  mention  of  the  status  and 
significance  of  the  sant,  a  holy  man  who 
represents  the  salt  of  the  earth  and  the  hope 
of  mankind.  Guru  Arjan  defines  a  sant  thus: 
"jina  sasi  girasi  na  visrai  harinamah  mani 
mantu/  dhannu  si  sei  nanaka  puranu  soi 
santu-  They  who  do  not  put  away  from  their 
minds  the  Name  Divine  even  for  the  duration 
of  a  breat  h  or  as  they  swallow  a  morsel  are  indeed 
blessed,  o  Nanak!  They  are  the  perfect  sants" 
(GG.319).  Guru  Arjan  in  another  hymn: 

All  the  twenty-four  hours  of  day  and  night, 

He  knows  God  to  be  close  to  his  heart, 

And  to  His  will  he  cheerfully  submits. 

Name  alone  is  the  sustenance  of  the  sant; 

A  sant  considers  himself  to  be.  the:  dust  of 
the  feet  of  all. 

This,  brothers,  is  the  sants'  way  of  life, 
Beyond  my  power  is  it  to  describe  its 
excellence. 

Name  alone  is  their  occupation  , 

In  blissful  kirtan  do  they  find  their  peace. 

Friend  and  foe  are  to  them  alike. 

Besides  their  God  they  acknowledge  not 
another. 

Myriad  sins  can  a  sant  erase. 

He  is  the  dispeller  of  sorrow  and  the 
bestower  of  life. 

Heroes  true  to  their  word  are  the  sants, 

Even  poor  maya  is  by  them  beguiled. 

The  gods  themselves  long  for  their 


company  ; 

To  have  a  sight  of  them  is  fulfilling  in  the 
extreme, 

To  be  able  to  serve  them  a  blessing. 
Nanak  does  with  folded  hands  supplicate: 
Grant  me  this  favour,  O  Treasure  of  Merit, 

that  to  the  service  of  the  sants  do  I 

dedicate  myself.  (c;c;,  392) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabdarath  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Randhir  Singh,  Bhai,  Sant  Pad  Nirnai.  Ludhiana, 
1954 

W.H.M. 

SANTA.  SINGH,  BABU  (1887-1926),  Babar 
revolutionary,  was  born  the  son  of  Suba  Singh 
at  Harioh  Khurd,  a  village  in  Ludhiana  district. 
He  passed  his  matriculation  from  the  Malwa 
Khalsa  High  School  at  Ludhiana  where  he  also 
worked  for  some  time  as  an  office  clerk.  In 
February  1920,  he  enlisted  in  the  54th  Sikh 
Battalion  as  a  sepoy,  later  shifting  over  to  a 
clerical  position.  Henceforth  he  came  to  be 
known  as  "Babuji",  a  term  by  which  a  clerk  is 
commonly  addressed.  For  Santa  Singh  the 
Nankana  massacre  proved  a  turning  poing  as 
indeed  it  did  for  many  another  youth.  He  was 
fired  with  anti-British  feeling.  He  secretly 
attended  some  of  Kishan  Singh  Gargajj's 
lectures  and  became  his  admirer.  Sant  Kartar 
Singh,  who  later  became  an  approver  in  the 
Babar  Akali  case,  introduced  him  to  Kishan 
Singh.  At  this  meeting  which  took  place  in 
October  1921,  after  a  dtvan  at  Palahi,  Santa 
Singh  offered  to  take  his  discharge  from  the 
army  and  join  the  Chakravarti  Jatha.  Kishan 
Singh  advised  him  to  remain  in  the  army  and 
work  upon  the  soldiers.  However  in  January 
1922,  Santa  Singh  left  the  army  and  became  a 
member  of  Kishan  Singh's  Chakravarti  Jatha, 
a  radical  group.  Despite  his  poor  physique  and 
short  stature,  he  soon  earned  the  respect  of 
his  fellow  jathedars  for  his  qualities  of 
fearlessness  and  courage.  He  convened  divans 
in  villages  preaching  violence.  He  also  lent  a 


SANTA  SINGH,  BHAI 


50 


SANTA  SINGH  JATHEDAR,  BHAl 


helping  hand  in  the  production  of  the  news- 
sheet  BabarAka.liDoa.ba. 

With  the  shooting  down  of  Bishan  Singh, 
zaildar  of  Ranithuha  on  10  February  1923, 
Santa  Singh  initiated  the  "reformation"  (  in 
Punjabi,  sudhar,  a  euphemism  for-liquidation 
ormurder)  of  loyalist  village  functionaries.  He 
played  an  active  part  in  eliminating  some  other 
marked  persons,  including  Labh  Singh,  an  ex- 
policeman,  Hazara  Singh  of  Bahibalpur, 
Subadar  Genda  Singh  of  Ghurial,  Buta, 
lambardar  of  Naiigal  Shamaii,  and  Ralla  and 
Dittu  of  Kaulgarh.  All  of  these  murders  took 
place  betwen  February  and  May  of  1923.  Police 
were  in  hot  pursuit  and  he  was  betrayed  into 
their  hands  by  Sant  Kartar  Singh,  who  had 
himself  been  a  member  of  the  Chakravarti 
Jatha.  He  was  apprehended  on  20  June  1923 
in  a  train  at  Tapa  railway  station. 

At  his  trial  Santa  Singh  refused  to  reply 
to  any  question,  saying  that  he  did  not  expect 
any  justice  from  the  British  government.  He 
was  awarded  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law 
and  was  hanged  on  27  February  1926. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ghosh,  Kali  Charan,    The  Roll  of  Honour: 
Anecdotes  of  Indian  Martyrs.  Calcutta,  1965 

2.  Nijjar,  B.S.,  History  of  the  Babar  A&a/is.  Jalandhar, 
1987 

3.  Nijjhar,  Milkha  Singh,  Babar  Akali  Lahir  da  Itihas. 
Delhi,  1985 

K.M. 

SANTA  SINGH,  BHAI  (1886-1921),  one  of  the 
martyrs  of  Nankana  Sahib,  came  of  a  poor 
barber  family  of  Fatehgarh  Sukkarchakkiaii,  a 
village  near  Amritsar.  His  father  Bhai  Mohra 
however  had  become  through  thrift  and  hard 
work  a  small  shopkeeper  and  money-lender. 
Santa  Singh  learnt  Gurmukhi  from  the  village 
granthi,  Bhai  Tek  Singh,  and  could  read  the 
Holy  Book  fluently.  He  was  initiated  a  Singh  at 
the  age  of  17.  He  commanded  respect  for  his 
upright  conduct,  religious  devotion  and 
tuneful  recital  of  the  heroic  deeds  of  Sikh 


martyrs.  As  the  movement  for  Gurdwara 
Reform  got  under  way,  he  joined  the  Akali 
ranks.  On  19  February  1921,  he  fell  in  with  Bhai 
Lachhman  Singh  Dharovali's  squad  and  met 
with  a  violent  death  on  20  February  1921 
singing  holy  hymns  with  other  Sikhs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbaklish  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

SANTA  SINGH  JATHEDAR,  BHAI  (1897- 
1921),  shahid  of  Nankana  Sahib,  was  the  son 
of  Bhai  Nand  Siiigh  and  Mai  Prem  Kaur  of 
Darauli  village  injalandhar  district.  They  were 
weavers  by  profession.  Santa  Singh's 
grandfather,  Gujjar  Singh,  as  well  as  his  father 
had  received  the  vows  of  the  Khalsa.  The  family 
migrated  to  the  Lower  Chenab  Canal  Colony 
at  the  close  of  the  century  and  settled  as  cloth 
merchants  at  Shahkot,  a  market  town  in 
Sheikhupura  district.  Santa  Singh  learnt  to  read 
Gurmukhi  at  home. 

Bhai  Santa  Siiigh  received  the  rites  of  the 
Khalsa  at  the  hands  of  Bhai  Mahitab  Siiigh  Bir 
and  became  an  active  member  of  Khalsa 
Baradari,  an  organization  of  baptized  Sikhs 
from  among  the  so-called  low  castes  such  as 
Ramdasias  and  Mazhabis.  There  were  about 
40  Akalis  in  Shahkot  itself  who  chose  him  their 
jathedar  (chief  or  leader).  He  had  partici- 
pated in  the  liberation  of  Gurdwara  Babe  di 
Ber,  Sialkot,  Gurdwara  Khara  Sauda, 
Chuharkana,  and  the  gurdwara.  at  Gojra.  On 
receiving  the  call  for  the  liberation  of 
Gurdwara  Janam  Asthan,  Nankana  Sahib,  he 
led  a  batch  of  six  volunteers  from  Shahkot.  He 
fell  a  martyr  in  the  firing  on  the  Akali 
volunteers  inside  Gurdwara  Janam  Asthan  on 
20  February  1921. 

The  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee,  Amritsar,  set  apart  a  grant  of  Rs 
300  per  annum  for  the  martyrs.  The  Shahkot 
sangat  raised  a  memorial  gurdwara  in  their 
honour. 


SANTMAL 


51 


SANTOKH  SINGH,  BHAI 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Sirigh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib.  1938 

G.S.G. 

SANTMAL,  by  Bhai  Sobha  Ram,  is  an  account 
in  Punjabi  verse,  of  the  Sevapanthi  sect.  The 
work,  still  unpublished,  was  completed  in  nk 
1923/ad  1866.  A  copy  of  the  manuscript  is 
preserved  in  Deri  Bhai  Ram  Kishan,  Patiala. 
This  manuscript  copied  in  ilk  1927/ AO  1870 
comprises  255  folios,  each  folio,  12/1/2"  X  6/ 
1/2",  containing  16  lines.  The  work  falls  in  the 
category  of  hagiographical  writing  and  follows 
the  Puranic  style  of  narration.  The  manuscript 
contains  detailed  biographies  of  some  of  the 
important  Sevapanthi  saints  such  as  Bhai 
Kanhaiya,  Seva  Ram,  Addan  Shah  and 
Dukhbhahjan.  Brief  sketches  are  provided  of 
some  lesser-known  Sevapanthi  saints  such  as 
Bhai  Dhanno,  Garh  Mangii,  Sadanand  and 
Bhalla  Ram.  The  work  includes  some  indirect 
references  to  Mughal  atrocities  and  the 
sufferings  of  the  Sikhs  during  the  eighteenth 
century. 

Valuable  and  interesting  information, 
based  on  personal  knowledge,  is  given  about 
some  of  the  eminent  contemporary 
personalities  such  as  Bedi  Sahib  Singh  of  Una, 
Baba  Vadbhag  Singh  and  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Gurmukh  Singh,  Seva  Panthian  di  Pahjabi  Sahit 
nun  Den.  Patiala,  1986 

Gm.S. 

SANTOKH  DAS,  an  Udasi  sant  belonging  to 
the  Saiigat  Sahib  Ke  sub-sect,  is  remembered 
for  the  construction  of  the  hansli,  a  water 
channel  taken  off  the  Shahi  Nahar,  an 
irrigation  canal,  for  the  regular  supply  of  water 
for  the  sacred  tanks  in  Arnritsar.  This  feat  he 
accomplished  in  collaboration  with  Mahant 
Pritam  Das,  another  Udasi  sadhu,  during  1781- 
84.  Like  Pritam  Das,  Santokh  Das  had  also 


established  an  akhara  or  monastery  close  to  the 
Harimandar  at  Arnritsar,  which  is  known  as 
Brahm  Buta  after  Santokh  Das'  successor, 
Brahm  Das  or  Brahm  Sahib.  Long  after  these 
events,  Santokh  Das  and  some  other  saints  of 
his  sub-sect  developed  differences  with  the 
central  Udasi  organization,  the  Panchayati 
Akhara,  and  in  1840  setup  under  his  leadership 
a  separate  body  named  Sri  Gur  Naya  Akhara 
Udasin,  popularly  known  as  Udasiah  da  Chhota 
Akhara. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Giiin  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Sri  Arnritsar.  Arnritsar, 
1977 

S.S.Am. 

SANTOKH  SINGH,  BHAI  (1787-1843),  poet 
and  historian,  was  born  on  8  October  1787  the 
son^of  Bhai  Deva  Singh  and  Mai  Rajadi, 
professionally  cloth-printers  of  Nurdin  village, 
also  known  as  Sarai  Nurdin,  7  km  northwest  of 
Tarn  Taran  in  Arnritsar  district  of  the  Punjab. 
Deva  Singh  though  poor  was  educated  and  well 
versed  in  the  sacred  texts.  He  sent  his  son,  after 
preliminary  education  at  home,  to  Arnritsar 
where  he  became  a  pupil  of  Giani  Sant  Singh 
(1768-1832),  a  renowned  man  of  letters  and 
custodian  of  Sri  Darbar  Sahib. 

Alter  having  studied  Sikh  Scripture  and 
history,  Sanskrit  language  and  literature, 
poetics,  philosophy  and  mythology  at  Arnritsar 
for  about  15  years,  Santokh  Singh  moved  to 
Buria,  an  old  town  on  the  right  bank  of  Yamuna 
in  the  present  Yamuna  Nagar  district  of 
Haryana,  some  time  before  1813,  and 
established  himself  there  as  a  writer,  poet,  and 
preacher.  His  patron  was  Dial  Singh,  also  from 
a  cloth-makers'  family  and  an  old  acquaintance 
of  the  poet's  father,  who  was  serving  as  an  army 
officer  under  Sardar  Hari  Singh,  chief  of  Buria. 
Here  Santc/kh  Singh  wrote  his  earlier  works, 
Nam  Kosh,  a  versified  Hindi  translation  of 
Amar  Kosa,  the  famous  Sanskrit  dictionary, 
(completed  in  1821),  and  Sri  Guru  Nanak 
Prakash,  an  epic  poem  consisting  of  9,700 


SANTOKH  SINGH,  15HAI 


52 


SANTOKH  SINGH,  BHAl 


verses  dealing  with  the  life  and  teachings  of 
Guru  Nanak  (completed  in  1823).  He  had 
attained  such  repute  as  a  poet  and  scholar  that 
Bhai  Udai  Singh,  chief  of  Kaithal,  invited  him 
in  1825  to  join  his  court.  Santokh  Singh  is  said 
to  have  spent  some  time  at  Patiala  also  as  an 
employee  of  Maharaja  Karam  Singh  before 
going  to  Kaithal.  During  his  18-year  span  at 
Kaithal,  now  a  district  town  in  Haryana,  he 
wrote  Garab  Ganjani  Tika  (1829),  an 
exhaustive  philosophical  commentary  in  Hindi 
prose  on  Guru  Nanak's  Japu,  along  with  a 
critical  appreciation  of  its  poetic  features  (the 
work  was  meant  to  be  a  rejoinder  lo 
Anandghana's  tika  of  the  Japu);  Valmiki 
Ramayana  (1834),  a  versified  translation  of  the 
epic  in  chaste  and  refined  Braj  Bhasa  ; 
translation  of  Atma  Purana  in  Sadhukari  prose 
(date  not  known)  ;  and  his  mangum  opus,  Sri 
Gur  Pratap  Siiryodaya,  popularly  known  as  Gur 
Pratap  Suraj  Granth,  a  voluminous  history  of 
the  Gurus  in  Braj  Bhasa  consisting  of  51,820 
verses  written  during  1835-43. 

Bhal  Santokh  Singh  was  married  during 
his  stay  at  Buria  to  Bibi  Ram  Kaur  of  Jagadhri. 
Five  sons  and  three  daughters  were  born  to 
them.  Some  of  his  descendants  are  now  living 
at  Patiala  and  at  Kaithal.  The  poet  died  at 
Kaithal  on  19  October  1843,  soon  after  the 
completion  of  his  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth.  A 
shrine  in  honour  of  his  memory  was 
constructed  at  his  native  place,  Sarai  Nurdin, 
during  the  1950's. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Goel.  Jai  Bhagwan,  Mahah  Kavi  Santokh  Singh  : 
Jivan  7e  Rachna.  Patiala,  1992 

2.  Vir  Singh,  Bhai,  Prastavna  "Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Mahari  Kavi  Santokh  Singh. 
Patiala,  1964 

4.  MacauliiTe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion. 
Oxford,  1909 

J.B.G. 

SANTOKH  SINGH,  BHAI  (1893-1927),  a 


Ghadr  leader,  was  born  in  Singapore  in  1893, 
where  his  father,  Javala  Singh,  of  the  village  of 
Dhardeo  (Amritsar  district),  was  employed  as 
a  gunner  in  the  army.  Santokh  Singh  had  his 
early  education  in  a  school  in  Singapore  and 
learnt  Punjabi  (Gumukhi  script)  at  home  from 
his  father.  For  higher  education  he  came  to 
the  Punjab  and  joined  the  Khalsa  College  at 
Amritsar,  from  where  he  passed  the  Entrance 
examination  in  1910.  He  gave  up  his  studies 
and  went  to  the  United  Stated  of  America  in 
1912  where  he  came  in  contact  with  Sant 
Vasakha  Singh  and  Bhai Javala  Singh,  who  were 
owners  of  potato  ranches  and  were  working  for 
the  freedom  of  India. 

Santokh  Singh  joined  the  Ghadr 
movement  and  in  a  short  time  had  himself 
elected  as  the  general  secretary  of  the  party. 
He  visited  Siam  (Thailand),  Burma  and 
Shanghai  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  money 
and  arms  to  raise  in  India  an  armed  rebellion 
against  the  British.  Santokh  Singh  was  arrested 
along  with  some  other  Ghadr  leaders  in  the 
San  Francisco  conspiracy  case,  and  sentenced 
in  April  1918  to  21  months  imprisonment.  As 
the  Ghadr  revolt  was  crushed  by  the 
government  with  a  heavy  hand,  Santokh  Singh 
turned  towards  Soviet  Russia  to  work  out  a  new 
strategy  for  continuing  the  struggle  for  the 
liberation  of  India.  He,  along  with  Bhai  Ratan 
Singh,  travelled  secretly,  sometime  in  the 
summer  of  1922,  to  Soviet  Russia  where  both 
of  them  underwent  training  at  M.N.  Roy's 
Communist  University  of  the  Toilers  of  the 
East.  They  attended  the  4th  Congress  of  the 
Communist  International  from  5  November  to 
5  December  1922,  met  Communist  leaders 
from  various  countries  and  exchanged  views 
with  them.  Resolved  to  start  a  revolutionary 
journal  in  the  Punjab,  Santokh  Singh  left  Russia 
in  May  1923  to  return  home.  It  was  a  hazardous 
journey  for  him.  Before  reaching  India,  he  was 
put  under  arrest.  The  case  against  him  lingered 
for  about  a  year  and  then  he  was  bound  down 
for  good  behaviour  for  one  year  in  his  village, 
Dhardeo.  In  1926,  Bhai  Santokh  Singh 


SANT  SING1 1 


53 


SANTSINCII  GIANl,  BHAl 


launched  from  Amritsar  the  Kirti.  a  Punjabi 
monthly  dedicated  to  the  cause  of  workers  and 
peasants.  But  he  had  not  long  to  live.  He  fell  a 
victim  to  tuberculosis  and  died  in  1927  when 
he  was  only  thirty-four. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Deol,  G.S.,  The  Role  of  the  Ghadr  Party  in  the 
National  Movement.  Delhi,  1969 

2.  Jagjit  Singh,  Ghadar  Parti  Lahir.  Delhi,  1979 

3.  Sairisara,  Gurcharan  Singh,  Ghadar  Parti  da 
Jtthas.  Jalandhar,  1969 

4.  Jas.Jaswant  Singh,  Desh  Bhagat  Babe.  Jalandhar, 
1975 

S.S.j. 

SANT  SINGH  (d.  1705),  an  Arora  Sikh  of  Paul 
in  present-day  Amritsar  district  of  the  Punjab, 
was  one  of  the  warriors  in  the  retinue  of  Guru 
Gobind  siiigh.  He  took  part  in  the  battles  of 
Anandpur  and  Nirmohgarh  as  also  in  that  of 
Chamkaur.  At  Cnamkaur,  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
along  with  his  forty  Sikhs  including  his  two 
elder  sons,  had  been  besieged  by  an  imperial 
host  far  superior  in  numbers.  According  to 
Sainapati,  Sri  Gur  Sobha  and  Gurbilas  Patshahi 
10  by  Kuir  Siiigh  and  Gurbilas  Dasvirt  Patshahi 
by  Sukha  Singh,  Sant  Singh  was  the  last  to  sally 
out  against  the  besiegers  and  die  fighting 
before  Guru  Gobind  Singh  himself  broke  out 
of  the  cordon  and  escaped. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10.  Patiala,  1968 

2.  Senapati,  Sri  Gur  Sobha.  Patiala,  1967 

3.  Padam,  Piara  Siiigh,  and  Giani  Gaija  Siiigh,  eds., 
Guru  kiaii  Sakhian.  Patiala,  1986 

4.  Gian  Siiigh,  Giani,  Panth  Prakash.  Delhi,  1880 

P.S.P. 

SANT  SINGH  (1906-1989),  born  in  Amritsar 
in  1906,  had  an  aristocratic  upbringing.  In  his 
youth  he  was  known  to  be, a  dandy.  A  horse- 
drawn  phaeton  was  his  common  mode  of 
iransport.  After  the  death  of  his  father,  he  took 
to  the  family  business  and  set  up  as  a  serious- 


minded  government  contractor.  Added  to  this 
was  the  imprint  of  Bhai  Vir  Singh  whom  he 
revered  as  a  saint  of  great  sanctity. 

About  this  time  (1944)  he  joined  the 
Chief  Khalsa  Dlwan  and  continued  to  be  its 
honorary  secretary  for  nearly  half  a  century. 
He  kept  himself  aloof  from  all  tangles  and 
controversies.  For  this  he  enjoyed  wide  esteem 
and  goodwill.  He  was  vice-president  of  the 
Khalsa  College  managing  committee  and 
president  of  a  number  of  local  societies  and 
foundations. 

He  was  a  studious  freemason  and 
Rotarian.  Horse-riding  was  his  favourite  hobby. 
At  an  advanced  stage  he  started  taking  lessons 
in  driving. 

Sant  Singh  died  on  3  January  1989. 

Db.S 

SANT  SINGH  GIANI,  BHAI  (1768-1832), 
renowned  man  of  letters  and  custodian  of  Sri 
Darbar  Sahib  at  Amritsar  in  Sikh  times,  came 
of  a  devout  family  of  Chiniot,  in  present-day 
Jhahg  district  of  Pakistan.  His  grandfather,  Bhai 
Ram  Siiigh  had  spent  his  life  preaching  Sikhism 
in  those  parts.  His  father,  Bhai  Sural  Singh, 
made  home  in  Amritsar  to  which  place  he  had 
migrated  in  1750.  Surat  Singh  was  a  scholar  of 
Persian  and  Punjabi  and  enjoyed  high 
reputation  as  an  exponent  of  the  Gurus' 
teaching.  For  his  lucid  discourses  on  the  Sikh 
sacred  texts,  he  was  popularly  known  as  giani, 
i.e.  a  man  of  spiritual  insight  and  knowledge. 
After  the  occupation  of  the  Punjab  by  Sikh 
misls,  Bhai  Sural  Singh  was  appointed  manager 
of  the  Darbar  Sahib  at  Amritsar  and  of  the  jaglrs 
earmarked  for  its  maintenance.  For  himself, 
he  was- gran  ted  a  landed  estate  near  Jalandhar 
where  he  built  a  small  fortress.  Sant  Siiigh  was 
born  in  this  house  in  1768.  He  trained  in  Sikh 
religious  lore  at  Amritsar  under  the  care  of  his 
father.  Soon  he  and  his  younger  brother, 
Gurdas  Siiigh,  were  assigned  to  reciting  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  in  the  Harimandar.  Later, 
Sant  Siiigh  studied  Braj  and  Sanskrit  under 
Pandit  Nihal  Siiigh  of  Thoha,  now  in  Rawal- 


SANTSINOII  CilANl,  UIIAl 


54 


SANT  TRADITION 


Pindi  district,  of  Pakist  an.  When  MaharajaRanjit 
Singh  occupied  the  Jalandhar  Doab  in  1806- 
07,  he  allowed  Bhai  Sant  Singh  to  retain  the 
family  estate  and  appointed  him  to  succeed  his 
father  in  the  superintendence  of  repair  and 
decoration  work  at  Sri  Darbar  Sahib  at  Amritsar. 
Sant  Singh  also  began  to  attend  the  court  at 
Lahore.  In  1821,  he  accompanied  RanjitSitigh 
on  an  expedition  to  Mankera  in  the  Sind  Sagar 
Doab  in  Western  Punjab.  Saddened  by  the 
untimely  death  of  his  younger  brother,  Bhai 
Gurdas  Singh,  Sant  Singh  forsook  court  life  and 
retired  to  Amritsar  to  devote  himself  to  reading 
and  expounding  the  Scripture  at  Sri  Darbar 
Sahib,  his  son,  Gurmukh  Singh,  replacing  him 
at  the  court.  In  Amritsar,  Sant  Singh  was  also 
entrusted  by  Ranjit  Singh  with  the  task  of 
having  art  and  filigree  work  carried  out  in  the 
interior  of  the  Harimandar  and  having  the 
upper  portion  of  the  exterior  covered  with 
gold-leaf.  An  inscription  at  the  main  entrance 
of  the  inner  sanctuary  commemorates  the 
services  of  the  Maharaja  "whom  the  Guru  by 
his  own  favour  had  assigned  to  the  seva"  and 
of  Giani  Sant  Singh  who  supervised  execution. 
In  addition  to  his  administrative 
responsibilities,  Sant  Singh  continued  his 
scholarly  study  of  and  discourse  on  Scripture. 
A  very  fortunate  circumstance  was  his 
acceptance  of  Bhai  Santokh  Singh  as  a  pupil 
who  was  given  lodging  in  his  own  house,  Burj 
Gianiari.  Bhai  Santokh  Singh  produced  in  Braj 
verse  that  inimitable  and  immortal  work  on  the 
lives  of  the  Gurus  and  Banda  Singh  Bahadur, 
Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth.  Among  Bhai  Sant 
Singh's  own  extant  works  is  the  famous  Suras 
Pradipaka,  a  translation  in  prose  of  Tulsidasa's 
Ramayana,  which  was  published  in  the 
Devanagari  script  in  1897.  Sri  Guru  Charitra 
Prabhakar,  published  at  Chashma-i-Nur  Press, 
Amritsar,  in  1877,  contains  short  biographical 
accounts  of  the  Gurus.  Another  work  by  him 
was  on  pahul  or  the  rites  of  initiation  among 
the  Sikhs. 

Bhai  Sant  Sirigh  died  at  Amritsar  in  1832. 
His  work  at  Sri  Darbar  Sahib  was  taken  over  by 


his  son,  Bhai  Gurmukh  Singh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Sri  Amritsar 
[Reprint].  Amritsar,  1877 

S.S.Am. 

SANT  TRADITION  comprises  those  medieval 
monotheistic  and  devout  personalities 
belonging  to  different  shades  of  Indian  society 
who  are  supposed  to  have  been  quiet,  tranquil 
non-sectarian,  opposed  to  Brahmanical 
ritualism,  piously  tired  of  the  duplicity  of  the 
world  but  otherwise  deeply  conscious  and 
critical  of  the  outrageous  anamolies  professed 
by  certain  vested  interests  among  the  people 
around.  In  general  terms  these  mystical 
personalities  are  known  as  nirgun  bhaktas  or 
more  commonly  sants. 

The  Sanskrit  form  of  the  term  sant  is 
rooted  in  sam  meaning  'appeased'  or 
'pacified'.  Sometimes  this  tradition  is  direcdy 
linked  with  Vedic  and  Upanisadic  thought  but 
very  often  it  is  accepted  as  influenced  by 
Sahajyana,  an  offshoot  of  Buddhism. 
Commonly  the  practices  of  Sant  tradition  are 
remembered  as  Hathayogic,  however,  with  the 
exception  of  Sikhism  which,  sufficiently 
influenced  by  this  tradition,  has  repudiated  all 
sorts  of  mortifications  of  body  through 
Hathayoga.  Very  early  the  term  sant  had 
acquired  two  specific  connotations.  On  the  one 
hand,  it  served  to  designate  a  school  or  rather 
a  particular  group  of  Vaisnava  bhaktas  devoted 
to  the  incarnations  of  Visnu  and  hence  called 
sagunvadins  but  on  the  other  we  find  Guru 
Nanak,  Ravidas,  Kabir,  Dadu,  Paltu,  etc.,  who 
without  getting  led  astray  by  excessive 
emotionalism  never  miss  to  delineate  their  last 
aim  of  liberal  attitude,  universal  thinking  and 
hence  a  pure  ethical  code  of  conduct.  The 
vast  literature  of  this  tradition  radiates  a  specific 


SANT  TRADITION 


55 


SANT  TRADITION 


dynamic  energy  containing  in  it  a  challenge  of 
frankness  and  fearlessness. 

It  is  significant  to  note  that  often  the  term 
sant  is  distinguished  from  bhakta  by  calling 
them  nirgunvadins  and  sagunvadfns,  respectively. 
In  Marathi  literature  the  worshippers  of 
qualified  God  and  the  meditators  of  the 
unattributed  Supreme  Being,  both  are  called' 
bhaktas  and  the  latter  ones  sants.  However, 
there  is  a  sharp  difference  in  their  dispositions. 
We  find  bhakta  literature  replete  with  the  warm 
emotions  for  the  incarnations  of  God  but  in 
nirguna  literature  the  sants  contradict  this 
theory.  They  don't  involve  themselves  in  the 
riddles  of  hell  and  heaven  and  their  worship  is 
realizational  and  not  based  on  sastras.  The  sants 
seem  litde  bothered  about  the  hollow  premises 
and  rhetoric.  They  spread  from  the  fourteenth 
to  the  eighteenth  centuries  of  the  Christian  era 
throughout  the  whole  of  north  India  and  part 
of  the  Deccan.  Within  the  tradition  on  itself 
the  term  sant  seems  to  have  been  used  as  a 
synonym  for  sadh  or  sadhu  in  the  sense  of  one 
who  has  "perfected"  or  "accomplished"  the 
ultimate  unitary  experience.  The  sant  tradition 
of  medieval  India,  though  predominantly 
theistic  and  devotional  unlike  the  SVamana 
tradition,  is  however  supposed  to  have  carried 
forward  the  moral  and  social  ideas  and  ideals 
of  non-Brahmanical  origin  first  diffused  by  the 
ancient  munis  and  sramanas.  In  this  medieval 
period  the  emphasis  on  a  personal  God  stems 
from  a  tendency,  in  Indian  religions,  which 
became  prominent  in  the  Upanisads,  to  find 
divinity  present,  immanent  in  nature  and  by 
extension,  in  the  very  being  of  man.  We  must 
also  note  that  the  personalization  of  the  deity 
in  Vaisnavite  religion  and  in  certain  sects  which 
worshipped  local  anthropomorphic  forms  of 
the  deity  was  countered  by  the  general 
pantheistic  tendency  of  the  Upanisads  with 
their  emphasis  on  the  identity  of  all  with  the 
Divine.  Caught  between  the  various  sectarian 
developments  and  driven  towards  a 
personalization  of  deity  on  the  one  hand  and 
accepting  the  monistic  tendency  of  much  of 


earlier  Indian  philosophy  on  the  other,  the 
people  of  India,  drew  on  the  earlier  tradition 
of  munis  and  sramanas  to  establish  numerous 
sects  of  practitioners  of  the  discipline  of  yoga 
and  of  wandering  sants  and  yogis  with  differing 
degrees  of  spiritual  realization  and  theories 
about  the  manner  of  achieving  it.  The 
influence  of  Mahayana  Buddhism,  especially 
of  its  esoteric  variety  lingered  in  India  long  after 
the  final  disappearance  ofthe  Buddhist  Sahgha 
in  its  homeland.  Further,  the  institution  ofthe 
Buddhist  monks  and  several  philosophical 
moral  doctrines  of  Buddhism  became 
incorporated  into  Hinduism  in  its  reflowering 
from  the  eighth  century  of  the  Christian  era 
onwards. 

In  this  milieu  the  Sant  tradition  was 
essentially  a  synthesis  of  four  principal 
dissenting  movements,  a  compound  of 
elements  drawn  from  the  Mahayanism  of  the 
siddhas,  the  vaisnava  bhakti,  the  Hadiayoga 
of  the  Nath-yogins  and  with  a  marginal 
contribution  from  Sufism.  The  non-vedic 
strand  in  the  Sant  tradition  was  an  important 
legacy  of  Buddhism  and  the  numerous  terms 
and  concepts  of  Buddhism  of  the  siddhas 
found  a  lasting  home  in  the  writings  of  the 
sants.  In  several  respects,  however,  the  sants 
disagreed  with  traditional  Vaisnava-bhakd  also 
and  some  of  these  differences  were 
fundamental,  such  as  their  (sants')  rejection 
of  avatarvada,  accepted  by  all  Vaisnava  bhaktas. 
Their  devotion  directed  to  an  invisible  all- 
pervading  Reality  to  be  realized  'within'  was  a 
novel  experience  for  the  people  of  medieval 
northern  India,  for  they  had  been  habitually 
worshipping  some  sort  of  'qualified'  visible 
anthropomorphic  gods  or  goddesses.  The 
bhakti  of  sants  is  generally  termed  as  Vaisnava 
bhakti  but  in -this  bhakti  a  monistic  and  strictly 
non-idolatrous  attitude  was  injected  by  their 
chief  exponents  like  Kabir,  Ravidas,  Rajjab,  etc. 
The  sants  eschewed  all  forms  of  idolatry,  most 
clearly  seen  in  those  times  in  the  worship  of 
Rama  and  Krsna.  True,  the  sants  were  prone 
to  use  term  nirguna  in  speaking  about  God  but 


SANT  TRADITION 


56 


SANT  TRADITION 


the  terra  seems  related  more  to  a  rejection  of 
its  antithesis,  the  saguna  concept  of  divine 
avatars  than  an  appropriation  of  the 
metaphysics  of  Advai'ta  Vedanta  of  Sahkara. 
Further,  their  expression  of  love  for  God  was 
through  inward  meditation  and  devotion,  a 
method  which  involved  certain  disciplines 
controlling  the  senses  and  emotions  and  not 
the  easy  path  of  traditional  bhakti. 

Traces  of  the  Nath  school  are  also  by  no 
means  absent  during  the  earlier  stages  of  this 
movement  but  they  are  not  prominent,  and  in 
some  cases  they  may  even  represent  later 
additions.  It  was  not  until  the  time  of  Kabir 
that  nath  concepts  assume  a  significant  role 
and  the  influence  of  siddhas  and  naths  emerges 
in  much  of  Kabir's  thought  and  basic 
terminology  in  the  form  of  rejection  of  all 
exterior  formalities,  ceremonies,  caste 
distinctions,  sacred  languages  and  scriptures. 
It  further  lays  strong  emphasis  on  the  interior 
unitive  experience  which  destroys  duality,  caste 
distinctions  and  prejudice  for  sacred  languages 
and  scriptures.  The  stress  is  put  on  the 
importance  of  the  satguru,  the  power  of  sabda 
and  the  related  notion  of  "sumiran,"  which 
leads  the  soul  to  the  mystical  experience  of 
paracha  through  which  the  jiva  is  reabsorbed 
into  the  unity' of  Ram,  the  mysterious  state  of 
sahaj.  A  further  indication  of  .siddha-nath 
influence  is  Kabir's  use  of  ultabansis,  the  use 
of  language  with  often  reversal  of  usual 
meaning  of  words.  This  kind  of  enigmatical 
speech  with  intentional  meanings  hidden 
under  the  cover  of  obvious  meanings  was 
employed  extensively  by  the  siddhas  like 
Sarahapad  and  Krsnapad.  However,  as 
characteristically  indicative  as  any  in  this  regard 
is  Kabir's  essentially  pragmatic  approach  to  the 
mystery  of  human  destiny.  Like  the  siddhas  and 
the  yogis  before  him,  Kabir  seeks  to  penetrate 
the  mystery  rather  than  to  triumph  over  death. 

The  sants  were  basically  monotheists,  but 
the  ultimate  Reality  (paramatattva)  whom  they 
addressed  and  with  whom  they  sought  union 
was  in  no  sense  to  be  understood  in 


anthropomorphic  terms.  His  manifestation  was 
through  His  immanence  in  His  creation  and, 
in  particular,  through  His  indwelling  in  the 
human  soul.  It  was  there  that  He,  by  grace 
(prasad),  revealed  Himself,  and  man's 
appropriate  response  was  love  and  devotion 
(namsumiran)  as  a  means  of  merging  with  the 
Divine.  Great  importance  was  attached  to  the 
guru  who  might  be  a  human  teacher  or  who 
might  be  understood  not  as  a  person  but  as 
the  inner  voice  of  God.  The  sants  attached  little 
importance  to  celibacy  and  asceticism  and 
hence  together  with  the  sufis  they  were 
commonly  laymen  or  householders  rather  than 
monks  or  ascetics  in  the  formal  sense.  The  spirit 
of  the  movement  was  essentially  non-sectarian 
though  many  of  the  sants  left  their  names  to 
the  sects  which  sprang  up  in  their  wake,  of 
which  certain  ones  still  survive  today. 

Their  beliefs  the  sants  expressed  not  in 
the  classical  Sanskrit  language,  but  in  a 
language  which  was  closely  related  to  that  of 
the  common  people  to  whom  they  addressed 
their  teachings.  There  seems  to  have  evolved  a 
"dialect"  which,  with  minor  modifications,  was 
used  by  the  sants  all  over  northern  India.  The 
basis  of  this  dialect,  which  has  been  called 
Sadhukari  was  Khari  Boli,  mixed  with  old 
Rajasthani,  Braj,  Pahjabi  and  Purvi  Boll  spoken 
in  what  is  now  eastern  Uttar  Pradesh.  Most  of 
the  sants  were  generally  poorly  educated  or 
completely  illiterate,  and  hence  their 
compositions  were  usually  oral  utterances 
which  came  to  be  written  down  only  after  a 
period  of  oral  circulation. 

The  Sant  movement  was  composed  of  two 
principal  groups  during  its  period  of  greatest 
importance  and  influence,  from  the  fourteenth 
to  eighteen  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  the 
one  centred  in  north  India  and  the  other 
centred  in  Maharashtra,  the  latter  being  the 
older. 

It  was  this  sant  tradition  which  provided 
the  basis  for  Guru  Nanak's  thought,  an 
inheritence  which  he  interpreted  in  the  light 
of  his  own  personality  and  experience.  Before 


SAPTAH1K  PATH 


57 


SAliAliLOH  GRANTH 


the  advent  of  Sikhism,  when  the  onslaughts  of 
the  hordes  of  invaders  were  rampandy  crushing 
the  people,  the  Indian  mind  and  body  unable 
to  withstand  it,  started  preaching,  on  the 
contrary,  the  doctrine  of  illusory  nature  of  the 
world.  People  were  advised  to  accept  the  non- 
existence of  the  very  world  in  which  they  were 
being  cramped.  Sikhism  asserted  itself  as  the 
most  self-respecting  and  fearless  religious  way 
of  life  to  accept  the  challenge  and  to  look  into 
the  real  cause  of  the  malady  of  helplessness  of 
men.  Sikhs  could  not  remain  passive  onlookers 
and  thus  a  very  constructive  culmination  of 
Sant  tradition  is  obvious  in  the  advent  of 
Sikhism.  The  thought  of  Guru  Nanak  was  a 
reworking  of  the  Sant  synthesis,  which  he 
received  and  passed  on,  which  was  in  some 
measure  amplified,  and  in  considerable 
measure  clarified  and  integrated. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  ji 

2.  Varma,  Ramkumar,  Sant  Kabir.  Allahabad,vl 957 

3.  Machwe,  Prabhakar,  Namdev:  Life  and 
Philosophy.  Patiala,  1968 

4.  Chaturvedi,  Parashuram,  Sant  Kavya.  Allahabad, 
1967 

5.  Shikoh,  Dara,  Ma/ma'  ul-Bahrain.  Edited  and 
English  translation  by  Mahfuz  ul-Haw.  Calcutta, 
1929 

D.  C.  S. 

SAPTAHIK  PATH,  a  path,  i.e.  reading  of  the 
entire  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  which  is  completed 
in  a  saptah  (week).  Any  individual,  man  or 
woman,  or  a  group  of  persons  by  the  relay 
method  may  perform  this  path  which  is 
commenced  seven  days  ahead  of  the  coming 
occasion,  ceremoney  or  rite.  One  or  more 
professional  piithis  may  be  engaged  to  perform 
the  path  or  to  help  the  individual  or  family  in 
completing  it.  As  with  a  sadharan  path,  before 
the  commencement  and  at  the  conclusion  of 
a  saptahik  path,  generally  a  simple  religious 
service  takes  place  at  which  kirtan  is  recited, 
ardas  or  suplicatory  prayer  said  and  prasad  or 


Sikh  communion  distributed. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sikh  Rahit  Maryada.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  Berkeley  Lectures  on  Sikhism. 
Delhi,  1983 

3.  Cole,  W.  Owen,  and  Piara  Singh  Sambhi,  The 
Sikhs  :  Their  Religious  Beliefs  and  Practices. 
Delhi,  1978 

T.S. 

SARABLOH  GRANTH,  a  poem  narrating  the 
mythological  story  of  the  gods  and  the  demons, 
in  ascribed  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  and  is 
therefore  treated  as  a  sacred  scripture  among 
certain  sections  of  the  Sikhs,  particularly  the 
Nihahg  Sikhs.  The  authorship  is  however 
questioned  by  researchers  and  scholars  of 
Sikhism  on  several  counts.  First,  the  work  is 
marked  by  extraordinary  effusiveness  and 
discursiveness  of  style  over  against  the 
compactness  characteristic  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh's  compositions  collected  in  the  Dasam 
Granth.  Qualitatively,  too,  the  poetry  of 
Sarabloh  Granth  does  not  match  that  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  Chandi  Charitras  and  Var 
Durga  Ki  dealing  with  the  same  topic  of  wars 
between  the  gods  and  the  demons.  Profusion 
of  metaphor  and  superb  imagery  of  the  latter 
compositions  are  missing  here.  Second,  the 
author  of  SarafaJoh  Gran  th  often  uses  his  name, 
'Das  Gobind'  or  the  phrase  'Das  Gobind  fatah 
satigur  ki',  which  is  generally  contrary  to  the 
style  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Third,  the 
Sarabloh  Granth  contains,  quite  out  of  context, 
an  account  of  the  Sikh  Teligion,  which  also 
includes  a  reference  to  the  devolution  of 
guruship  on  Guru  Granth  and  Guru  Panth 
(stanzas  3159-66).  This  would  be  out  of  place 
in  a  work  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  own 
composition.  Lastly,  there  is  also  a  reference 
in  it  to  Rup  Dip  Bhasha  PirigaJ  (stanza  2938/ 
8),  a  work  on  prosody  written  by  one  Jaya 
Krishna  in  1719,  i.e.  eleven  years  after  the  death 
of  the  Guru. 

According  to  Pandit  Tara  Singh  Narotam, 


SARABLOH  GKANTH 


SARAGARHI,  BATTLE  OF 


a  nineteenth  century  Sikh  scholar  and 
researcher,  Sarabloh  Granth  is  the  work  of  Bhai 
Sukha  Singh,  a  granthi  or  priest  at  Takht 
Harimandar  Sahib  at  Patna  Sahib,  who  however 
claimed  that  he  had  acquired  its  manuscript 
from  an  Udasi  recluse  living  in  a  forest  near 
Jagannath  (Orissa). 

Whatever  its  origin,  the  Granth  became 
quite  well-known  and  many  hand-written  copies 
of  it  exist.  It  is  now  available  in  printed  form 
published  in  two  parts  by  Baba  Santa  Singh, 
head  of  the  Buddha  Dal  of  Nihahg  Sikhs.  It  is 
a  lengthy  composition  in  a  variety  of  metres, 
comprising  totally  4361  stanzas  (862  pages  in 
print).  The  original  source  of  the  narrative  is, 
according  to  the  author  (stanzas  2093, 
3312.3409),  Sukra  Bhashya,  an  old  classic  of 
Hindu  mythology.  It  is  divided  into  five  parts, 
part-I  starting  with  a  lengthy  panegyric  and 
invocation  to  goddess  Sri  Maya  Lachhami,  who 
is  identified  with  Adi  BhavanI  (lit.  Primordial 
Goddess),  Durga,  Jvala,  Kali  or  Kalika,  Chandi, 
as  also  with  masculine  Hari  and  Go  pal.  Among 
her  myriad  attributive  names  is  also  Sarabloh 
(lit.  all-steel)  which  had  been  used  by  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  for  Akal-Purakh,  the  Supreme 
God,  in  Akal  Ustati.  In  part-II,  Lord  Visnu  is 
entreated  to  become  incarnate  as  Sarabloh 
(stanza  1167).  But  it  is  early  in  part  V  that  it 
becomes  clear  that  Sarabloh  is  an  incarnation 
of  Mahakal  or  Gopal,  the  Supreme  Deity 
(stanza  2386). 

The  plot  of  Sarabloh  Granth  is  almost 
identical  with  that  of  Chandi  Charitras.  The 
gods  defeated  by  the  demons  approach  the 
Goddess  BhavanI  who  kills  several  demons 
including  their  chief  Bhimanad  during  the  7- 
year  long  war.  Later,  Bhlmanad's  son.VIryanad, 
rises  in  power  and  wages  war  against  the  gods. 
This  time  Lord  Visnu  comes  to  their  succour. 
Brahma  and  Siva  also  help  ;  but  Viryanad  not 
only  remains  unbeaten  in  the  1 2-year  long  war, 
but  also  captures  the  king  of  the  gods,  India, 
along  with  his  sons.  Visnu  secures  their  release 
and  leads  them  to  Mahakal,  who  at  their 
supplications  appears  as  Sarabloh  and  after 


further  batdes,  fiercely  fought,  puts  an  end  to 
Viryanad  and  his  host.  At  this  stage,  the  poet 
also  describes  the  epic  as  a  contest  between 
reason  and  irrationality  in  which  the  former 
ultimately  triumphs. 

M.G.S. 

SARAGARHI,  BATTLE  OF,  a  heroic  action 
fought  by  a  small  detachment  of  Sikh  soldiers 
against  heavy  odds,  took  place  on  1 2  September 
1897  in  the  Tirah  region  of  North-West 
Frontier  Province  (now  in  Pakistan).  The 
heroes  of  Saragarhi,  barely  22  in  number, 
belonged  to  the  36th  Sikhs,  since  redesignated 
as  4th  Battalion  of  the  Sikh  Regiment  of  the 
Indian  Army.  During  a  general  uprising  of  the 
turbulent  Pathan  tribals  of  Tirah  in  1897,  the 
battalion  was  deployed  to  defend  Samana 
Ridge,  a  hill  feature  8  km  in  length  separating 
the  Kurram  and  the  Khanki  valleys.  The  head- 
quarters and  four  companies  were  located  in 
Fort  Lockhart  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  ridge 
and  the  other  four  companies  in  Fort 
Gavagnari,  commonly  known  as  Gulistan,  at  its 
western  end,  with  several  smaller  outposts  at 
different  strategic  points.  Saragarhi  was  a  small 
picket  perched  on  a  rocky-rib  cropping  up 
transversely  across  Samana  Ridge  half-way 
between  Fort  Lockhart  and  Gulistan  preventing 
direct  communication  between  the  two  bases. 
Overlooking  both  the  wings,  Saragarhi, 
manned  by  only  20  sepoys  (riflemen)  and  one 
non-combatant  sweeper  under  the  command 
of  Havildar  (sergeant)  Ishar  Singh,  was 
tactically  a  vital  post  for  communication  which 
in  those  days  was  possible  only  through  visual 
signalling. 

The  Orakzai  and  Afridi  tribesmen,  several 
thousand  strong,  attacked  Gulistan  twice  on  3 
and  9  September  but  were  repulsed  with  heavy 
losses  on  both  occasions.  Chagrined  at  the 
reverses,  they  looked  for  a  smaller  target  to 
ensure  easy  success.  On  the  morning  of  12 
September  1897,  they  fell  upon  Saragarhi,  a 
small  square,  stone  block  house,  and 
surrounded  it  making  any  reinforcement  to  the 


SARAI  NANGA 


59 


SARAI  NANGA 


besieged  impossible.  Havildar  Ishar  Singh  and 
his  men,  undaunted  by  the  hopeless  situation 
they  were  in,  fought  back  with  grim 
determination.  The  incessant  fire  from  the 
besiegers  took  its  toll,  and  after  a  6-hour-long 
battle,  the  only  soldier  left  alive  was  the 
signaller,  Sepoy  Gurmukh  Singh,  who  had 
meanwhile  kept  the  battalion  headquarters 
informed  about  the  situation  through  messages 
flashed  by  flag.  At  last  asking  for  permission  to 
stop  signalling  he  took  up  his  rifle  to  join 
combat.  He  fell  fighting  single-handed. 

The  valour  and  tenaciousness  of  the 
Saragarhi  soldiers  won  wide  acclaim.  Each  of 
them  was  posthumously  awarded  Indi  an  Order 
of  Merit  (I.O.M.).  Their  next-of-kin  were  each 
granted  Rs  500  in  cash  and  two  squares  (50 
acres)  of  land.  Their  battalion,  36th  Sikhs,  also 
received  Battle  Honours.  A  memorial  in  the 
form  of  an  obelisk  standing  on  a  base  built  with 
stones  from  the  Saragarhi  post  was  raised  at 
the  site  by  the  government  while  memorial 
gurdwaras  were  built  with  public  contributions 
at  Amritsar  and  Firozpur.  The  Sikh  Regiment 
celebrates  12  September  every  year  as 
Saragarhi  day. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  St.  Nihal  Singh,  India's  Fighters.  London,  -1914. 

2.  TheSpokesman  Weekly.  Delhi,  20  September  1971 

3.  Portrait  in  Courage.  D.G.P.C.,  Delhi 

Npl.S. 

SARAI  NANGA,  village  16  km  northeast  of 
Muktsar  (30"-29'N,  74°-31  E)  in  Faridkot 
district  of  the  Punjab,  enjoys  sanctity  as  the 
birthplace  of  Guru  Ahgad,  Naaak  II.  Guru 
Nanak'himself  is  also  believed  to  have  visited  it 
during  his  travels  in  these  parts.  Soon  after 
Guru  Arigad's  birth  in  1504,  the  village,  then 
known  as  Matte  di  Sarai,  was  plundered  and 
destroyed  at  the  time  of  one  of  Babar's 
invasions,  and  his  family  had  to  leave  it  for 
good.  A  small  shrine  was  later  raised  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  old  Sarai  in  honour  of  Guru  Aiigad. 
It  was  probably  looked  after  by  nanga  sadhus 


initially  for  which  reason  the  habitation  came 
to  be  known  as  Nahge  di  Sarai  or,  officially, 
Sarai  Nanga.  The  village  now  claims  two 
gurdwaras,  both  of  historical  importance. 

GURDWARAJANAM  ASTHAN  PATSHAHl  II  on  a  high 
ground  to  the  east  of  the  village  was 
reconstructed  through  kar-seva  or  voluntary 
labour  by  followers  of  Sant  Gurmukh  Singh 
during  the  1950's.  The  sanctum,  with  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  seated  on  a  canopied  seat  of 
white  marble,  marking  the  old  shrine,  opens 
on  a  14-metre  square  marble-floored  hall.  The 
terrace  around  the  hall  is  also  marbled,  as  is 
the  exterior  surface  of  the  walls.  Above  the 
sanctum  is  a  square  pavilion  with  wide  curved 
coping  and  topped  by  a  pinnacled  dome.  The 
roof  corners  are  decorated  with  marble  kiosks. 
The  hall  comers  facing  the  adjacent  sarovar 
have  large  kiosks  on  top  of  semi-octagonal 
pilasters.  The  Gurdwara  is  affiliated  to  the 
ShiromanI  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee, 
but  is  still  managed  by  kar-seva  sants  who  have 
now  taken  up  reconstruction  of  the  second 
historical  shrine  in  the  village. 

GURDWARA  PAHlLl  PATSHAHl  commemorating 
the  visit  of  Guru  Nanak  is  in  a  high-walled 
compound  with  a  domed  tower  at  one  corner 
on  a  mound  within  the  village.  The  old  shrine 
is  only  a  small  domed  structure  on  a  high  plinth 
with  an  old  van  tree  (Quercus  incana)  at  its 
back.  The  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  seated  in  a 
rectangular  room  at  the  entrance  to  the 
compound.  The  old  sarovar  is  at  a  much  lower 
level.  The  new  building  now  planned  will  be  a 
rectangular  hall,  10  xl4-metres,  with  the 
sanctum  in  the  middle. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

2.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratiip  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 


SAliANG  Kl  VAR 


60 


SARANGKlVAR 


4.  MalvaDesh  Ratan  di  Sakhi  Pothi.  Amritsar,  1968 

5.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

SARANG  KI  VAR,  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib, 
is  of  the  composition  of  Guru  Ram  Das.  It  is 
set  to  be  sung  in  Sararig  raga  and  hence  the 
title  Sarahg  kiVar.  Nine  of  the  22  vars  included 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  are  composed  in  the 
musical  mode  of  some  of  the  current  folk  vars 
of  those  days,  and  Guru  Arjan  who  compiled 
the  Holy  Book,  recorded  instructions  as  to  the 
tune  in  which  a  particular  varwas  to  be  recited. 
Sarahg  kl  Var  is  composed  to  the  tune  of  the 
secular  var  of  Rai  Mahima  and  Hasna,  which 
depicts  the  rivalry  and  combat  of  these  two 
feudal  chiefs.  It  consists  of  36  pauiis,  35  by  Guru 
Ram  Das  and  one  -35th-  by  Guru  Arjan.  To 
the  pauris  Guru  Arjan  prefixed  slokas  by  all 
the  four  preceding  Gurus  and  by  himself.  All 
pauris  are  of  uniform  length  of  five  lines  each. 
The  slokas  are  of  varied  length  and  are  in 
different  meters.  Pauris  1  and  34  each  have 
three  slokas  added  to  them  ;  the  rest  have  two 
slokas  each. 

What  is  the  purpose  of  human  life?  This 
is  the  main  theme  of  Sararig  ki  Var. 
Accumulation  of  material  means  is  subordinate 
to  the  contemplation  of  God's  Name.  A  life 
filled  with  the  love  of  God  is  truly  blessed.  This 
is  the  pervasive  idea  that  runs  through  this  Var. 
The  fourth  pauri,  for  instance,  speaks  thus: 
The  Name  of  God  is  the  fountain-head  of 
alljoy.  We  get  real  joy  through  the  recital 
of  His  Name  (simran).  The  gurmukh,  one 
who   faithfully  follows  the  Guru's 
instruction,  always  aspires  to  contemplate 
on  God  and  thus  to  return  Home 
honourably.  His  mind  is  ever  occupied  by 
the  thought  of  God  and  he  always  recites 
His  Name.  The  contemplation  of  God 
gives  one  power,  over  one's  mind  which, 
otherwise,  flies  like  a  bird  in  all  directions. 
O  Nanak!  only  diose  whom  God  blesses 
with  His  grace  devote  themselves  to  the 


meditation  of  His  Name. 
The  contemplation  of  God  is  the  only  means 
of  attaining  spiritual  bliss.  Religious  costumes 
and  formalism,  baths  at  holy  places  and 
observance  of  rituals  cannot  cleanse  the  mind. 
Only  the  individual  blessed  with  the  grace  of 
God  seeks  the  shelter  of  the  Guru,  follows  the 
path  indicated  by  him  and  devotes  himself  to 
the  constant  remembrance  of  the  Creator.  The 
second  paun  says  :  "  The  gurmukh  is  His  own 
creation  and  He  embodies  His  own  virtues  in 
him.  This  gurmukh  uninterruptedly  recites  the 
word  of  the  Guru  and  makes  his  mind  the 
abode  of  God. The  Divine  flame  is  lit  in  him, 
his  mind  is  liberated  from  delusion  and  he  is 
no  longer  duped  by  maya.  Those  who  are 
'chosen'  to  be  pious  are  led  to  meet  the  Guru 
by  His  grace.  They  accomplish  sahaj,  the 
ultimate  state  of  equipoise,  and  remain 
saturated  in  the  Name  of  God.  " 

As  the  secular  var  eulogizes  the  qualities 
of  physical  prowess  and  valour,  the  spiritual  var 
sings  the  praise  of  God.  In  Sararig  id"  Var, 
glorification  of  God  is  sung  in  pauris 
1,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,13,  and  36,  the  praise  of  the 
Guru  in  pauris  19  and  20  and  that  of  the 
gurmukh  in  pauris 2,22,25,  and  31.  Structurally, 
a  var  generally  consists  of  three  parts.  The  first 
part  narrates  the  causes  that  lead  to  the 
conflict.  Here  the  cause  is  man's  ego  and  his 
attachment  to  the  mundane  world. 

The  second  part  delineates  the  conflict. 
The  conflict  here  is  between  good  and  evil.  Love 
of  the  world  pulls  man  in  one  direction  and 
love  of  God  in  the  other.  Only  the  grace  of  God 
is  the  individual's  Saviour.  In  resolution  in  the 
tiiird  part,  the  Var  describes  God  as  the  supreme 
master  whose  will  prevails.  The  realization  of 
this  fact  brings  supreme  bliss  to  man. 

The  language  of  Sararig  ki  Var  is  Punjabi. 
In  a  simple  style,  the  Var  enunciates  the 
principles  of  a  truly  spiritual  and  ethical  living. 
Some  of  its  verses  have  become  proverbs  in 
literary  Punjabi,  e.g.  "ghale  avahi  Nanaka  sade 
uthijahi  —  sent  by  Him  we  come  (into  this 
world) ,  and  we  depart  at  His  call,  sayeth  Nanak" 


SARBATT  OA  UHAIA 


61 


SARBATT  DA  15HAIA 


(GG,  1 239) ,  "akali sahibu  seviai  akali paiai  man  u- 
through  wisdom  is  Lord  served,  through 
wisdom  is  honour  obtained"  (GG,i:;45),  "ghali 
khai  kichhu  hathahu  dei  Nanak  ra/ui 
pachhanahi  sci —  he  who  earns  his  bread  by 
his  labour,  and  is  willing  to  share  it  with  others, 
he,  says  Nanak,  alone  knows  the  way"  (GG,l24.r>). 
"Parai"  aman  kiu  rakhlai  ditihisukhu  hoi — why 
usurp  what  belongs  to  another  ?  By  restoring 
it  back  will  ye  attain  peace"  (GG.1249). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabdaraih  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Amole,  S.S.,  Bal  Varan  Satik.  Amritsar,  1944 

3.  Narain  Singh,  GianT,  Bal  Varan  Satik.  Ajnritsar,  1915 

C.S.G. 

SARBATT  DA  BHALA,  literally,  Weal  to  all... 
Weal  to  everyone.  This  is  the  concluding  line 
which  marks  the  finale  or  arofas  or  supplicatory 
prayer,  with  which  every  Sikh  service  or 
ceremony  concludes.  The  full  couplet  reads" : 
Nanak  nam  charhdi  kala  terc  bhane  sarbatt  da 
bhala  (May  God's  Name,  may  the  human  spirit 
forever  triumph,  Nanak  :  And  in  Thy  will  may 
peace  and  prosperity  come  to  one  and  all). 
Sarbatt  (lit., all)  here  does  not  stand  for 
members  of  a  particular  sect,  community  or 
nation,  but  for  the  whole  humankind.  Sarbatt 
da  bhala  is  not  a  mere  pious  profession  of 
goodwill  for  all  beings  ;  it  is  a  living  concept  in 
the  Sikh  tradition  central  to  the  Gurus'  spiritual 
vision.  A  line  in  the  Scripture  reads,  "eku  pita 
ekas  ke  ham  barik-  the  One  Lord  God  is  the 
father  of  all  of  us  ;  of  the  One  Lord  are  we  the 
children"  (GG.01  1).  Belief  in  One  Absolute  and 
Infinite  Creator  God  is  a  fundamental  postulate 
of  the  Sikh  faith.  God  is  the  creator,  the 
ultimate  ground  of  all  that  exists.  From  God 
emanated  man.  Man,  in  Sikhism,  is  the  creation 
of  God,  and  he  partakes  of  His  Own  Light. 
The  "stainless  soul"  within  the  material  body  is 
a  spark  of  the  light  He  is.  There  can  be  no 
distinctions  and  divisions  made  among  men  for 
reasons  of  birth,  race,  colour,  country  or  creed. 
"All  men  are  God's  own  creation,"  declared 


Guru  Nanak.  "False  is  caste  and  false  are  worldly 
titles.  One  Supreme  Lord  sustains  all"  (GG.83), 
"Manas  kl  jati  sabhai  ekai  pahachanbo — 
recognize  all  of  the  human  race  as  one,"  said 
Guru  Gobind  Singh.  This  concept  of  a  single 
humanity  is  basic  to  the  Sikh  world  view.  Out 
of  this  feeling  of  common  fellowship  arises  the 
Sikh's  wish  to  be  of  use  to  others.  For  him 
religious  faith  will  not  be  fully  realized  unless 
he  filled  his  everyday  life  with  deeds  calculated 
to  secure  the  welfare  of  the  people  as  a  whole. 

Sikhism  enjoins  active  participation  in  life. 
This  participation  must  be  morally  based.  The 
religious  man,, according  to  Sikhism,  has  to  be 
an  engage.  In  the  Sikh  way  of  life,  the  end  of 
spiritual  endeavour  is  not  a  state  of 
consciousness  passively  experienced  ;  it  is  the 
attainment  to  a  cognitive,  affective,  conative 
condition  of  being  which  is  characterized  as 
much  by  active  goodwill  for  all  beings  as  by  the 
discover^.'  of  the  true  essence  of  things  and  the 
attendant  joy  and  equipoise.  Truth,  as  says 
Guru  Nanak  in  his  Japu,  is  attained  by 
subjecting  oneself  to  a  multidimensional 
discipline  which  comprises  not  only  the  willing 
direction  of  one's  mind  to  the  pursuit  of 
spiritual  enlightenment,  intellectual 
discernment  through  knowledge,  the 
cultivation  of  an  aesthetic  sensibility  and 
harmony  with  Divine  will,  but  also  persistent 
effort  to  promote  the  general  good.  Habitual 
pursuit  of  the  common  good  marks  the  peak 
of  spiritual  ascent  ;  it  is  through  consistent 
striving  for  the  welfare  of  others  that  the 
process  of  devotion  is  brought  to  perfection. 
"Without  doing  good  to  others,  devotion 
remains  imperfect-vinu  gun  kite  bhagati  na 
hoi"  (GGA). 

The  end  of  learning  is  that  it  should  impel 
one  to  serve  others-  vidia  vichari  ta  parupkari 
(GG,  356).  Man  has,  according  to  Sikhism,  come 
from  the  Divine  and  his  travails  will  end  when 
he  merges  back  into  the  Divine.  What  stands 
in  the  way  of  man's  union  with  the  Divine  is 
his  haumai,  his  finite  ego,  his  divisive  concern 
with  the  self  with  its  penumbra  of  base  feeling'. 


SARBATT  DA  UHAIA 


62 


SARBATT  KHALSA 


and  impulses.  This  merger  into  the  Divine- 
liberation,  i.e.  the  goal  of  Sikh  spiritual  quest- 
is  attained  through  the  obliteration  of  hau/iiai. 
Freedom  from  the  bondage  of  haumai  is 
achieved  negatively  by  restraining  concern  with 
the,  self  and  positively,  and  more  fruitfully,  by 
expanding  one's  affection  to  embrace  the 
entire,  creation.  Involvement  in  the  welfare  of 
others  is  an  essential  element  of  the  Sikh 
spiritual  and  moral  ideal.  It  is  a  conscious  and 
consistent  pursuit-  a  deliberately  chosen 
principle  of  action  rather  than  a  momentary 
response  to  the  phenomenon  of  misery,  want 
or  suffering.  It  is  not  just  an  act  of  benevolence, 
but  a  natural  disposition.  A  Sikh  always  prays 
for  the  welfare  of  all.  This  precept  of  sarbatt 
da  bhala,  predicated  on  the  belief  in  the 
brotherhood  of  man  and  in  all  men  being 
equal  heirs  to  God's  grace,  permeates  the 
entire  Sikh  tradition.  It  was  exemplified  in 
deeds  of  seva,  humble,  self-abnegating  service 
in  the  common  cause  and  in  the  Guru  ka 
Laiigar,  the  community  refectory  where  all  sat 
together  to  share  the  meal,  overruling 
distinctions  of  caste,  creed  or  clime. 

The  value  epitomized  by  sarbatt  da  bhala. 
has  been  a  potent  factor  in  the  tradition  and 
sensibility  of  the  Sikhs.  Even  when  they  became 
a  militant  force  to  fight  oppression,  they  had 
not  forsworn  the  principle.  Guru  Gobind 
Singh,  who  fought  several  actions  against  the 
Hindu  hill  chiefs  and  the  Mughals,  especially 
applauded  Bhai  Kanhaiya,  one  of  his  Sikhs  who 
served  water  to  the  wounded  on  the  battlefield 
regardless  of  whether  they  were  Sikhs  or 
Muslims.  Qazi  Nur  Muhammad,  a  chronicler 
who  accompanied  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  on  his 
seventh  invasion  of  India  in  1764  and 
celebrated  his  exploits  in  the  masnavJ  entitled 
Jang  Namah,  uses  imprecatory  language  about 
the  Sikhs  and  yet  pays  them  a  handsome  tribute 
saying  that  they  never  chased  the  fleeing 
enemy,  did  not  harm  a  soldier  who  had 
surrendered"  and  did  not  loot  a  woman's 
valuables.  Another  Muslim,  Ghulam  Muhayy 
ud-DIn,  who  had  earlier  taken  part  in  a  battle 


against  Banda  Singh  Bahadur  wrote  in  his 
Fatuhat  Namah-i-SamadI  that  Sikhs  did  not 
look  upon  a  woman  except  as  their  mother. 

In  the  Sikh  system,  group  ethics  and 
individual  morality  harmonize  and  are  not 
fragmented.  Sarbatt  da  bhala  is,  therefore,  as 
much  a  common  human  objective  as  it  is  a 
personal  ideal.  It  must  lead  to  the  individual's 
ethical  and  spiritual  perfection  as  also  to  a 
better  world  order.  Both  these  goals  are 
enshrined  in  the  daily-repeated  maxim  sarbatt 
da  bhala.  Singly  and  in  groups,  in  their  homes 
and  in  congregations  in  their  places  of  worship, 
the  Sikhs  conclude  their  morning  and  evening 
prayers,  or  prayer  said  at  any  other  time  as  part 
of  personal  piety  or  of  a  ceremony  with  the 
words-  Nanak  nam  charhdi  kala  tere  bhane 
sarbatt  da  bhala.  This  prayer  for  the  welfare  of 
all  mankind  has  thus  been  institutionalized  in 
Sikhism.  For  the  Sikhs  this  is  not  a  mere 
mystical  quest,  but  a  firm  religious  and  social 
goal.  Towards  its  realization  a  Sikh  must 
constantly  endeavour. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Avtar  Singh,  Ethics  of  the  Sikhs.  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Nripinder  Singh,  The  Sikh  Moral  Tradition. 
Delhi,  1990 

3.  Kapur  Singh,  Parasarprasna  [Reprint] .  Amritsar, 
1989 

Kj.S. 

SARBATT  KHALSA  (sarbatt  from  Sanskrit 
sarva/  sarvatas  meaning  the  whole  or  entire) 
is  a  term  with  a  dual  connotation.  It  is  a  concept 
as  well  as  an  institution.  In  the  conceptual 
sense,  Khalsa  is  the  extension  of  sangat,  holy 
congregation,  an  institution  which  has  been 
eulogized  in  the  Sikh  Scripture  as  symbolizing 
God's  Own  presence  (GO,  460, 1314, 1335).  Sarbatt 
Khalsa  in  this  sense  is  a  mystic  entity 
representing  the  "integrated  conscience"  of  the 
entire  Sikh  people  imbued  with  the  all- 
pervasive  spirit  of  the  Divine.  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  transformed  sarigat  into  Khalsa 
subserving  God  s  will  or  pleasure.  A  verse  in 


SARBATT  KHA1.SA 


63 


SARBATT  KJdALSA 


Sarabloh  Granth,  generally  ascribed  to  the 
Guru,  declares  :  "Khalsa  is  the  army  of  the 
Akalpurakh,  Khalsa  is  born  of  the  wish  of  the 
Supreme  Spirit."  Sarbatt  Khalsa  as  the  Guru 
Panth,  along  with  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  is 
held  to  be  the  true  and  eternal,  spiritual 
successor  in  the  line  of  personal  Gurus  ending 
with  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  In  the  other, 
historical,  sense,  Sarbatt  Khalsa  is  the  highest 
organ  of  the  Khalsa  Commonwealth  representing 
its  "integrated  will,"  which  no  Sikh-  commoner, 
sardar  or  prince-  could  dare  defy.  Sarbatt 
Khalsa.  meeting  in  the  presence  of  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib,  is  the  supreme  sovereign  body, 
with  deliberative  and  executive  powers, 
including  authority  to  direct  the  affairs  of  the 
community.  The  institution  of  Sarbatt  Khalsa 
grew  out  of  the  needs  and  compulsions  of  the 
turbulent  eighteenth  century  when  Sikhs, 
driven  away  from  their  homes  to  find  shelter 
in  remote  hills  and  forests  in  large  or  small 
batches,  the  able-bodied  baptized  Sihghs 
among  each  forming  a  fighting  band,  living  off 
the  land  in  defiance  of  the  imperial  might,  it 
became  customary  for  them  to  assemble  at 
Amritsar,  especially  on  the  occasions  of 
Baisakhi  and  Divali.  These  gatherings  of 
warriors  and  non-combatants  considered  to 
be  representing  the  entire  Panth,  came  to  be 
called  Sarbatt  Khalsa.  In  this  general  sense, 
Sarbatt  Khalsa  denoted,  as  it  still  does,  the 
entire  body  or  the  whole  commonwealth  of 
Sikhs  in  whose  name  ardas  or  the  supplicatory 
prayer  was  offered  individually  or  at  public 
congregations.  The  Sarbatt  Khalsa  discussed 
and  took  decisions  by  common  counsel  upon 
matters  of  policy  and  upon  matters  requiring 
action.  Reports  on  the  activities  of  different 
jathas  or  groups  were  taken  note  of  and 
strategies  in  respect  of  their  continuing  conflict 
with  their  Mughal  and  Afghan  oppressors  as 
well  as  in  respect  of  their^relationship  with 
friendly  powers  such  as  the  Jats  and  the 
Marathas  were  worked  out.  The  earliest  known 
meeting  of  the  Sarbatt  Khalsa  took  place  on 
the  occasion  of  Divali  in  1723  when  a  clash 


between  Tat  Khalsa  and  the  Bandals  (owing 
fealty  to  Banda  Singh  Bahadur)  was  averted  and 
amicably  settled  through  the  intervention  and 
wise  counsel  of  Bhai  Man!  Singh.  The  next 
notable  Sarbatt  Khalsa  held  soon  after  the 
martyrdom  of  Bhai  Tara  Singh  of  Dall-Vari  in 
1726  passed  a  gurmata,  as  the  decisions  of  the 
Sarbatt  Khalsa  were  designated,  laying  down  a 
three-fold  plan  of  action,  viz.  to  plunder 
government  treasures  in  transit  between  local 
and  regional  offices  and  the  central  treasury  ; 
to  raid  government  armouries  for  weapons  and 
stables  for  horses  and  carriages  ;  and,  to 
eliminate  government  informers  and  lackeys. 
Another  Sarbatt  Khalsa  assembled  in  1733 
deliberated  upon  and  accepted  the 
government  offer  of  a  Nawabship  and  jagir  to 
the  Panth.  Under  a  gurmata  of  the  Sarbatt 
Khalsa  on  14  October  (Divali  day)  1745,  the 
active  fighting  force  of  the  Sikhs  was 
reorganized  into  25  jathas  or  bands  of  about 
100  each.  A  further  reorganization  into  11 
divisions  or  misls  forming  the  Dal  Khalsa  was 
made  by  Sarbatt  Khalsa  on  Baisakhi,  29  March 
1748.  Thus,  Sarbatt  Khalsa  became  the  central 
body  of  what  J.D-.  Cunningham,  A  History  of 
the  Sikhs,  terms  a  "theocratic  confederate 
feudalism"  established  by  the  misls.  But  as  the 
misl  chiefs  settled  down  in  their  respective 
territories,  with  the  threat  of  invasion  or 
intervention  from  outside  eliminated,  they 
began  to  bicker  and  fight  amongst  themselves. 
In  that  situation,  Sarbatt  Khalsa  gatherings 
became  less  frequent  and  less  important.  Their 
constitution  also  changed.  Whereas  formerly 
all  present  could  take  part  in  the  deliberations, 
now  it  was  only  the  misl  chiefs  or  their  vakils 
(representatives)  who  mattered.  With  the 
establishment  of  monarchy  under  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh,  the  institution  fell  into  desuetude. 
The  last  known  Sarbatt  Khalsa  assembly  took 
place  in  1805  to  deliberate  upon  the  question 
of  policy  to  be  adopted  towards  Jasvant  Rao 
Holkar,  the  Maratha  chief  who,  defeated  by  the 
British,  had  sought  the  Sikhs'  help.  Only 
chosen  Sikh  chiefs  were  invited  by  Ranjit  Singh 


SARBATT  KHALSA 


64 


SARB  HIND  SIKH  MISSION 


to  take  part  in  the  convention.  Opinions  were 
freely  expressed,  but  the  role  of  the  assembly 
was  only  advisory,  the  final  word  resting  with 
the  new  sovereign,  Ranjit  Singh. 

Some  details  about  the  working  of  the 
Sarbatt  Khalsa  have  come  down  to  us  through 
the  writings  of  near  contemporaries.According 
to  them,  the  Sarbatt  Khalsa  was  invariably 
convened  at  the  Akal  Takht.  The  participants 
after  ablutions  in  the  holy  sarovar  and 
obeisance  at  the  Harimandar,  assembled  in  the 
open  space  in  front  of  the  Takht  where  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  was  seated  attended  by  Akali 
(Nihahg)  officiants.  According  to  John 
Malcolm,  Sketch  of  the  Sikhs  : 

When  the  chiefs  and  principal  leaders 
meet  upon  this  solemn  occasion,  it  is 
concluded  that  all  private  animosities 
cease  and  that  every  man  sacrifices  his 
personal  feelings  at  the  shrine  of  general 
good  and  actuated  by  the  principles  of 
pure  patriotism,  thinks  of  nothing  but  the 
interests  of  the  religion  and  the 
commonwealth  to  which  he  belongs. 
After  the  prayers  (ardas)  and  distribution  of 
karah  prasad,  the  session  commenced: 

Then  distinction  of  original  tribes,  which 
are  on  other  occasions  kept  up,  are  on 
this  occasion  laid  aside  in  token  of  their 
general  and  complete  union  in  one  cause. 
The  Akalis  then  exclaim,  "Sardars  (chiefs), 
this  is  a  Gurmata"  on  which  prayers  are 
again  said  aloud.  The  chiefs  after  this  sit 
closer  and  say  to  each  other,  'the  sacred 
Granth  is  betwixt  us,  let  us  swear  by  our 
scripture  to  forget  all  internal  disputes 
and  to  be  united'.  This  moment  of 
religious  fervour  and  ardent  patriotism  is 
taken  to  reconcile  all  animosities.  They 
then  proceed  to  consider  the  danger  with 
which  they  are  threatened,  to  settle  the 
best  plans  for  averting  it  and  to  choose 
the  generals  who  are  to  lead  their  armies 
against  the  common  enemy. 
In  recent  years  efforts  have  been  made  to 
revive  the  institution  of  Sarbatt  Khalsa  to  discuss 


important  political  issues  confronting  the 
Panth  but  no  consensus  on  its  constitution  or 
commonly  accepted  sanction  has  so  far  emerged. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Malcolm,  John,  Sketch  of  the  Sikhs  [Reprint]. 
Patiala,  1970 

2.  Forester,  George,  A  Journey  from  Bengal  to 
England.  London,  1798 

3.  Prinsep,  Henry  T.,  Origin  of  the  Sikh  Power  in 
the  Punjab  and  Political  Life  of  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh.  Calcutta,  1834 

4.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Early  European  Accounts  of 
the  Sikhs.  Calcutta,  1962 

5.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Delhi,  1978 

6.  Khuswant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  I. 
Princeton,  1963 

7.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

8.  Sinha,  N.K.,  Rise  of  the  Sikh  Power.  Calcutta,  1960 

9.  Bhaiigu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakksh. 
Amritsar,  1914 

10.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Panth  Prakash  [Reprint]. 
Patiala,  1970 

11.  Sukhdial  Singh,  Akal  Takht  Sahib.  Patiala,  1984 

M.G.S. 

SARB  HIND  SIKH  MISSION  set  up  by  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
in  1936  for  the  propagation  of  Sikh  faith.  The 
immediate  cause  for  the  establishment  of  the 
Mission  was  a  declaration  made  in  1935  by  Dr 
Bhlm  Rao  Ambedkar,  leader  of  the  so-called 
untouchable  and  depressed  classes,  that  he  and 
his  followers  had  decided  to  get  out  of  the 
Hindu  fold  and  embrace  some  other  faith 
which  did  not  practise  untouchability  and 
which  would  allow  them  a  more  honourable 
status  in  society.  The  matter  was  first  considered 
by  the  executive  committee  of  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  on  25 
January  1936.  The  general  session  of  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
held  on  19  Phagun  1992  ilk/  1  March  1936  at 
the  Akal  Takht  under  the  chairmanship  of 


SARli  HIND  SIKH  MISSION 


65 


SARDAR 


Sardar  Partap  Singh  of  Shankar  passed,  after 
lengthy  deliberation,  four  resolutions  concerning 
the  initiation  of  the  so-called  untouchable 
classes.  The  third  resolution  read  : 

The  present  general  session  of  the 
Shiromani    Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  expresses  satisfaction  at  the 
action  so  far  taken  by  ihe  Executive 
Committee  regarding  preaching  in  the 
South  and  the  U.P.  and  direct  it  to  arrange 
at  the  earliest  the  setting  up  of  a  preaching 
mission  in  consultation  with  Panthic 
workers  of  all  shades  of  opinion,  and  to 
hold  a  big  preaching  conference  on  the 
coming  Baisakhi  day  in  order  to  ensure 
further   strengthening  and  better 
organization  of  this  work. 
Accordingly,   Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  called  the  Sarh  Hind 
Shiromani  Sikh  Prachar  Conference  at 
Amritsar  on  11,12  and  13  April  1936.  The 
Conference  was  presided  by  Rai  Bahadur 
Vasakha  Singh  of  Delhi.  Sardar  Hukam  Singh, 
a  retired  sessions  judge  of  Amritsar,  was 
chairman  of  the  reception  committee.  Among 
others  who  attended  were  Master  Tara  Singh, 
Jathedar  Udham  Singh  Nagoke,  Sardar  Sundar 
Singh  Majithia,  Sir  Jogendra  Singh,  Baba 
Pratap  Singh  Namdhari,  Dr  Ambedkar  himself 
and  the  president  and  secretary  of  the  All  India 
Dalit  Jati  (lit.  depressed  classes)  League, 
Bengal.  Several  eminent  Hindu  leaders  sent 
their  messages  of  good  wishes.  His  Holiness 
Jagatguru   Sankaracarya  of  Karir  Pith, 
Paiichavati,  Nasik,  blessed  the  conference.  Of 
the  94  persons  who  received  the  rites  of  the 
Khalsa  on  the  occasion,  at  least  43  were  non- 
Sikhs  from  areas  other  than  the  Punjab. 
Donations  amounting  to  several  lacs  of  rupees 
were  collected  on  the  spot  or  promised  by 
various  individuals,  Singh  Sabhas  and  other 
organizations.  Among  the  principal  donors 
were  Sri  Darbar  Sahib  Committee  Amritsar,  and 
Nankana  Sahib  Committee  (  Rs. 1,00,000  each) 
and  Sri  Akal  Takht,  Gurdwara  Committee  Tarn 
Taran  and  Maharaja  Bhupinder  Singh  of 


Patiala  (Rs.  25,000).  The  conference  resolved 
to  form  a  permanent  society  called  the  Sarb 
Hind  Sikh  Mission,  with  its  headquarters  at 
Amritsar.  The  principal  objectives  of  the 
Mission  were  to  preach  the  message  of  the 
Gurus  among  peoples  of  all  classes  and  castes 
in  India  and  to  work  for  the  improvement  of 
economic  and  social  condition  of  converts 
from  the  so-called  untouchable  classes.  Sikh 
preachers  were  sent  out  to  places  as  far  as 
Malabar  and  Travancore-Cochin.  Missionary 
centres  were  established  at  Hapur  and  Aligarh 
(Uttar  Pradesh),  Burhanpur  (Madhya 
Pradesh),  Nagpur  (Maharashtra),  and 
Ernakulam  and  Rani  (Kerala).  Although  Dr 
Ambedkar  and  his  followers  ultimately  decided 
not  to  adopt  Sikhism,  the  centres,  especially 
those  at  Hapur,  Aligarh,  Akola  and  Nagpur, 
continued  to  do  useful  work  in  their  respective 
spheres.  A  notable  accomplishment  of  the 
Mission  was  the  establishment  of  the  Khalsa 
College  at  Bombay  in  1937.  But  as  years  went 
by  the  activity  of  the  Mission  dwindled. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Jaswant  Singh,  ed.,  Master  Tara  Singh  :  Jivan 
Sahgharsh  te  Udesh.  Amritsar,  1972 

3.  Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

4.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Shromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  da  Paiyah  Sa/a  Itihas. 
Amritsar,  1992 

P.S.G. 

SARDAR,  in  Persian  amalgam  of  sar  (head)  and 
dar  (a  suffix  derived  from  the  verb  dashtan, 
i.e.  to  hold)  meaning  holder  of  headship,  is 
an  honorific  signifying  an  officer  of  rank,  a 
general  or  chief  of  a  tribe  or  organization.  Sikhs 
among  whom,  during  the  time  of  the  Guru  and 
for  half  a  century  thereafter,  no  words 
indicative  of  high  rank  were  current  other  than 
the  common  appellation  bhal  or,  rarely,  baba 
to  express  reverence  due  to  age  or  descent 


SARDUL  SINGH  GAVKKSHAR 


66 


SARDUL  SINGH  CAVKESHAR 


from  the  Gurus,  adopted  sardar  for  the  leaders 
of  their  jathas  or  bands  fighting  against  Afghan 
invaders  under  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani.  With  the 
expansion  of  the  Fighting  force  of  the  Sikhs 
under  the  misls  the  number  of  Sikh  sardars 
multiplied.  During  the  reign  of  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh  and  his  successors,  sardar  came  to  be 
used  as  an  appellation  for  all  ready  Sikhs  as 
well  as  for  Sikhs  in  general  having  Singh  as  their 
common  surname,  although  officially  sardar 
was  a  coveted  tide  conferred  on  generals  or 
civil  officers  of  rank.  The  British  government 
also  used  the  word  selectively  by  incorporating 
it  in  the  titles  of  sardar  sahib  and  sardar 
bahadur  conferred  mosdy,  but  not  exclusively, 
on  Sikhs.  In  the  Sikh  princely  states  of  Patiala, 
Nabha,  Jind,  Kapurthala,  Faridkot  and  Kalsia, 
too,  sardar  signified  rank  irrespective  of  the 
religious  affiliation  of  the  official  so  entitled. 
In  the  army,  both  under  the  British  and  in  free 
India,  junior  commissioned  officers  called 
Viceroy's  Commissioned  Officers  (V.C.Os) 
before  independence  are  referred  to  as  sardar 
sahiban.  Generally,  every  turbaned  Sikh  with 
unshorn  hair  is  addressed  as  sardarji,  and  it  is 
customary  to  use  sardarin  place  of  "Mr."  before 
a  Sikh  name. 

G.S. 

SARDUL  SINGH  CAVEESHAR  (1886-1963), 
politician,  newspaper  editor  and  author,  was 
born  at  Amr.itsar  in  1886,  the  son  of  Sardar 
Kirpal  Singh.  He  studied  up  to  M.A.  level,  but 
left  college  in  1909  without  taking  the  degree. 
In  1913  he  launched  an  English  journal,  Sikh 
Review,  from  Delhi.  He  came  into  prominence 
over  the  question  of  the  restoration  of  a  wall 
of  Gurdwara  Rikabgahj,  which  the  government 
had  demolished  in  1913-14  as  New  Delhi  was 
being  built.  Sikhs  expressed  strong  resentment, 
but  action  was  suspended  owing  to  outbreak 
of  World  War  I.  After  the  War,  Sardul  Singh 
Caveeshar  was  among  the  leaders  who  resumed 
the  agitation.  The  government  suppressed  his 
Sikh  Review,  and  externed  him  from  Delhi.  He 
shifted  to  Lahore  and  started  from  there  a 


weekly  newspaper  named  New  Herald.  The 
New  Herald  became  the  weekly  Sarigat  in  its 
Punjabi/Gurmukhi  incarnation.  During  1919, 
he  was  interned  for  some  time  for  his  political 
writings  against  the  Rowlatt  Bills.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Central  Sikh  League  of 
which  he  was  elected  general  secretary.  He  was 
also  secretary  of  the  publicity  sub-committee 
of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  formed  in  November  1920,  and  of 
the  Punjab  Provincial  Congress  Committee 
(1920).  In  April  1921,  Sardul  Singh  gave  a  call 
through  the  Akali,  a  popular  Punjabi 
newspaper,  asking  for  100  volunteers  who 
would  proceed  to  Delhi  vowed  to  rebuilding 
the  demolished  wall  or  laying  down  their  lives. 
He  along  with  Dan  Singh  Vachhoa,  Amar  Singh 
Jhabal  and  Jasvant  Singh  Jhabal,  repeated  the 
appeal  at  several  public  meetings.  Seven 
hundred  Sikhs  volunteered,  Sardul  Singh 
himself  heading  the  list.  But  before  they  could 
assemble  for  the  march  to  Delhi,  the 
government  got  the  wall  rebuilt.  For  a  series 
of  articles  he  had  published  in  the  Akali  from 
13  to  21  March  1921  on  the  massacre  of 
reformist  Sikhs  at  Nankana  Sahib,  he  was 
arrested  on  27  May  1921,  charged  with  sedition 
and  sentenced  to  five  years'  imprisonment.  He 
was  released  on  15  August  1925.  In  1927,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Working 
Committee  of  the  Indian  National  Congress. 
During  the  Civil  Disobedience  movement, 
1931-33,  Sardul  Singh  became  acting  president 
of  the  All-India  Congress  on  the  arrest  on  14 
August  1933  of  his  immediate  predecessor  on 
the  roster. 

Sardul  Singh  Caveeshar  was  opposed  to 
the  Congress  accepting  office  under  the 
Government  of  India  Act,  1935,  and  resigned 
his  membership  of  the  party  after  it  decided, 
on  18  March  1937,  to  accept  office  in 
provinces  in  which  it  commanded  a  majority. 
Later,  he  joined  the  Forward  Bloc  formed  by 
Subhas  Chandra  Bose  in  April-May  1939, 
initially  as  a  radical  and  progressive  group 
within  the  Congress.  After  Subhas  Chandra's 


SARDUL  SINGH  GIANl,  BHAl 


67 


SARDUL  SINGH  GIANT,  BHAl 


dramatic  disappearance  from  India  in  early 
1941,  Sardul  Singh  Caveeshar  was  elected 
president  of  the  Foward  Bloc.  He  was  detained 
for  four  years  under  the  Defence  of  India 
Rules.  After  Independence  he  retired  from 
active  politics,  resigning  the  presidentship  of 
the  party  in  1948.  He  died  in  Delhi  on  26 
March  1963. 

Besides  being  active  in  politics  most  of  his 
life,  Sardul  Singh  was  a  prolific  writer.  He  edited 
journals  in  English  and  Punjabi  and  published 
numerous  pamphlets  and  books.  Among  the 
latter,  the  more  famous  are  Guru  Nanak  and 
World  Peace;  All  the  Year  Round :  Guru  Arjan 's 
Twelve  Months  of  Love  and  Worship ;  Batde  of 
Life :  How  Guru  Govind  Singh  Fought  It ;  Guru 
Govind  Singh  and  National  Movement;  The 
Cross  and  the  Crown  ;  Republicanism  in 
Religion  ;  the  City  of  Joy ;  Spirit  of  Sikhism;  A 
Sikh  King  :  Maharaja  Ranjil  Singh;  Two  Jewels 
of  the  House  of  Phul;  The  Problem  of  Life  : 
How  Guru  Nanak  Solved  It;  India's  Fight  for 
Freedom (1936);  Sikh  Studies  (1937)  ;  Sikhs 
and  the  Swaraj  ;  Non-violent.  Non- 
cooperation;  and  The  Lahore  Fort  Torture 
Camp  (1946). 

His  Sikh  Dharam  Darshan  in  Punjabi  was 
published  by  Punjabi  University,  Patiala,  in 
1969. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Tuteja,  K.L.,  Sikh  Politics.  Kurukshetra,  1984 

2.  Bajwa,  Harcharan  Singh,  Fifty  Years  of  Punjab 
Politics  (1920-1970).  Chandigarh,  1979 

3.  Mohinder  Singh,  The  Akali  Movement.  Delhi,  1978 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

5.  Sarhadi,  Ajit  Singh,  Punjabi  Suba.  Delhi,  1970 

6.  Gulshan,  Dhanna  Singh,  Ajj  da  Panjab  te  Sikh 
Rajniti.  Rainpura  Phul.  1971 

M.S. 

SARDUL  SINGH  GIANl,  BHAl  (cl.  1913),  the 
eldest  son  of  Giani  Gian  Singh  of  Amritsar  and 
a  grandson  of  Giani  Bishan  Singh,  was  a  noted 
Sikh  scholar  of  his  time.  The  family  lived  near 


Chowk  Baba  Atal  in  a  street  still  known  as  Gall 
Gianiah,  the  street  of  the  Gianls.  Bishan  Singh's 
samadh  used  to  be  behind  Gurdwara  Baba  Atal 
of  which  shrine  he  is  believed  to  have  been 
officially  a  priest.  The  adjunct  Giani,  meaning 
a  priest  as  well  as  an  expounder  of  sacred  texts, 
thus  passed  on  to  the  names  of  the  male 
members  of  the  family.  Giani  Gian  Singh 
became  the  first  secretary  of  the  Singh  Sabha 
established  in  Amritsar  in  1873.  Sardul  Singh 
inherited  the  family's  interest  in  Sikh  learning. 
One  of  the  aims  of  the  Singh  Sabha  was  to 
research  and  rewrite  Sikh  history.  Under  the 
aegis  of  the  Singh  Sabha,  scholars  from 
Amritsar  and  other  places  used  to  assemble  for 
discussions  at  Mahji  Sahib  within  the  precincts 
of  the  Darbar  Sahib.  The  very  first  question  at 
the  very  first  such  meeting  was  raised  by  Bhal 
Sardul  sihgh,  who  held  forth  that  the  birth 
anniversary  of  Guru  Nanak  fell  on  the  third 
day  of  the  light  half  of  the  month  of  Baisakh 
and  not  on  full-moon  day  of  the  month  of 
Kartik  as  commonly  believed.  It  was  as  a  result 
of  such  scholarly  discussions  spreading  over 
three  years  that  a  Gur  Pranali,  or  calendar  of 
the  dates  of  the  Gurus,  was  compiled.  A  poetic 
version  of  it  prepared  by  Bhal  Sardul  Singh 
Giani,  was  first  published  in  a  magazine, 
Mastana,  in  1936. 

Bhal  Sardul  Sihgh  was  an  active  member 
of  the  Gurmat  Granth  Pracharak  Sabha  set  up 
on  8  April  1885  to  study  the  Sikh  texts, 
historical  as  well  as  religious.  A  theme  which 
was-  entrusted  to  the  Pracharak  Sabha  by  the 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Amritsar,  and  in  which  he 
became  deeply  involved,  was  an  exploration  of 
the  banj'pr  poetic  works  of  Guru  Gobind  Sihgh, 
and  to  prepare  an  authorized  version  of  the 
Dasam  Granth.  Summing  up  a  protracted 
debate,  Bhai  Sardul  Sihgh  prepared  two 
reports,  namely,  Report  Sodhak  (Revision) 
Committee,  Dasam  Patshkhi,  Sri  Guru  Gurmat 
Granth  Pracharak  Sabha,  and  Report  Dasam 
Granth  di  Sudhai  Di,  or  report  on  revision  of 
the  Dasam  Granth.  The  complete  report  was 
published  in  February  1898. 


SARDU1.  SINGH  GIANI,  BHAI 


68 


SARHINA 


Bhai  Sardul  Singh  was  one  of  those 
learned  Sikhs  who  assisted  Max  Arthur 
Macauliffe  in  his  work  on  Sikh  religion.  He  had 
some  knowledge  of  English,  too,  and  he  taught 
Punjabi  to  several  of  the  British  officers  posted 
at  Amritsar.  His  own  writings,  comprising  22 
tides,  are  all  in  Punjabi.  They  broadly  fall  into 
two  categories  ;  biographies  of  the  Gurus  and 
expository  essays  on  Sikhism.  Not  all  of  these 
works'  were  published  during  the  author's 
lifetime.  Among  those  which  were  may  be 
counted  Gursikkhan  de  Mtya  Karam  (1885), 
or  the  daily  duties  of  the  Sikhs  and  Yatra 
Abchalnagar  (1897),  a  travelogue  of  the 
author's  pilgrimage  to  Nanded,  both  published 
by  the  Gurmat  Granth  Pracharak  Sabha.  A 
collection  of  his  essays  entitled  52  Lekchars, 
discourses  delivered  at  Gurdwara  Baba  Atal 
Sahib,  ran  into  several  editions  ;  its  first  edition 
under  the  title  Gurmat  Sambandhi  Viakhian 
was  published  by  Wazir  Hind  Press  in  1904  and 
its  tenth  edition  is  dated  1938.  Guru  Prikhya, 
or  the  Guru's  Test,  a  40ipage  pamphlet  again 
published  by  the  Pracharak  Sabha,  refutes  the 
charge  that  Guru  Gobind  Singh  ever 
worshipped  any  goddess,  and  asserts  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Khalsa.  Twenty-three 
eminent  persons  and  priests  of  the  Harimandar, 
the  Akal  Takht  and  the  Darbar  Sahib,  Tarn 
Taran,  are  signatories  to  the  document 
attesting  the  correctness  and  authenticity  of  the 
meaning  of.  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  stanza  on 
which  the  author  has  based  his  thesis. 

In  1897,  Bhai  Sardul  Singh  Giani  was  given 
charge  of  the  Saragarhi  shrine  at  Amritsar 
where  he  passed  the  rest  of  his  days.  In 
December  1908,  he  was  involved  in  a  serious 
accident  in  which  his  tonga  overturned  as  a 
result  of  which  he  sustained  serious  injuries  and 
remained  in  a  coma  for  a  whole  week.  He 
survived  the  mishap  only  to  suffer  another 
tragedy,  the  sudden  death  of  his  only  son, 
Darbara  Singh,  on  Magh  sudi  4,1965  ilk/  25 
January  1909.  The  bereaved  father  himself 
expired  exactly  four  years  later  to  the  day,  Magh 
sudi  4,  1969  answering  to  10  Feburary  1913. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Jagjit  Singh,  Singh  Sabha  Lahir.  Ludhiana,  1974 

S.S.Am. 

SARHALA  (popularly  known  as  Sarhala  Ran- 
nuah),  village  12  km  west  of Bahga  (31"-11'N, 
76"E)  in  Jalandhar  district  of  the  Punjab,  has 
within  its  revenue  limits  a  historical  shrine, 
Gurdwara  Gurplah  Panj  Tahll,  dedicated  to 
Guru  Tegh.  Bahadur  (1621-75),  who  stayed  here 
once  during  a  journey  through  the  Doaba 
country.  The  Gurdwara  is  situated  in  the  fields 
between  Sarhala  and  Chakk  Guru,  another 
village  also  associated  with  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur's  visit.  The  present  building  was  raised 
in  1978  by  Sant  Seva  Singh,  who  continued  to 
manage  it.  It  is  a  four-storeyed  building,  with 
the  marble-floored  hall  at  the  ground  floor. 
Guru  ka  Langar  is  to  the  left  of  the  main 
building.  Besides  the  daily  services,  major  Sikh 
anniversaries  are  observed  with  special  divans. 
The  biggest  event  of  the  year  is  a  religious  fair 
held  on  the  occasion  of  Hola  Mahalla  in  March. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian. 
Amritsar,  n.d 

3.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavan  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

M.G.S. 

SARHINA,  village  15km  from  Moga  (30"-48'n, 
75"-10E)  in  Moga  district,  has  a  historical 
shrine,  Gurdwara  Patshahi  Chhevih.  In  1631, 
when  Guru  Hargobind  was  staying  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Sain  Das,  at  Darauli,  h's  first 
wife,  Damodari,  fell  seriously  ill.  Her  parents 
Bhai  Narain  Das  and  Mata  Daya  Kaur,  on 
receipt  of  this  information,  set  out  from  their 
village,  Dalla,  in  the  Doaba,  for  Darauli.  As  they 
arrived  at  Sarhina,  hardly  6  km  short  of  Darauli, 
they  learnt  that  not  only  Damodari,  but  their 
elder  daughter,  Ramo,  and  her  husband  Sain 
Das,  had  also  died.  This  was  more  than  the  old 


SARMUKH  SINGH 


69 


SARMUKH  SINGH,  BAVA 


couple  could  bear  and  they  died  of  shock.  Guru 
Hargobind  had  their  bodies  carried  to  Darauli 
for  cremation.  At  Sarhina,  the  villagers 
established  a  small  shrine  in  memory  of  the 
Guru  and  his  parents-in-law.  The  present 
building,  a  rectangular  hall  including  within  it 
an  octagonal  domed  sanctum,  was  constructed 
in  1944.  A  baoli  was  added  in  1956.  The 
Gurdwara  is  affiliated  to  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  and  is 
managed  by  the  local  sangat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twafikh  Guru  Khalsa.  Patiala, 
1970 

2.  Kahn  Singh,  Gurushabad  Rutnakar  Mahan  Kosh. 
Patiala,  1981 

M.G.S. 

SARMUKH  SINGH  (1893-1952),  the  middle 
one  of  the  trio*  of  the  Jhabal  brothers  and  the 
first  president  of  the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal,  was 
born  in  1893  at  Jhabal,  in  Amritsar  district  of 
the  Punjab.  He  received  his  education  at  Khalsa 
College,  Amritsar,  and  started  taking  interest 
in  social  and  religious  reform  while  still  very 
young.  In  1918,  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Central  Majha  Khalsa  Diwan.  As  the  Shiromani 
Akali  Dal  was  formed  on  14  December  1920  to 
be  a  kind  of  volunteer  corps  of  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  for  the 
refomation  of  gurdwara.  management,  he  was 
elected  its  president.  In  this  capacity,  he  toured 
extensively  in  the  Punjab  and  organized  Akali 
jathas  in  the  districts.  He  was  arrested  on  24 
November  1921  in  connection  with  a  morcha 
launched  for  reclaiming  from  the  British  keys 
of  the  Golden  Temple  toshaichana.  He  was 
arrested  again  on  26  August  1922  in  the  Guru 
ka  Bagh  agitation.  When  in  April  1923,  there 
occurred  Hindu-Muslim  riots  in  Amritsar, 
Sarmukh  Singh  placed  Akali  volunteers  at  the 
disposal  of  the  government  to  help  smooth  the 
tempers. 

On  13  October  1923,  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  as:  well  as 


the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal  was  declared  an 
unlawful  body.  The  office-bearers  were  taken 
into  custody  and  prosecuted  in  the  well-known 
Lahore  Akali  case.  After  the  Sikh  Gurdwaras 
Act  was  passed  in  1925,  the  Akali  leaders  who 
gave  the  court  assurance  that  they  would  be 
willing  to  work  by  the  provisions  of  the  act  were 
released  on  25  January  1926.  Those  who 
refused  to  give  any  such  undertaking 
continued  in  jail.  Sarmukh  Singh  was  among 
the  latter.  After  his  release  on  27  September 
1926,  he  gradually  veered  over  to  the  Indian 
National  Congress.  He  courted  arrest  during 
the  Civil  Disobedience  movement  in  1930  and 
again  in  the  Quit  India  movement  in  1942. 
After  the  partition  of  the  Punjab  in  1947,  he 
shifted  his  residence  from  his  lands  in  the 
Lyallpur  district  to  Jalandhar  where  he  died  on 
16  April  1952. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  -.,  Akali  Lahir  de  Mahan  Neta.  Amritsar,  1976 

3.  Josh,  Sohan  Singh,  Akali  Morchian  da  Itihas. 
Delhi,  1972 

4.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Shromani  Gurdwara 
Prabandhak  Committee  da  Panjah  Sala  Itihas. 
Amritsar,  1982 

5.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Some  Confidential  Papers  of 
the  Akali  Movement.  Amritsar,  1965 

Jg-s. 

SARMUKH  SINGH,  BAVA,  a  staunch  member 
of  the  Kuka  sect  and  a  brother  of  Bava  Nihal 
Singh,  author  of  the  much-talked-about  book 
in  the  closing  decades  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  Khurshid  Khalsa.  It  was  under  his 
supervision  that  the  book  was  printed  at  the 
Aftab-i-Hind  Press  at  Jalandhar.  The  Kliurshid 
Khalsa  predicted  the  restoration  of  Duleep 
Singh  to  the  throne  of  the  Punjab  "as  a  grant 
from  the  Queen  Empress". 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ganda  Singh,  ed.(  History  of  the  Freedom 


SAROVAR 


70 


SAROVAR 


Movement  in  the  Panjab  (Maharaja  Duleep  Singh 
Correspondence).  Patiala,  1972 

K.S.T. 

SAROVAR,  a  tank,  pool  or  lake,  especially  at  a 
sacred  place  or  by  a  holy  shrine  used  for 
sacramental  ablutions  and  other  religious 
ceremonies.  Sanskrit  synonyms  are  sar, 
sarvar.tarag  and  vapi.  Another  word  is  puskar 
or  puskarin/ which  usually  means  a  pond  full 
of  lotus  flowers.  The  lotus  is  a  symbol  of  purity; 
water  symbolizes  fertility  as  well  as  purity.  The 
primary  association  of  sarovar  is  with  the 
purificatory  aspects  of  its  water.  In  the  Sikh 
sacred  literature  we  find  sarvar,  sar,  sarovar,  and 
mansarused.in  the  sense  of  a  lake  or  pool.  The 
word  sagaris  used  in  the  sense  of  sea  or  ocean 
as  a  figure  of  speech  to  represent  the  circuit  of 
transmigration  (bhav-  sagar,  bhav-jal) .  Mansar 
as  a  nominative  singular  is  a  shortened  form 
of  Mansarovar,  a  famous  natural  lake,  believed 
to  be  the  haunt  of  swans  (iiarisa)  on  the 
mountain  Kailas  in  the  Himalayas.  It  is  a  holy 
lake,  a  tirtha,  and  harisa  is  a  type  of  bird 
associated  with  enlightenment  and  purity, 
which  stays  in  and  around  the  holy  waters  of 
Mansarovar. 

The  sanctity  of  sarovar  is  often  related  to 
that  of  the  place  where  it  exists.  It  is  a  bathing- 
place  where  bathing  has  a  religious 
significance.  The  word  sarovar  sums  up  a  great 
deal  of  water  symbolism  documented  in  the 
religious  history  of  India  from  the  time  of  the 
Rgveda  to  that  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 
Although  the  term  sarovar  generally  means  a 
holy  tank  situated  at  a  sacred  place  where 
sacramental  ablutions  (snana)  and  initiatory 
rituals  (diksa)  are  performed,  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  it  is  quite  often  employed  in  a 
symbolic  sense  also  -  meaning  the  teacher 
(guru)  or  the  society  of  sages  (sadh-sangat  ), 
as  for  example,  Guru  Nanak's  line,  guru  sarvaru 
ham  bansa  piare—  Guru  is  sacred  lake  and  we 
are  his  dear  swans  (GG.1027),  or  Guru  Amar  Das' 
guru  sarvaru  mansarovaru  hai  vadbhagi  purakh 
lahanni-  Guru  is  the  Mansarovar  Lake,  but  only 


the  fortunate  ones  have  access  to  it  (GG,  757)  ; 
and,  further,  Guru  Ram  Das',  athsathi  tlrath 
majanu  kia  satsangati  pag  nae  dhuri-  by 
bathing  in  the  dust  of  the  feet  of  sadh-sangat 
is  as  good  as  bathing  at  the  sixty-eight  sacred 
bathing  places  (GG.1198). 

The  Great  Bad>,  39'x  23'  x8',  excavated 
around  BC  2500  at  the  site  of  the  prehistoric 
city  of  Mohenjo-daro,  now  in  Pakistan,  may  be 
one  of  the  most  ancient  tanks  in  human 
civilization.  Since  then  the  tradition  of  digging 
tanks  at  pilgrim  centres  and  sacred  spots  has 
been  carried  on,  and  so  has  been  the  belief 
that  a  dip  in  a  sacred  sarovar,  particularly  on 
certain  auspicious  occasions,  washes  away 
one 'sins.  Traditionally,  in  India,  there  are  sixty- 
eight  bathing  spots,  some  of  them  being  near 
river-banks,  some  by  the  sea  and  many  inland 
tanks  or  pools.  A  tank  close  to  a  temple  is  a 
common  phenomenon  all  over  India.  The 
Sikhs  have  a  number  of  sacred  tanks  or  pools, 
mostly  situated  in  the  Punjab.  The  first  bathing 
spot  sacred  to  the  Sikhs  was  the  baoli,  a  well 
with  eighty-four  steps  leading  down  to  water 
level,  got  dug  by  Guru  Amar  Das  (1479-1574) 
at  Goindval  where  the  Sikhs  gathered  annually 
on  the  Baisakhi  day.  Bathing  here  is  believed 
to  annul  transmigration.  There  are  numerous 
other  sarovars,  sacred  to  the  memory  of  Sikh 
Gurus,  including  the  one  at  Amritsar  which  is 
considered  the  holiest  of  the  holy  Sikh  places. 
The  sarovar  at  Amritsar  (the  city  itself  received 
its  name  from  the  sarovarwhich  was  amrit-sar, 
the  pool  of  ambrosia)  was  excavated  by  Guru 
Ram  Das  (1534-1581)  and  the  Harimandar,  the 
Temple  of  God,  built  in  the  middle  of  it  by  Guru 
Arjan  (1563-1606). 

So  important  is  the  element  of  a  sacred 
tank  and  a  purificatory  bath  in  the  Sikh 
tradition  diatin  the  Sikh  morning  and  evening 
prayer  (ardas)  one  of  the  benedictions  sought 
and  injunctions  laid  on  the  faithful  is  Sri 
amritsar jio  ke  darsan  isnan — may  we  be  blessed 
with  a  glimpse  of  and  a  bath  in  the  holy 
Amritsar  sarovar.  Bhai  Gurdas  includes 
purificatory  bath  in  his  list  of  three  jewels  of 


SARTHALl 


71 


SARUP  SINGH,  RAJA 


Sikhism — nam  (meditating  on  His  name),  dan 
(giving  charity  to  the  needy)  and  isnan  (bath 
in  a  sacred  tank) . 

The  sarovars  are  no  doubt  a  part  of  the 
Sikh  religious  heritage  and  bathing  in  them 
an  acknowledged  religious  pracdce,  but  the 
real  sarovar  in  Sikhism  is  the  Guru's  word 
(sabda)  which  alone  can  wash  away  one's  sins. 
Contempladng  God  through  Guru's  sabda, 
millions  may  have  their  sins  burnt  up  (GG,l  175). 
At  many  places  in  Sikh  scripture,  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib,  the  teacher  and  the  disciple  are 
likened  to  the  pool  (sarovar)  and  the  swan 
(harisa)  referring  to  the  swan's  search  for  food 
of  gems  and  pearls  in  the  pool —  the  gems  and 
pearls  being  the  attributes  of  God.  The  pool  is 
full  of  pearls  but  he  alone  reaches  it  who  is  so 
blest  (GG.685).  The  seeker  seeks  ever  to  arrive 
at  the  Guru's  sarovar  to  satisfy  the  thirst  of  his 
soul.  He  is  pleased  on  seeing  the  Guid  just  as 
the  lotus  in  a  pool  blossoms  touched  by  the 
ray  of  the  sun.  Around  the  Guru's  pool  is  the 
embankment  of  truth  :  those  who  are  truthful 
and  free  from  ego  find  this  pool  out  and  having 
bathed  in  it  stand  washed  of  all  stain.  It  is  the 
crows,  i.e.  the  manmukhs,  who  cannot  reach 
the  pool. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1959 

2.  Gurdas  Bhai,  Varan.  Amritsar,  1962 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Sri  Amritsar, 
[Reprint]-.  Amritsar,  1977 

4.  Datta,  V.N.,  Amritsar  Past  and  Present.  Amritsar, 
1967 

5.  Monier  Williams,  Sanskrit-Englisli  Dictionary 
[Reprint].  Delhi,  1979 

L.MJ. 

SARTHALl,  a  village  10  km  south  of  Nurpur 
Bedi  on  Ropar-Nurpur  Bedi  road  in  Ropar 
district  of  the  Punjab,  is  sacred  to  Guru  Gobind 
Singh,  who  arrived  here  from  Anandpur  on  a 
brief  visit.  Gurdwara  Ranthamba  Sahib 
Patshahi  Dasvih  on  the  southern  periphery  of 
the  village  marks  the  spot  where  the  Guru  is 


believed  to  have  stayed  awhile.  The  sanctum  is 
a  3.75-metre  square  domed  room  in  front  of 
which  a  hall  was  built  in  1970.  A  21-metre-high 
Nishan  Sahib  stands  on  the  left  front  of  the 
main  building.  It  is  an  unscheduled  Gurdwara 
affiliated  to  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  and  is  managed  by  a 
committee  of  the  local  sangat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

Gn.  S. 

SARUP  SINGH,  RAJA  (1812-1864),  son  of 
Karam  Singh  of  Bazidpur  and  a  collateral  of 
Raja  Sahgat  Singh  (1811-34)  of  Jihd  who  had 
died  childless,  ascended  the  gaddi  of  Jind.  in 
April  1837.  The  gap  between  the  death  of  Raja 
Sahgat  Singh  and  the  assumpdon  of  the  throne 
by  Raja  Sarup  Singh  was  caused  by  protracted 
deliberations  by  the  British  Government  to 
decide  whether  the  state  should  be  annexed 
as  escheat  and,  if  not,  who  among  the  nearest 
collaterals  of  the  deceased  chief  had  a  better 
tide  to  the  gaddi.  Born  on  30  May  1812,  Sarup 
Singh  was  very  tall  and  handsome.  Sir  Lepel 
Griffin  writes  in  his  The  Rajas  of  the  Punjab: 
"In  person  and  presence  he  was  eminently 
princely  and  the  stalwart  Sikh  race  could  hardly 
show  a  taller  or  stronger  man.  Clad  in  armour, 
as  he  loved  to  be,  at  the  head  of  his  troops 
there  was  perhaps  no  other  prince  in  India  who 
bore  himself  so  gallantly  and  looked  so  true  a 
soldier."  Sarup  Singh  had  cordial  relations  with 
the  British  and  his  loyalty  to  them  during  the 
Anglo-Sikh  wars  and  the  uprising  of  1857  was 
rewarded  with  the  grant  of  territories,  the  right 
of  adoption  in  case  of  failure  of  direct  heirs 
and  other  concessions.  He  was  granted  Dadri 
in  Haryana  and  thirteen  villages  near  Sahgrur, 
a  house  in  Delhi  and  an  eleven-gun  salute.  He 
introduced  many  reforms  in  his  state  on  the 
British  model,  particularly  concerning  revenue 
and  police  administration. 

Raja  Sarup  Singh  died  on  26 January  1864, 


SASTRA  NAM  MAIA  I'URAN 

and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Raghbir  Singh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Rajas  of   the  Punjab 
[Reprint].  Delhi,  1977 

2.  Ganda  Singh,  The  Patiala  and  the  East  Panjab 
States  Union.  Patiala,  1951 

3.  Kahn  Singh,  Gurushabad  Ratnahar  Mahan  Kosh 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

S.S.B. 

SASTRA  NAM  MALA  PURAN  is  a  versified 
composition,  included  in  the  Dasam  Granth. 
It  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  work  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  The  poem  lists  weapons  of  war, 
which  are  praised  as  protectors  and  deliverers. 
It  runs  to  1318  verses  and  covers  98  pages  in 
the  Dasam  Granth  (24-point  1934  edition). 
Patshahl  10  is  mentioned,  although  the  usual 
inscription  Sri  Mukhvak,  i.e.  from  the  Guru's 
own  lips,  is  absent.  The  Sastra  Nam  Mala,  was 
completed  in  mid-1687,  thus  making  it  one  of 
the  earlier  compositions,  possibly  a  prelude  to 
the  clash  of  arms  that  took  place  at  Bharigani 
the  following  year. 

The  opening  section  of  27  verses  is  an 
invocation  to  Sri  Bhagautiji  for  assistance.  Here 
the  Sword  (Bhagauti),  is  personified  as  God. 
God  subdues  enemies,  so  does  the  sword; 
therefore  the  sword  is  God,  and  God  is  the 
sword.  In  the  following  arsenal,  the  weapons 
of  the  day  are  presented  under  fanciful  names, 
such  as  for  the  arrow,  bow-roarer,  skin-piercer, 
deer-slayer,  Krsna-finisher ;  for  the  mace,  skull- 
smasher;  for  the  combat-lasso,  death-noose  ; 
the  gun  is  the  enemy  of  the  army,  the  tiger- 
foe,  the  enemy  of  treachery.  Many  of  the 
weapons  are  listed  in  the  form  of  riddles  so 
dear  to  the  Punjabi  heart.  These  are  often 
abstruse,  and  must  be  resolved  in  devious  ways.' 
For  example  : 

Think  hard  and  take  the  word  tarahgani 

(stream) 
They  say ja  char,  (grass-eater), 
Then  think  of  the  word  naik  (lord), 
At  the  end  say  the  word  satru  (enniy) — 


SASTRA  NAM  MAIA  I'URAN 

Lo  !  Good  friend,  you  have  thought  of  the 
word  meaning  tupak  (gun),  (verse  811) 

The  reasoning  seems  to  be  that  each  thing 
mentioned  is  the  enemy  of  its  predecessor  ; 
the  grass-eater  is  the  deer  (Ja  is  what  is 
produced  by  the  moisture  of  the  stream  ;  char 
is  to  graze)  ;  the  lord  and  master  (naik)  of  the 
deer  is  the  tiger ;  the  enemy  (satru)  of  the  tiger 
is  the  gun  (tupak). 

About  25  verses  deal  with  swords  of  various 
types,  followed  by  verses  concerning  spears  and 
quoit  (chakra).  There  are  178  verses  (75-252) 
on  the  bow  and  arrow;  on  the  noose,  or 
combat-lasso,  208  (253-460)  ;  on  the  gun  or 
musket,  858  (461-1318),  indicating,  possibly,  an 
interest  in  the  more  modern  weapons. 

Time  and  again  the  weapons  are  referred 
to  as  the  instruments  of  God's  deliverance,  and 
they  are  addressed  as  personifications  of  God. 
This  is  sometimes  shown  in  their  very  names, 
as  when  the  dagger  is  called  sristes,  Lord  of 
Creation.  Adoration  is  reserved  for  the  weapons 
only  when  they  are  used  by  the  righteous.  Thus, 
what  might  have  been  merely  a  gory  account 
of  destructive  weapons  becomes  a  sharpening 
of  the  moral  purpose  in  waging  war. 

The  language  of  Sastra  Nam  Mala  is  Braj, 
with  much  lower  frequency  of  Perso-Arabic 
words  than  in  most  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's 
other  compositions.  Sanskrit  vocabulary,  in 
tatsama  form,  is  in  abundance.  The  style  is 
fanciful,  and  the  reader  is  amazed  by  the 
opulence  of  linguistic  innovation. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Loehlin,  C.H.,  The  Granth  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
and  the  Klialsa  Brotherhood.  Lucknow,  1971 

2.  Ashta,  Dharam  Pal,  The  Poetry  of  the  Dasam 
Granth.  Delhi,  1959 

3.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Dasam  Granth  Darshan. 
Patiala,  1968 

4.  Jaggi,  Rattan  Singh,  Dasam  Granth  Parichaya. 
Delhi,  1990 

5.  Randhir  Singh,  Bhal,  Sabadarth  Dasam  Granth 
Sahib.  Patiala,  1973 

C.II.L. 


72 


SATBlR  SINGH 

SATBIR  SINGH  (1932-1994)  was  born  on 
1  March  1932  at  Jehlum  (now  in  Pakistan). 
Father  :  Bhai  Harnam  Singh,  mother:  Ranjit 
Kaur.  Professor  Satbir  Siiigh's  tally  of  more  than 
70  titles  covering  a  life  span  of  62  years  makes 
a  formidable  catalogue.  Among  it  are  works  of 
minute  research,  textual  commentary,  history 
and  narrative.  Apart  from  his  natural  gift  for 
productivity,  the  principal  secret  of  Satbir 
Singh's  massive  output  was  his  regularity  of 
habit.  He  arose  very  early  in  the  morning. 
While  many  another  person  would  still  be 
rubbing  his  sleep-laden  eyes,  Satbir  Singh 
would  have  put  behind  him  by  then  a  good 
day's  work.  And  then  he  was  free  to  indulge 
his  daily  programme  of  lectures,  and  other 
public  activity.  He  handled  with  much 
enthusiasm  and  special  expertise  many-sided 
Panthic  responsibilities.  He  had  time  for 
everything.  He  made  his  time  go  a  long  way. 
Another  very  special  custom  of  his  was  to  spend 
part  of  his  summer  vacation  in  a  hill-town. 
Besides  refreshing  his  body  and  soul,  this 
change  helped  him  to  catch  up  with  any  arrears 
of  work.  He  stuck  to  this  routine  and  never  let 
up  on  it  even  in  the  worst  of  circumstances. 

Satbir  Singh  was  a  very  friendly  soul.  He 
had  goodwill  for  all  and  wished  to  be  of  help 
to  others  and  bore  no  malice  towards  anyone. 
He  listened  to  everyone's  problems  with 
sympathy  and  tried  to  help  as  far  as  he  could. 
Friends  sat  around  him,  seeking  the  advice  and 
help  on  a  variety  of  matters.  He  took  delight 
in  sharing  with  friends  their  problems.  To  be 
of  help  to  others  was  the  passion  of  his  life. 
Much  of  the  responsibility  of  the  activities  of 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Partiandhak  Committee 
fell  to  the  shoulders  of  Satbir  Singh.  One  of 
his  main  duties  was  to  assess  the  quality  of 
literature  which  came  to^the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara„Parbandhak  Committee  from 
various  sources.  He  went  through  it 
meticulously  and  announced  his  judgement. 
He  always  stood  up  for  the  welfare  and 
betterment  of  the  Khalsa  schools  and  colleges. 
He  sat  on  the  Syndicate  of  the  Punjabi 


SATGUR  KA  VANS 

University  and  expressed  his  opinion  without 
fear  and  favour.  He  enjoyed  the  trust  of  the 
government  as  well  and  advised  it  on  many 
matters.  He  always  felt  very  happy  to  see  his 
friends  flourish.  He  carried  no  ill  will  against 
anyone  in  his  heart. 

He  never  forgot  his  old  friends.  For  Sarup 
Singh  of  the  Sikh  Students  Federation,  he  had 
a  feeling  of  deep  reverence.  He  acknowledged 
him  as  his  closest  friend  and  benefactor  and 
always  said  with  pride  that  whatever  he  was,  it 
was  all  owed  to  Sardar  Sarup  Singh.  Likewise, 
he  was  never  chary  of  giving  credit  to  old 
Federation  friends  such  as  Dr  Jaswant  Singh 
Neki,  Dr  Bhai  Harbahs  Lai,  Jasdev  Singh 
Sandhu  and  Dilbir  Singh. 

Writing  was  the  main  attraction  of  his  life. 
74  books  carried  his  signatures.  To  be  able  to 
present  the  ten  lives  of  the  Gurus  at  the  portals 
of  the  Darbar  Sahib  was  his  ambition.  It  was 
for  him  a  matter  of  much  celebration  when  he 
finally  achieved  this.  He  had  the  set  covered  in 
goldleaf  for  presentation.  They  carried  such 
unusual  and  fresh  titles  as  Balio  Chirag,  Kudartl 
Nur,  Parbat  Meranu,  Puri  Hoi  Karamati, 
Partakh  Han,  Gur  Bhari,  Nirbhau  Nirvairu, 
Ash  tarn  Balbira,  Iti  Jini  Karl  and  Purakh 
Bhagvant.  Likewise,  he  prepared  Punjabi 
versions  of  the  classics  by  Bute  Shah  and 
Malcolm.  Another  significant  series  was  his  Sri 
Guru  Grantb  Sahib  Da  Sar  Visthar,  part-I,  Sri 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  Da  Sar  Visthar,  part-II  and 
III,  and  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Da  Sar  Visthar, 
part-IV.  Among  his  other  publications  were: 
Anadi  Anahit,  Sa.dk  Itihas-I,  Sadaltihas-Il,  Sau 
Savai,  Sikh  Jarnail,  Puratan  Itihasik  Jivaniah, 
Sikh  Ajaib  Ghar  Album,  Kino  Bado  Kalu  Mai 
Saka,  Bir  Parampara  Da  Vikas  and  Jis  Dithia 
SabhDukh  Jai. 

Satbir  Singh  died  at  Patiala  on  18  August 
1994. 

Jd.  S.S. 

SATGUR  KA  VANS,  by  Bhai  Ram  Singh,  is  a 
late  nineteenth  century  work  in  the  genealogy 
genre.  No  biographical  information  about  the 


SATHIAIA 


74 


SATI 


author  is.available.  The  work  gives,  though  in 
a  rather  arbitrary  manner,  information  about 
the  ten  Gurus,  their  birth,  parentage,  children 
and  death.' The  information  contained  is 
sketchy  and  not  very  reliable.  The  language 
used  is  simple  Hindi  and  the  style,  of  writing  is 
fairly  racy. 

The  work  is  included  in  the  Gurpranalian 
edited  by  Randhir  Singh  and  published  by 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee, 
Am  ri  tsar. 

B.S. 

SATHIALA,  a  village  4  km  northeast  of  Baba 
Bakala  (31"-34'N,  75"-16'E)  in  Amritsar  district 
of  the  Punjab,  claims  the  honour  of  having 
been  visited  by  three  of  the  Gurus — Guru 
Nanak,  Guru  Hargobind  and  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur.  Their  visits  are  commemorated  by 
three  different  gurdwaras. 

GURDWARA  NANAKSAR  PATSHAHi  I  marks  the  site 
where  Guru  Nanak  sat  by  a  small  pond  to 
preach.  Most  of  his  audience  consisted  of 
Muslim  ladies.  They  complained  to  him  about 
the  skin  diseases  and  polio  which  were  the  bane 
of  the  village.  The  Guru  advised  them  to  have 
their  children  bathed  regularly  in  the  pond. 
The  practice  proved  efficacious,  and  the 
villagers  raised  in  Guru  Nanak's  honour,  a 
memorial.  Gurdwara  Nanaksarwas  constructed 
recendy  on  that  site.  The  building  comprises  a 
rectangular  hall,  with  a  square  sanctum  topped 
by  a  lotus  dome  covered  with  white  glazed  dies. 
The  old  pond  has  been  converted  into  a  small 
octagonal  sarovar,  and  people  sdll  believe  in 
the  curadve  powers  of  its  water.  The  Gurdwara 
is  maintained  by  the  village  sarigat. 

GURDWARA  BUNGA  SAHIB,  dedicated  to  Guru 
Hargobind,  is  a  flat-roofed  rectangular  room 
on  the  eastern  outskirts  of  the  village.  It  is 
managecTby  Nihahg  Sikhs. 

GURDWARA  DliRA  SAHIB  PATSHAHi  IX 
commemorates  the  visit  of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 


who  came  here  from  Baba  Bakala  and  sat  under 
a  pipai  tree  which  still  stands  behind  the 
sanctum:  The  Gurdwara,  constructed  in  1939 
inside  the  village,  is  entered  through  a  two- 
storeyed  gateway.  The  square  sanctum,  inside 
a  marble-floored  hall,  is  topped  by  a  pinnacled 
dome.  The  shrine  is  looked  after  by  a  follower 
of  the  Bhindrahvale  sants. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavan  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

M.G.S. 

SATI  or  sachch,  Punjabi  form  of  the  Sanskrit 
satya  or  sat,  lit.  truth,  in  the  philosophical  sense 
is  essential  and  ultimate  reality  as  against 
inessential  or  partial  truth.  Rooted  in  Sanskrit 
as  meaning  "to  be,  live,  exist,  be  present,  to 
abide,  dwell,  stay",  satya  means  "  true,  real, 
pure,"  as  also  the  "quality  of  being  abidingly 
true,  real,  existent."  Satya  or  satyam  is  a  widely 
used  term  in  the  philosophical  thought  of 
India.  It  signifies  eternality,  continuity  and 
unicity.  In  the  Upanisads  sat  (truth)  is  the  first 
of  the  three  essential  characteristics  of 
Brahman,  the  other  two  being  chit 
(intelligence)  and  anand  (bliss).  In  Vedanta 
philosophy,  the  one  permanent  reality, 
Brahman,  is  called  Sat,  while  the  phenomenal 
fluxional  world  is  named  asat  (non-real) .  In  the 
Sikh  scripture  and  other  religious  literature, 
sati,  or  sachch  appears  with  two  closely  related 
yet  distinguishably  different  connotations.  At 
the  metaphysical  level,  sati  is  the  Ultimate 
Reality,  truly  existent,  changeless  and 
everlasting.  At  the  level  of  physical  existence, 
sati  or  sachch  carries  an  ethical  import  as 
correctness,  truthfulness  and  goodness  as 
against  kur,  wrongness  or  falsehood.  The  varied 
and  wide  use  of  the  cognates  of  sat  or  sati  such 
as  satsarigat,  satigur,  satpurakh,  sachkhand, 
sachiar  and  sachcha  patsah  illustrate  the  role 
of  the  term  in  the  spiritual  as  well  as  in  the 
ethical  context. 

In  the  MuJ  Mantra,  The  One  is  also  named 


SATI 


75 


SATI 


sad  besides  being  given  other  attributive  names 
such  as  karfa  purakh  (the  creative  male 
principle),  nirbhau  (without  fear),  nirvair 
(without  rancour),  akal  murad  (the  timeless 
form),  ajuni  (unborn)  and  saibhang  (self- 
existent).  Guru  Arjan  amplifies,  "The  tongue 
utters  (mostly)  your  attributive  names  ;  Your 
primordial  name  is  sati"  (GG,  1083)  ;  and  this 
"True  Name  of  God  is  ever  solace-giver"  (GG, 
284).  Elsewhere  in  the  Holy  Scripture  sachu 
sabadu  (the  Word  Truth)  and  sacha  sabadu 
(the  True  Word)  or  simply  sach(ch)a  (the  True 
One)  have  been  used  as  synonyms  of  satinam 
to  describe  God  (GG,  34,580,  and  581).  Besides 
using  safi  or  sachch  as  a  name  for  God,  the 
words  have  also  been  used  as  adjective:;  for  the 
Ultimate  Reality  which  is  immutably  true, 
transcending  time  and  spaice,  beyond  life  and 
death,  never  old,  forever  new.  In  the  opening 
line  of  Japu,  he  is  described  as  adi  sachu, jugadi 
sachu  ;  hai  bhi  sachu,  nanak  hosi  bhi  sachu- 
True  (was  He)  in  the  (beginningless) 
beginning,  in  the  beginning  of  the  cosmic  time ; 
True  is  (He  in  the  present)  too,  True  shall  (He) 
be,  O  Nanak,  (for  ever  in  the  future)  (GG,1). 
Towards  the  end  of  Japu,  the  highest  spiritual 
region,  the  abode  of  the  Formless  One,  is 
described  as  sach  khand. 

According  to  Sikh  cosmogony,  the 
universe  was  created  by  the  Transcendent  God 
out  of  Himself  at  His  own  pleasure,  and  in  His 
own  will.  He  may  withdraw  it  into  Himself  when 
He  so  wills  it.  The  created  world  has  therefore 
a  dual  nature.  It  is  sat  (real  and  no  illusion) 
because  it  was  created  by  the  Real  One,  who  is 
immanent  in  it  while  He  wills  it  to  last :  api  sati 
kia  sabhu  sad  (He  Himself  is  Truth  and  true  is 
His  creation)  (GG,  284).  At  the  same  time  it  is 
not  sati  (immutable  and  ever-existent)  because 
its  existence  is  contingent  upon  His  Will.  Thus, 
although  the  universe  of  time  and  space 
emanates  from  sati  (the  Ultimate  Reality),  it 
does  not  exhaust  the  latter  nor  limit  it  within 
its  own  temporal  and  spatial  limits.  The 
Transcendent  sati  is  alakh  (unknowable)  and 
cannot  be  known  because  the  created  cannot 


know  the  creator  (karte  kl  mid  na  janai  kia) 
(GG.285)  ;  yet  the  agam  (unapproachable)  and 
the  agochar  (inaccessible  through  the  senses) 
can  be  comprehended  through  the  Guru's 
sabad  (instruction)  (GG,  130).  This  is 
accomplished  in  two  ways.  One,  the  Guru  by 
opening  the  inner  eyes  of  the  seeker's  higher 
consciousness  reveals  to  him  the  Satya  that 
permeates  the  entire  creation,  so  that  "Nanak's 
Master,  who  is  beyond  the  world  and  beyond 
the  revelations  of  scriptures,  becomes  distinctly 
manifest"  (GG,  397).  Secondly,  the  seeker  who 
through  meditation  upon  the  sad  internalized 
it  himself  becomes  one  with  sati  (GG,  284).  In 
Sikh  theology  this  happens  with  God's  grace. 
In  fact,  sati  (God)  in,  grace  reveals  itself  to  the 
chosen  one  through  the  Guru,  who  is  already 
so  chosen  and  becomes  one  with  sati.  The 
medium  of  communication  in  this  process  is 
sabad  (word)  or  banf  (Guru's utterance).  "The 
Guru,  the  bani,  and  Brahm  are  all  the  same 
and  are  realized  through  the  sabad  (GG,  39). 
God's  nadar  (grace)  is  sovereign,  subject  alone 
to  His  raza  (will).  However,  two  circumstances 
can  help  the  seeker  to  deserve  and  receive  it. 
One  is  meeting  with  the  sadguru  (True  Guru) 
( GG,33,313),  and  the  other  is  to  know  the  jugad 
(method),  which  comprises  "cleansing  the 
mind  of  the  dirt  of  kur  (falsehood)  and 
cultivating  love  of  sachch"  (GG.468). 

This  brings  us  to  the  existential  level, 
where  sati  or  sachch  is  an  ethical  category 
which  sustains  dharma,  the  governing  principle 
of  the  world  of  time  and  space.  It  forms  the 
basis  of  hukam  (law),  niau  (justice)  and 
chahgiai  (goodness).  At  the  individual  level, 
sachch  as  truthfulness  is  the  most  desirable 
virtue.  "Sachch  (truth)  is  supreme,  yet  sachu 
achar  (true  living)  ranks  above  it"  (GG,  62). 

Sikhism  is  a  humanitarian  creed,  in  which 
theological  is  closely  related  to  the  sociological 
aspect.  Sati  (truth)  is  here  not  only  an  abstract 
notion  of  Supreme  Reality,  but  is  also  a 
practical  principle  of  human  conduct.  The 
ideal  set  for  a  Sikh  is  to  become  sachiar  (truth- 
seeking  person),  and  the  basic  human 


SATI  DAS,  BHAI 


76 


SATKARTARIAS 


problem,  set  forth  in  the  opening  stanza  of 
Guru  Nanak's  Japu,  is  "How  to  become  sachiar? 
How  to  demolish  the  wall  of  Jcilr  (falsehood)?" 
And  the  solution  suggested  in  the  line 
immediately  succeeding  is  "to  conduct  oneself 
under  His  hukam  (Will)  and  raza  (pleasure)" 
(GG,  1).  In  practical  terms,  Guru  Nanak 
instructs,  "Test  your  mind  against  the 
touchstone  of  truth:  guided  by  Guru's  light, 
deal  in  the  merchandise  of  truth  ;  be  a 
gurmukhi  (guru  loving)  so  that  you  despise  kur 
and  are  in  love  with  sach  ;  loving  sach,  you  shall 
be  absorbed  in  sach  and  shall  find  the  jewel 
of  nam  (satinam)  which  lies  (dormant)  in  your 
own  mind"  (GG,  22).  Guru  Amar  Das  declares, 
"Honour  and  good  name  arise  out  of  true  word  ; 
seeing  sachu  and  speaking  sachu,  body  and 
mind  acquire  truth"  (GG,  69). 

That  truthful  living  implies  truthful 
actions  (sachu  karatn,  or  sachi  kar)  and  true 
discipline  (  sachu  sahjam)  at  individual  level  is 
obvious,  but  Sikhism  being  a  congregation 
based  faith  the  Gurus  also  emphasize  need  for 
true  company  (sachi  sarigat  or  satsarigat)  (GG, 
69,  586).  Satsarigat  is  defined  as  "a  school  for 
learning  virtue"  (GG,  1316)  and  "a  place  where 
the  One  (God's)  Name  is  solely  talked"  (GG.72). 

Sati  or  sachch  is  both  the  name  given  the 
Supreme  Reality  and  the  supreme  good  to  be 
realized  spiritually  as  well  as  in  individual  and 
social  life.  This  many-splendoured  truth  is  "the 
overlord  of  all,  accessible  only  to  one  whom 
He  blesses"  (GG.922).  It  is  "the  panacea  for  all 
ailments  ;  it  flushes  out  the  filth  of  sin"  (GG,  468) . 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Monier-Williams,  Sanskrit  English  Dictionary 
[Reprint].  Delhi,  1979 

2.  Jodh  Singh,  BhaI,Japu/7  Satik.  Arnritsar,  1950 

3.  Talib,  Gurbachan  Singh,  Introduction  to  Sri  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  Patiala,  1991 

Sn.S. 

SATI  DAS,  BHAI  (d.  1675),  the  martyr,  was  the 
younger  brother  of  Diwan  Mati  Das.  According 
to  Bhatt  Vahi  Talauda  he  served  Guru  Tegh 


Bahadur  as  a  cook.  He  was,  under  imperial 
warrant,  detained  along  with  the  Guru  at 
Dhamtan,  as  the  latter  was  travelling  to  the 
eastern  parts  in  1665.  He  was  again  in 
attendance  upon  the  Guru  when,  in  1675,  the 
latter  left  Anandpur  resolved  to  court  martyrdom. 
The  Guru  and  his  companions  were  arrested 
on  the  way  and  taken  to  Delhi.  Like  his  brother 
Mat!  Das,  Sati  Das  refused  to  perjure  his  faith 
and  was  tortured  to  death.  Wrapped  up  in 
cotton  wool,  he  was  set  afire  and  roasted  alive. 
This  happened  on  1 1  November  1675-  the  day 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  was  executed. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  Delhi,  1982 

2.  Patlam,  Piara  Singh  and  Giani  Garja  Singh,  eds. 
Guru  kian  Sakhiaii.  Patiala,  1986 

3.  Garja  Singh,  ed.,  Shahid  Bilas.  Ludhiana,  1961. 

A.C.B. 

SATKARTARIAS,  a  religious  sect  only  remotely 
related  to  Sikhism  was  founded  by  Sarigat  Das, 
a  Julka  Khatri,  contemporary  of  Guru 
Hargobind  (1595-1644).  The  name  Satkartaria 
is  derived  from  .Sarigat  Das'  preceptor,  Bhai 
Sarigua,  a  Sodhi  of  Lahore,  who  was  initiated 
into  Sikhism  by  Guru  Arjan  in  1593  and  who 
used  to  repeat  the  words  Sat  Kartar  (lit.  the 
True  Creator)  and  earned  thereby  the  popular 
epithet  of  Satkartaria.  Sarigat  Das  inherited  the 
epithet  and  the  sect  came  to  be  known  as 
Satkartaria.  Satkartar  is  still  their  form  of 
salutation  as  well  as  their  formula  for- 
meditation.  Sarigat  Das  enjoyed  the  favour  of 
Guru  Hargobind  who  allowed  him  to  set  up 
his  own  dharamsala  or  place  of  worship  at  Sri 
Hargobindpur  on  the  bank  of  the  river  Beas, 
in  Gurdaspur  district.  This  place,  a  four- 
storeyed  building  known  as  Dharamsala 
Satkartariari,  is  till  today  the  principal  centre 
of  the  sect.  Another  centre  was  established  at 
Phagwara,  in  Kapurthala  district,  by  Darbari 
Das,  the  younger  son  of  Sarigat  Das.  A  third 
centre  is  at  Mandi,  a  district  town  in  Himachal 
Pradesh.  Another  centre  at  Batala  in 


SATNAMl 


77 


SAT  SABHA 


Gurdaspur  district  was  taken  over  by  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  in  1940.  It 
is  still  called  Gurdwara  Satkartariari. 

Satkartarias  generally  follows  the  Udasi 
ritual  and  practices.  Their  only  link  with 
Sikhism  is  that  their  dharamsala  at  Sri 
Hargobindpur  has  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
installed  in  it.  A  suite  of  armour  kept  as  a  sacred 
relic  there  is  claimed  to  have  been  bestowed 
on  Baba  Sahgat  Das  by  Guru  Hargobind. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Guru  Panth  Prakash. 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Kahn  Singh,  Gurushabad  Ratnakar  Mahan  Kosh 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

3.  Rose,  H.A.  (ed.)  A  Glossary  of  the  Tribes  and 
Castes  of  the  Punjab  and  North-West  Frontier 
Province.  Lahore,  1911-19 

T.S. 

SATNAMl.  The  word  satnami  is  derived  from 
satnam,  lit.  the  True  Name  ,  a  term  used  in 
some  religious  traditions  including  Sikhism  to 
denote  the  Supreme  Being.  Literally,  a  Satnami 
is  one  who  believes  in  and  worships  only  the 
True  Being  and  as  such  every  Sikh  is  a  Satnami. 
However,  the  term  has  been  adopted  by  at  least 
three  religious  bodies  as  a  title  of  their 
respective  sects.  The  Sadhs,  a  unitarian  sect  of 
northern  India  founded  in  1543  by  Birbhan 
and  which  is  also  said  to  be  an  offshoot  of  the 
Raidasis,  employ  this  term  among  themselves. 
Probably,  it  was  this  sect  of  the  Sadhs  which 
was  responsible  for  the  Satnami  revoli  against 
Aurahgzib  in  1672.  The  next  sect  calling  itself 
Satnami  was  founded  byjagjivan  Das  (b.1682) 
of  Sardaha  in  the  Barabahki  district  in  Bihar. 
He  began  his  religious  career  as  a  Kabirpanthi 
and,  according  to  some  authorities,  these 
Satnamis  are  merely  a  branch  of  that  faith. 
Another  sect  called  Satnami,  believed  lo  be  a 
later  offshoot  of  the  Raidasis,  is  found  in  the 
Chhattisgarh  area  and  was  founded  between 
1820-150  by  Ghiisi  Ram,  a  chamarby  caste.  These 
Satnamis  profess  to  adore  the  True  Name  alone 


whom  they,  consider  the  cause  and  creator  of 
everything  in  this  world.  He  is  said  to  be 
formless,  without  a  beginning  and  without  an 
end.  Although  they  profess  to  worship  but  one 
God,  yet  they  also  pay  reverence  to  his 
manifestation  revealed  in  incarnations, 
particularly  those  of  Rama  and  Krsna.  Their 
moral  code  enjoins  upon  them  indifference  to 
the  world  ;  devotion  to  the  guru  ;  clemency 
and  gentleness  ;  rigid  adherence  to  truth  ; 
honest  discharge  of  all  social  and  religious 
obligations;  and  the  hope  of  final  absorption 
into  the  Supreme.  Fasts  are  kept,  at  least  to  a 
partial  extent,  on  Tuesday  (the  day  of 
Hanuman)  and  on  Sunday  (  the  day  of  Sun). 
Their  distinctive  mark  is  a  black  and  white 
twist  ed  thread,  usually  of  silk,  worn  on  the  right 
wrist.  On  the  forehead  is  worn  a  tiJaic,  consisting 
of  one  perpendicular  streak.  They  bury  their 
dead.  Consumption  of  flesh  and  alcohol  are 
taboo.  They  were  nicknamed  by  the  people  as 
Mundiyas  (Shavelings)  because  of  their  habit 
of  shaving  the  body  clean  of  all  hair. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Farquhar.J.N.,  Modern  Religious  Movements  in 
India.  London,  1924 

2.  Narang,  Kirpal  Singh,  History  of  the  Punjab. 
Delhi,  1953 

3.  Sarkar,  Sir  Jadunath,    A  Short  History  of 
Aurangzib.  Calcutta,  1962 

4.  Majumdar,  R.C.,  ed.,   The  History  and  Culture 
of  the  Indian  People,  vol.  VIII.  Bombay,  1974 

S.H.A. 

SAT  SABHA,  a  religious  and  social  reform 
society  founded  at  Lahore  in  1866  by  a  group 
of  Bengalis  and  Punjabis.  Babu  Novin  Chandra 
Rai  and  S.P.  Bhattacharjee  of  the  Bengali 
Community  along  with  two  Punjabis,  Pandit 
Bhanu  Datta  Basant  Ram  and  Lala  Behari  Lai 
Purl,  established  this  new  society.  In  the  sphere 
of  religion,  the  Sat  Sabha  preached  an  eclectic 
theism,  very  similar  in  content  to  that  professed 
by  the  Lahore  Brahmo  Samaj.  It  also  sought  to 
encourage  education,  replace  traditional 


SAT  SA11HA 


78 


SATVANTKAUR 


rituals  with  new  rationalistic  ceremonies,  and 
to  improve  the  social  position  of  women.  The 
major  diff  erence  between  the  Sat  Sabha  and 
the  Brahmo  Samaj  lay  in  the  area  of  language. 
The  Brahmo  Samaj  published  its  literature  in 
either  English  or  Hindi.  Brahmo  leaders,  such 
as  Novin  Chandra  Rai,  espoused  Hindi  for 
education  and  government  administration. 
The  Sat  Sabha,  by  contrast,  made  the 
encouragement  of  Punajbi  in  the  Gurmukhi 
script  one  of  its  major  goals.  Led  by  Behari  Lai, 
the  secretary  of  the  Sabha,  they  debated  and 
argued  in  favour  of  Punajbi.  Behari  Lai's 
reputation  as  a  poet  and  composer  of  popular 
bhajans  strengthened  his  advocacy  of  the 
Punjabi  language.  Behari  Lai  wrote  hymns  with 
two  goals  in  mind  :  first  to  create  devotional 
songs  in  praise  of  a  theistic  God  and  secondly 
to  provide  alternatives  to  those  traditional 
songs  of  Punjabi  women  which  he  and  other 
reformers  considered  immoral.  Under  the 
leadership  of  Behari  Lai,  the  Sat  Sabha  opened 
a  small  school  in  1882.  This  school  taught  in 
Punjabi  using  the  Gurmukhi  script.  The  Sabha 
also  presented  a  memorandum  to  the  Hunter 
Educational  Commission  in  which  they  argued 
their  standpoint  on  language  and  education. 
The  Sat  Sabha's  advocacy  of  Punjabi  made  it 
one  of  the  few  groups  outside  of  the  Sikh 
community  to  espouse  this  language  in  the 
debates  of  the  late  nineteenth  century.  . 

The  second  major  leader  of  the  Sat  Sabha 
was  Pandit  Bhanu  Datta  Basant  Ram,  the 
Acharya  of  the  society.  Bhanu  Datta  took  a 
prominent  role  in  the  religious  debates  among 
Punjabi  Hindus.  He  clashed  with  the  great 
orthodox  leader  Pandit  Shraddha  Ram 
Phillauri  and  later  opposed  the  Arya  Samaj 
when  Swami  Dayanand  came  to  Lahore  in 
1877.  Pandit  Bhanu  Datta  provided  leadership 
for  the  Sat  Sabha  after  the  death  of  Behari  Lai 
in  1885.  Even  though  the  Sabha  did  not 
become  a  mass  movement  like  the  Arya  Samaj 
and  remained  confined  to  Lahore,  it  provided 
a  centre  for  discussion  and  debate  during  the 
latter  years  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


Numerous  prominent  individuals  spoke  at  the 
Sabha  hall  including  Novin  Chandra  Rai, 
Pandit  Ganesh  Datt,  Yogi  Shiv  Nath,  and  S.P. 
Bhattacharjee.  The  school  was  well  maintained 
and  the  annual  anniversary  celebrations  of  the 
Sat  Sabha  remained  an  event  of  importance  in 
the  life  of  Lahore.  Throughout  its  history  it 
continued  to  be  seen  as  a  "Brahmic  institution, 
whose  object  is  to  inculcate  pure  Theistic 
worship."  The  Sat  Sabha  remains  in  Punjab 
history  as  an  early  example  of  social  and 
religious  reform  stemming  directly  from  the 
cultural  influence  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj,  but 
in  a  particularly  Punjabi  form  tied  to  the 
advancement  of  the  Punjabi  language. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jones,  Kenneth  W.  ,  Arya  Dharam.  Delhi,  1976 

2.  Kanal,  P.V.,  Bhagwan  DevAtma.  Lahore,  1942 

3.  Tulsi  Deva,  Shraddha  Prakash  arthat  Sri  Pandit 
Shraddha  Ram  jiKa  Jivan.  Lahore,  1896 

K.W.J. 

SATTA,  also  called  Satta  Dum  because  he  was 
a  dum  or  mirksi  by  birth,  a  rababi  or  rebeck- 
player  to  Guru  Arjan,  and  co-composer,  with 
Rai  Balvand,  of  Ramkali  kl  Var,  included  in 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  in  the  Ramkali  musical 
measure. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,    Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  VIr  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Ast  Gur  Chamatkar.  Amritsar, 
1952 

F.S. 

SATVANT  KAUR,  whose  full  title  is  Sdmati 
Satvant  Kaur  di Jivan  Vithia,  is  a  historical 
romance  by  Bhai  Vir  Singh.  Its  first  part  was 
published  in  1900  and  the  second  in  1927.  In 
later  editions,  both  parts  were  combined  in  a 
single  volume.  The  plot  has  been  set  against 
the  backdrop  of  the  Afghan  invasions  of  the 
Punjab  in  the  eighteenth  century.  With  Ahmad 


SATVANT  liAUR 


79 


SAUNDHA  SINGH 


Shah  Durrani's  fourth  raid  in  1756  is  linked 
the  story  of  the  heroic  Sikh  girl,  Satvant  Kaur, 
who,  having  been  abducted  to  Kabul, 
undergoes  untold  tribulation  but  remains 
streadfast  in  her  devodon  to  her  religious  faith. 
Her  days  in  the  Afghan  capital  are  full  of  hair- 
raising  adventure.  She  is  purchased  from  her 
abductor  by  another  Afghan  noble.  In  this 
family,  she  wins  the  affection  of  the  wife 
(Fatima)  and  her  little  son  and  is  thus  able  to 
evade  the  Afghan.  She  lays  Fatima  under  her 
debt  by  dramatically  saving  her  life  one  day 
from  the  schemes  of  her  drunken  husband.  He 
himself  is  committed  to  jail  for  a  crime  and  is 
sentenced  to  death  by  royal  fiat.  Satvant  Kaur 
further  obliges  her  mistress  by  saving  her 
husband's  life  by  a  clever  ruse.  Disguised  as 
Fatima,  she  goes  in  a  palanquin  to  see  the 
Afghan  in  the  prison.  She  sends  him  out  in 
the  palanquin  and  herself  stays  behind  in  his 
place.  The  ruse  is  discovered  the  following  day 
when  the  prisoner  is  led  out  for  execution. 

Satvant  Kaur  is  granted  a  reprieve.  When 
the  story  reaches  the  ears  of  the  Amir 
(presumably,  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani),  he  is 
deeply  impressed  by  her  daring.  On  her 
request,  he  pardons  the  nobleman,  but,  instead 
of  sending  her  back  to  her  native  village  of 
Khanna,  in  India,  he  insists;  on  admitting  her 
into  the  harem  as  one  of  his  begums.  A  fire  in 
the  building  where  she  is  detained  gives  her 
the  chance  to  make  good  her  escape.  She  is 
afforded  willing  and  secret  refuge  in  Fatima's 
house.  Through  an  old  tunnel  from  that  house 
she  establishes  communication  with  a  Hindu 
family  in  the  city.  She  finally  sets  out  for  the 
Punjab  disguised  as  a  boy  with  a  party  led  by 
an  elder  of  the  family,  called  Ladha  Singh.  The 
caravan  is  stopped  by  an  Afghan  squad  on 
search  for  a  royal  diamond  missing  from  the 
treasury.  The  leader  of  the  squad  Agha  Khan 
is,  in  reality,  the  son  of  a  Sikh  sardar  abducted 
as  a  child,  with  his  mother  and  a  maid,  during 
Nadir  Shah's  invasion  of  India.  The  mother  was 
beheaded  on  refusing  to  marry  the  trooper. 
The  child  grew  up  as  his  adopted  son,  but 


discovered  the  secret  through  the  old 
maidservant  of  the  family.  He  now  separates 
himself  from  the  Afghan  troops  and  travels  on 
to  India  with  Satvant  Kaur  — -Jasvant  Singh,  in 
boy's  dress  -  and  the  maidservant.  They  all 
reach  Amritsar  safely.  Agha  Khan  returns  to  the 
faith  of  his  forbears  and  becomes  Alamba 
Singh.  He  vows  himself  to  fighdng  for  the 
honour  of  the  Khalsa.  This  also  is  Satvant  Kaur's 
ambition.  The  maid  is  inidated  as  Tej  Kaur  and 
takes  the  same  pledge. 

Agha  Khan,  now  Alamba  Singh,  traces  his 
sister.  Satvant  Kaur  visits  her  parents  at  Khanna. 
Fatima  journeys  to  the  Punjab  in  search  of  her 
husband  who  has  been  wounded  in  another 
of  Ahmad  Shah's  campaigns  against  the  Sikhs 
and  arrested.  She  meets  Satvant  Kaur,  receives 
the  rites  of  the  Klialsa  and  becomes  her 
comrade  in  faith  and  in  arms. 

Unlike  Sundarl  and  Bijay  Singh,  the  plot 
of  Satvant  Kaur  is  full  of  digressions  into  history. 
The  chapters  describing  the  history  of 
Peshawar,  Bodhi  Vihars  and  withdrawal  of 
Marathas  have  no  relevance  to  the  history  of 
the  period.  The  story  is  strewn  with  miraculous 
and  extraordinary  elements.  The  style 
throughout  is  rhetorical.  The  plot  and  the 
characters  have  been  devised  to  bring  out  the 
chivalry  of  the  Sikh  tradidon  and  the  ethical 
excellence  of  the  Sikh  faith. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Harbans  Singh,  Bhai  Vir  Singh.  Delhi,  1972 

2.  Talib,  Gurbachan  Singh,  and  Attar  Singh,  eds., 
Bhai  Vir  Singh  :  Life,  Time  and  Works. 
Chandigarh,  1973 

3.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  and  Harnam  Singh  Shan, 
eds.,  Bhai  Vir  Singh,  Jivan,  Samari  te  Rachna. 
Chandigarh,  1973 

M.P.K. 

SAUNDHA  SINGH,  famous  as  Kavi  (kavi= 
poet)  Saundha,  was  born  around  1750  at  the 
village  of  Kale,  in  Amritsar  district  of  the 
Punjab.  He  studied  Hindi,  Rekhta  and  Persian, 
as  also  music,  under  Gur  Sahai  Kundra  of 


SAUNT' 


80 


SAUSAKHI 


Thattl  Nagar,  near  Chuniari,  in  Lahore  district. 
He  launched  upon  his  literary  career  rather 
late  in  life.  His  output  was  however  substantial 
and,  according  to  his  own  testimony,  it 
amounted  to  five  granths  and  numerous 
pothis.  Among  his  poetical  works  are  Gur 
Ustati,  also  known  as  Das  Gur  Katha  which 
contains  the  lives  of  the  Gurus  ;  Ustati  Sri 
Amritsar  Ji  Ki,  lauding  the  glory  of 
Harimandar,  the  Golden  Temple  of  modern 
day,  which  was  demolished  in  1762  by  the 
Afghan  invader  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  ;  Ustati 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  Ji  Ki,  eulogizing  the  valour 
of  the  Khalsa  ;  Gurpranali,  a  versified  calendar 
relating  to  events  from  the  lives  of  the  Gurus  ; 
Katha  Shahahchi  Ki,  an  account  written  in 
1807  of  the  attack  of  Shahahchi  Khan,  the 
Afghan  commander  under  the  Durrani's  son, 
Shah  Zaman,  on  the  Sikhs  at  Ram  Nagar 
(Gujrat)  in  1797  ;  Baha  Buddha  Bahsavali,  a 
geneaological  account  of  Baba  Buddha's 
family;  and  Sakhian  Gian  Updesh,  a  guide  for 
the  instruction  of  Sikh  chiefs.  Among  his  other 
works  may  be  mentioned  Ramayana  Baramaha 
and  Ramg'u  (incomplete),  adaptations  in  verse 
of  portions  of  the  Ramayana,  Jhagra  Jatti  te 
Khatrani,  verse  in  folk  style  commenting  on 
the  habits  and  attitudes  of  the  different  castes. 
It  became  so  popular  that  the  famous  British 
folklorist  Sir  Richard  Temple  obtained  the  text 
from  a  singer,  transliterated  it  into  Roman  and 
had  an  English  translation  of  it  published  in 
Panjab  Notes  and  Queries.  Most  of  Saundha 
Singh's  works  are  still  in  manuscript  form,  with 
considerable  textual  variations  :  only  three  of 
them  (Gurpranali,  Ustati  Sri  Amritsar  Ji  KI and 
Jhagra  Jatti  te  Khatrani)  are  available  in  print. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Dharam  Singh,  Kavi  Saundha  :  lk  Alochanatamak 
Adhyan.  Amritsar,  1981 

2.  Randhir  Singh,  Gurpranalian.  Amritsar,  1977 

D.S.A. 

SAUNTI,  an  old  village  2  km  northeast  of 
Arnloh  (3()"-36'N,  76"-14E),  in  Fatehgarh 


Sahib  district,  claims  a  historical  shrine  called 
Gurdwara  Sri  Guru  Hargobind  Sahib.  It  is 
situated  in  the  open  fields  over  a  kilometre  to 
the  east  of  the  village  and  is  approached 
through  a  cart  track  going  to  Jalalpur  village. 
It  marks  the  site  where,  during  a  hunting 
excursion,  a  dog  belonging  to  Guru  Hargobind 
killed  a  wild  boar  and  itself  died  of  wounds 
sustained  during  the  fight  with  the  beast. 

The  Gurdwara  is  a  Mahji  Sahib  of  old 
construction,  7-metre  square  with  a  verandah 
in  front.  On  a  platform  inside  are  displayed 
some  swords  and  chakras.  The  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  is  seated  in  the  verandah  and  is  attended 
by  a  farmer  who  cultivates  the  adjoining  land. 
Being  in  an  out-of-the-way  and  isolated  place, 
the  shrine  has  hardly  any  visitors  during  the 
year. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,    Giani,  Twarikli  Gurchnwian. 
Amritsar,  n.d 

2.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Siu'igrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

M.G.S. 

SAU  SAKHI  (lit.  a  book  of  one  hundred 
anecdotes)  is  the  popular  name  of  Gur  Ratan 
Mai  (lit.  a  string  of  the  Guru's  gems),  a  work 
esoteric  and  prophetic  in  nature  :  also 
problematic  as  regards  the  authenticity  of  its 
text.  Its  writer,  one  Sahib  Singh,  describes 
himself  only  as  a  scribe  who  wrote  to  the 
dictation  of  Bhai  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  better 
known  as  Bhai  Ram  Kuhvar  (1672-1761)  and  a 
knowledgeable  and  honoured  member  of  the 
retinue  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh  (1666-1708). 
The  book  is  meant  to  be  a  narrative  pertaining 
to  the  life  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  supposedly 
based  on  the  personal  knowledge  of  Bhai  Ram 
Kuhvar,  although  later  interpolations  and 
corruption  of  the  text  are  clearly  decipherable. 
The  extant  manuscripts  of  the  work  have 
textual  variations.  Not  all  of  them  have  the 


SAU  SAKHI 


81 


SAVAI.  SINGH 


number  of  anecdoi.es  matching  its  popular  title. 
Allegedly  written  in  1724  or  1734  (the  two  dates 
found  in  the  text),  Sau  Sakhi  remained 
unknown  until  it  was  discovered  in  1815  in  a 
Brahman  family  of  Thanesar,  who  presented 
the  manuscript  to  Sardar  Amair  Singh 
Sirighpuria.  The  latter  got  copies  prepared  by 
a  scribe,  Nattha  Singh  of  Buria.  The  book 
contained  several  allusions,  in  the  form  of 
prophetic  utterances  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
to  contemporary  personages  such  as  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh,  Rani  Sada  Kaur,  and  Ranjit 
Singh's  Muslim  wife,  Morah.  It  became  a  much- 
sought-after  work,  though  only  rarely 
obtainable.  Further  changes  and  interpolations, 
evidently  made  after  the  annexation  of  the 
Punjab  to  British  dominions,  prophesied  the 
re-establishment  of  Sikh  sovereignty  under 
Maharaja  Duleep  Singh.  This  roused  the 
apprehension  of  the  British  government  and, 
at  their  instance,  Sir  Attar  Singh  of  Bhadaur, 
translated  the  book  into  English  in  1873  and 
got  it  published  at  Varanasi.  Several  Punjabi 
editions  appeared  in  print  from  1890  onwards, 
the  various  versions  continuing. to  differ  in 
content  and  details,  especially  in  respe^ct  of 
prophesies.  The  book  is  still  popular  with 
Nihahgs,  who  hopefully  look  forward  to  the 
revival  of  Khalsa  rule,  and  with  the  Namdharis 
who  interpret  some  of  the  allusions  in  the  text 
as  referring  to  their  own  movement  which  was 
clearly  anti-British  under  its  leader,  Baba  Ram 
Singh  (1816-85). 

Prophecies  bearing  on  the  political 
aspirations  of  the  Khalsa  or  the  Namdhari  Sikhs 
are  not,  however,  the  only  or  even  the  principal 
theme  of  the  Sau  Sakhi.  Only  15  to  20 
anecdotes  contain  such  forecast.  Many  of  the 
stories  are  didactic  in  aim,  and  follow  the 
pattern  of  Bhai  Mani  Singh's  Bhagat  Mai,  better 
known  as  Sikhaii  di  Bhagat  Mala.  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  is  shown  as  explaining  and  illustrating 
philosophical  and  ethical  principles  of  the 
Khalsa  in  answer  to  questions  or  doubts  raised 
by  the  Sikhs.  Occasionally,  the  Guru  himself 
creates  situations  to  elicit  pertinent  questions. 


Resort  is  had  to  fables  and  mythology.  Some 
of  the  stories  descibe  the  battles  fought  by  the 
Sikhs  under  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  leadership, 
while  other  give  an  account  of  learned 
discussions  among  poets  and  scholars  he  had 
engaged.  Two  chapters  in  verse  lay  down  the 
Sikh  code  of  conduct  in  the  style  of  the 
Rahitnamas.  Another  is  a  discourse  on  worldly 
wisdom  and  diplomacy.  The  book  has  some 
historical  value  too,  but  has  to  be  used  with 
great  care  because  of  several  anachronisms, 
mis-statements,  interpolations  and  motivated 
turns  given  to  the  text  by  different  scribes. 

From  the  literary  point  of  view,  Sau  Sakhi 
is  a  mixed  fare.  It  is  partly  prose  and  partly 
verse.  Punjabi  is  generally  used  for  prose  and 
Hindi  for  verse.  Its  anecdotal  style  and  frequent 
use  of  narration  in  the  first  person,  coupled 
with  its  euphoric,  picturization  of  the  future, 
make  it  interesting,  but  the  idiom  at  places  is 
too  terse  and  obscure.  On  the  other  hand,  this 
very  obscurity  lending  itself  to  varying 
interpretations,  heightens  its  appeal.  It  seerhs 
Sau  Sakhi  was  a  part  of  a  larger  volume,  Pahj 
Sau  Sakhi  or  five  hundred  anecdotes,  no  longer 
extant,  which  formed  the  basis  of  some  of  the 
episodes  in  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Gur  Pratap 
Suraj  Granth. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Nayyar,  G.S.,  ed.,  Gur  Ratan  Mai  :  Sau  Sakhi. 
Patiala,  1985 

T.S. 

SAVAL  SINGH,  a  Randhava  Jatt,  received  the 
vows  of  the  Khalsa  about  1750  and  joined  the 
Bhahgi  misl.  He  fought  for  his  chief  Hari  Singh 
in  several  of  his  campaigns.  Within  a  few  years 
he  came  to  possess  a  large  tract  of  country  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Ravi,  including  Ajnala  and 
Chamiari.  Saval  Singh  was  killed  in  a  battie 
leaving  no  issue. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Griffin,  Lepel.  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 

G.S.N. 


SAVAN  MALL 


82 


SAVAN  SINGH 


SAVAN  MALL,  a  nephew  of  Guru  Amar  Das, 
was  pious  and  accomplished  Sikh.  As  Guru 
Amar  Das,  after  having  been  installed  Guru  by 
Guru  Ahgad,  moved  from  Khadur  to  Goindval, 
a  number  of  his  followers  came  to  reside  there, 
necessitating  the  construction  of  many  new 
houses.  To  procure  timber  required  for  this 
purpose,  the  Guru  sent  up  to  the  hill  country 
Savan  Mall,  who  had  experience  in  the  trade. 
Savan  Mall  went  to  Haripur,  the  capital  of  a 
small  principality  in  what  is  now  known  as 
Himachal  Pradesh.  The  ruler  of  the  state  was 
deeply  impressed  by  his  spiritual  demeanour 
and  put  him  up  as  his  own  guest.  Savan  Mall 
had  pine  and  deodar  trees  felled  and  bundled 
into  rafts  to  be  floated  down  the  River  Beas 
towards  Goindval.  When  it  became  time  for 
him  to  return,  the  Raja  of  Haripur  expressed  a 
desire  to  see  Guru  Amar  Das,  and  travelled  with 
him  along  with  his  queens  and  courtiers.  At 
Goindval  setting  aside  age-old  social  scruples, 
the  Raja  and  his  entourage  bowed  to  the 
prevalent  practice  and  ate  in  the  Guru  ka 
Lahgar  sitting  on  the  ground  with  others 
without  consideration  and  the  ladies  turned 
out  without  their  veils.  The  Raja  received  the 
Guru's  blessing.  When,  after  a  few  days,  he 
begged  leave  to  go  back  to  his  country,  Guru 
Amar  Das  asked  Savan  Mall  to  accompany  him 
and  remain  in  the  hill  region  to  preach  the 
word  of  Guru  Nanak. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar.  1927-35 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Athur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909' 

B.S.D. 

SAVAN  MALL,  DIWAN  (d.  1844),  governor  of 
Multan  from  1821  to  1844,  was  son  of 
Hoshnak  Rai,  a  Chopra  Khatri,  in  the  service 
of  Sardar  Dal  Singh  of  Akalgarh.  When  in  1804, 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  took  over  Akalgarh  on 


the  death  of  Dal  Singh,  Savan  Mall  was 
employed  as  a  munshi  or  clerk  and  was  sent 
thereafter  to  Wazirabad  as  naib  tahsildar.  A 
good  scholar  of  Persian  and  Arabic,  he  won 
the  appreciation  of  the  Maharaja  for  his 
intelligence  and  administrative  skill  and 
quickly  rose  to  higher  positions.  In  1818, 
Ranjit  Singh  conquered  Multan,  but  the 
governors  appointed  by  him  one  after  the 
other  proved  inept.  In  1821,  he  sent  out  Savan 
Mall,  who  turned  out  to  be  an  efficient  and 
benevolent  administrator.  Under  his 
governorship,  Multan  attained  a  high  level  of 
prosperity.  Robbery  and  lawlessness  were  put 
down;  cultivation  was  extended,  commerce, 
trade  and  industry  flourished  and  even-handed 
justice  was  dealt  out  to  the  rich  and  the  poor 
alike.  The  Multan  subah  was  known 
throughout  the  kingdom  as  Dar  al-Aman  ( the 
abode  of  peace). 

Savan  Mall  had  a  tragic  end.  He  was 
seriously  wounded,  on  16  September  1844,  by 
an  under-trial  prisoner  and  died  on  29 
September  1844. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Mohan  Lai,  Travels  in  the  Punjab,  Afghanistan 
and  Turkistan.  London,  1846 

3.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations. 
Hoshiarpur,  1968 

4.  Chopra,  G.L.,  The  Panjab  as  a  Sovereign  Stale. 
Hoshiarpur,  1960 

H.R.G. 

SAVAN  SINGH,  a  cousin  of  Dasaundha  Singh 
and  Sarigat  Singh  of  the  Nishanavali  misl, 
distinguished  himself  by  his  heroic  deeds  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  He 
participated  in  the  partition  of  the  territory  of 
Sirhind  which  was  captured  by  the  Sikhs  in 
January  1764.  He  appropriated  to  himself 
several  villages  around  Saunti  where  he  finally 
settled  down.  His  descendants  lived  at 
Mansurval  in  Firozpur  district. 


SCINDIA,  DAULAT  RAO 


83 


SEKHA 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 

G.S.N. 

SCINDIA,  DAULAT  RAO  (1780-1827), 
Maratha  chief  of  Gwalior,  who  in  the  closing 
decades  of  the  eighteenth  century  succeeded 
in  becoming  viceregent  of  the  shrunken 
Mughal  empire.  He  held  in  his  power  the  blind 
titular  emperor  Shah  Alam,  whom  he  had 
rescued  from  die  clutches  of  the  Ruhilas,  and 
ruled  in  his  name  through  his  deputies  Comte 
de  Boigne  and  Pierre  Cuillier  Perron,  who 
commanded  large  Maratha  armies.  Daulat  Rao 
established  Maratha  supremacy  in  Delhi  and 
Agra  and  in  the  trans-  Jaimuni  region,  but, 
unlike  his  predecessor  Mahadji  Scindia,  who 
in  1788  had  come  to  an  understanding  with 
the  Sikhs,  he  wanted  to  curb  their  power.  In 
1801,  the  cis-Sudej  Sikh  chiefs  of  Patiala,  Nabha, 
JInd,  Kaithal,  Ladva  and  Thanesar  approached 
his  all-powerful  deputy  Periron,  to  afford  them 
protection  against  the  ravages  of  George 
Thomas,  the  Irish  adventurer,  who,  after  a  short 
period  of  employment  under  Appa  Khande 
Rao,  had  carved  out  the  independent  kingdom 
of  Hahsi.  A  Maratha  force  12,000  strong, 
marched  under  Louis  Bourquien,  expelled 
Thomas  from  the  Malva  region  and  liquidated 
his  tiny  principality,  but  Perron  subjected  the 
Sikh  chiefs  to  heavy  exactions  and  tributes. 

Daulat  Rao's  influence  over  the  cis-Sudej 
region  was,  however,  short-lived.  In  September 
1803,  he  was  defeated  by  the  English  at  Delhi 
and  in  November  at  Lasvari.  He  ceded  to  the 
British  the  districts  of  Delhi  ,  Gurgaoh,  Rohtak, 
Hissar  and  Agra.  The  Marathas  thus  lost  their 
influence  in  northern  India. 

Daulat  Rao  Scindia  died  on  21  March 
1827. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Rajas  of  the  Punajb  [Reprint]. 
Delhi,  1977 

2.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  III. 
Delhi,  1974 


3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Panth  Prakish  [Reprint]. 
Patiala,  1970 

BJ.H. 

SEHRA  SAHIB,  GURDWARA,  on  top  of  a 
hillock  near  Basi  or  Basantgarh  village,  one 
kilometre  south  of  Guru  ka  Lahore  in  Bilaspur 
district  of  Himachal  Pradesh,  is  dedicated  to 
Guru  Gobind  Singh,  who  halted  here  for  a 
short  lime  on  his  way  to  Guru  ka  Lahore  for 
his  marriage  in  1677-  According  to  tradition 
the  Guru  donned  his  sehra  or  a  bridegroom's 
floral  headband  here.  The  Gurdwara,  a  square 
domed  room  with  a  circumambulatory 
verandah,  was  constructed  by  Sant  Seva  Singh 
of  Anandpur  Sahib  in  1962.  It  is  managed  by 
the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduariari.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

Gn.S. 

SEKHA,  a  village  11  km  east  of  Bamala  (30°- 
23  N,  75"-32'E)  in  Sahgrur  district  of  the 
Punjab,  has  a  historical  shrine,  Gurdwara  Sahib 
Guru  Sar  Patshahi  Nauvih,  situated  on  a  low 
mound.  According  to  local  tradition,  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  arrived  here  from  Muloval  on 
22  December  1665  and  stayed  for  two  days.  In 
those  days  there  were  22  villages  around  here 
inhabited  by  peasants  of  the  Javanda  clan.  They 
were  followers  of  a  bairigi  ascedc,  Durga  Das, 
and  their  chief  Tiloka,  took  no  nodce  of  the 
Guru  and  his  Sikhs.  However,  a  person  of 
humbler  station,  Durgu  by  name,  served  him 
with  devotion.  As  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  saw 
Tiloka  walk  past  in  pride  wearing  silver  slippers, 
he  enquired  from  his  audience  the  name  of 
the  passer-by.  They  answered  that  he  was 
Tiloka,  the  master  of  22  villages  of  the 
Javandas.  "He  lacks  intelligence"  remarked  the 
Guru.  Tiloka  soon  realized  his  error  and  sought 


SEVA 


84 


SEVA 


the  Guru's  pardon  for  his  insolence,  through 
his  sister  at  Kattu,  where  the  Guru  had  his  next 
halt. 

The  memorial  platform  built  on  the 
mound  near  a  water  pool  was  in  course  of  time 
developed  into  a  gurdwara.  The  cornerstone 
of  the  present  building  constructed  by  Sant. 
Kirpal  Singh  of  Chhanna  was  laid  on  20  May 
1940.  It  comprises  a  hall  with  a  square  sanctum 
within  it  and  a  verandah  on  three  sides.  A  lotus 
dome  rises  above  the  sanctum.  The  old  water 
pool  has  been  converted  into  a  sarovar.  Close 
by  is  the  Guru  ka  Lahgar.  The  Gurdwara  owns 
over  25  acres  of  land  and  is  manged  by  the 
ShiromanI  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
through  a  local  committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ma/va  Desh  Ratan  di  Sakhi  Pothi.  Amrksar,  1968 

2.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Singrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

4.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

5.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavan  te  Yad  Ch'mh.  Patiala,  1976 

6.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  Delhi,  1994 

M.G.S. 

SEVA,  from  Sanskrit  root  sev  ( to  serve,  wait  or 
attend  upon,  honour,  or  worship),  is  usually 
translated  as  'service'  or  'serving'  which 
commonly  relates  to  work  paid  for,  but  does 
not  convey  the  sense  in  which  the  term  is  used 
in  the  Sikh  tradition.  The  word  seva  has,  in  fact, 
had  two  distinct  connotations  ;  one,  it  means 
to  serve,  to  attend  to,  to  render  obedience  to  ; 
and  the  second,  to  worship,  to  adore,  to 
reverence,  to  pay  homage  to.  Traditionally  in 
the  Indian  (  Hindu)  society,  seva  in  the  sense 
of  worship  (of  gods)  has  been  the  preserve  of 
the  high-caste  Brahmans,  while  that  in  the 
sense  of  service  (to  man)  relegated  to  the 
lowest  of  the  castes.  In  the  Sikh  sense,  the  two 
connotations  seem  to  have  merged  together 


for  the  reasons  :  first,  because  of  its  egalitarian 
meaning.  Sikhism  does  not  recognize  caste 
distinctions,  and  hence  no  distinctive  caste 
roles  in  it ;  and  second,  God  in  Sikhism  is  not 
apart  from  His  creatures.  He  pervades  His 
Creation  (0(1, 1350).  Therefore  service  rendered 
to  humanity  (i.e.  God  in  man)  is  indeed 
considered  a  form  of  worship.  In  fact,  in 
Sikhism,  no  worship  is  conceivable  without  seva 
(GG,  1013).  The  Sikh  is  forbidden  from  serving 
anyone  apart  from  God  ('Serve  you  the  Lord 
alone  :  none  else  must  you  serve'  (GG,  490). 
However,  this  also  means  that  whomsoever  we 
serve,  we  really  serve  our  Lord  through  him. 
Therefore  it  becomes  incumbent  upon  the 
Sikh  to  fiSnder  seva  with  the  highest  sense  of 
duty  sin'cfe  thereby  he  or  she  is  worshipping 
the  Lord. 

Seva  in  Sikhism  is  imperative  for  spiritual 
life.  It  is  the  highest  penance  (GG.423).  It  is  a 
means  to  acquiring  the  highest  merit.  The  Sikh 
often  prays  to  God  for  a  chance  to  render  seva. 
Says  Guru  Arjan,  Nanak  V,  "I  beg  to  serve  those 
who  serve  you  (GG,  43)"  and  "I,  your  servant, 
beg  for  seva  of  your  people,  which  is  available 
through  good  fortune  alone  (GG,  802)." 
According  to  Guru  Amar  Das,  "He  who  is 
turned  towards  the  Guru  finds  repose  and  joy 
in  seva"  (GG,  125). 

Three  varieties  of  seva  are  sanctioned  in 
the  Sikh  lore  :  that  rendered  through  the 
corporal  instrument  (tan),  that  through  the 
mental  apparatus  (man)  and  that  through  the 
material  wherewithal  (dhan). 

The  first  of  them  is  considered  to  be  the 
highest  of  all  and  is  imperatively  prescribed  for 
every  Sikh.  "Cursed  are  the  hands  and  feet  that 
engage  not  in  seva"  (Bhai  Gurdas,  Varan,  27.1). 
In  traditional  Indian  society  work  involving 
corporal  labour  was  considered  low  and 
relegated  to  the  humblest  castes.  By  sanctifying 
it  as  an  honourable  religious  practice,  the  Sikh 
Gurus  established  the  dignity  of  labour,  a 
concept  then  almost  unknown  to  the  Indian 
society.  Not  only  did  the  Gurus  sanctify  it  ; 
they  also  institutionalized  it,  e.g.  service  in  Guru 


SEVA 


85 


SEVA 


ka  Langar  (  the  Guru's  community  kitchen) 
and  serving  the  sahgat  (holy  assembly)  in  other 
ways  such  as  by  grinding  corn  for  it,  fanning  it 
to  soften  the  rigour  of  a  hoit  day  and  drawing 
water  for  it.  "  I  beg  of  you,  O,  Merciful  One, 
make  me  the  slave  of  your  Slaves...  Let  me  have 
the  pleasure  of  fanning  them,  drawing  water 
for  them,  grinding  corn  for  therri  and  of 
washing  their  feet,"  prays  Guru  Arjan  (GG,  518). 

Seva  through  the  mental  apparatus  (man) 
lies  in  contributing  ones  talents-creative, 
communicative,  managerial,  etc.-  to  the 
corporate  welfare  of  the  community  and 
mankind  in  general.  It  also  lies  in  sharing  the 
pain  of  others.  Response  to  the  pain  of  others 
is  a  sine  qua  non  of  the  membership  of  the 
brotherhood  of  man.  Thait  is  why  the  Sikh 
prayer  said  in  unison  ends  with  a  supplication 
for  the  welfare  of  all.  Seva  of  this  kind  is 
motivated  not  by  the  attitude  of  compassion 
alone,  but  primarily  to  discover  practical 
avenues  for  serving  God  through  man. 

Seva  through  material  means  (dhan)  or 
philanthropy  (dan)  was  particularly  sought  to 
be  made  non-personal.  The  offerings  (/car 
bheta)  made  to  the  Gurus  and  the  dasvandh 
(tithe)  contributed  by  the  Sikhs  went  straight 
into  the  common  coffers  of  the  community. 
Personal  philanthropy  can  be  debasing  for  the 
receiver  and  ego-entrenching  for  the  giver,  but 
self-effacing  community  service  is  ennobling. 
Seva  must  be  so  carried  out  as  to  dissolve  the 
ego  and  lead  to  self-transcendence,  which  is 
the  ability  to  acknowledge  and  respond  to  that 
which  is  other  than  oneself.  Seva  must  serve  to 
indicate  the  way  in  which  such  transcendence 
manifests  in  one's  responsiveness  to  the  needs 
of  others  in  an  impersonal  way. 

The  Sikh  is  particularly  enjoined  upon  to 
render  seva  to  the  poor.  "The  poor  man's 
mouth  is  the  depository  of  the  Guru",  says  the 
Rahhnama  of  Chaupa  Singh.  The  poor  and  the 
needy  are,  thus,  treated  as  legitimate  recipients 
of  dan  (charity)  and  not  the  Brahman  who  had 
traditionally  reserved  for  himself  this  privilege. 
Even  in  serving  the  poor,  one  serves  not  the 


individual  concerned,  but  God  Himself 
through  him.  Even  as  one  feeds  the  hungry,  it 
has  been  the  customary  Sikh  practice  to  pray  : 
"The  grain,  O  God,  is  your  own  gift.  Only  the 
seva  is  mine  which  please  be  gracious  enough 
to  accept." 

In  the  Sikh  way  of  life,  seva  is  considered 
the  prime  duty  of  the  householder  (grihasthi). 
"That  home  in  which  holymen  are  not  served, 
God  is  served  not.  Such  mansions  must  be 
likened  to  graveyards  where  ghosts  alone  abide", 
says  Kabir  (GG.1374).  The  Sikhs  are  all  ordained 
to  be  householders,  and  seva  their  duty.  In 
Sikh  thought,  the  polarity  of  renunciation  is 
not  with  attachment,  but  with  seva. 

True  seva  according  to  Sikh  scriptures 
must  be  without  desire  (nishkam),  guileless 
(nishkapat),  in  humility  (nimarta),  with  purity 
of  intention  (hirda  suddh) ,  with  sincerity  (chit 
iae)  and  in  utter  selflessness  (vichori  apgavae). 
Such  seva  for  the  Sikh  is  the  doorway  to  dignity 
as  well  as  to  mukti  (liberation).  "If  one  earns 
merit  here  through  seva ,  one  will  get  a  seat  of 
honour  in  His  Court  hereafter"  (GG,  26). 

According  to  Sikh  tenets, "You  become  like 
the  one  you  serve"  (GG,  549).  Therefore,  for 
those  who  desire  oneness  with  God,  serving 
God  and  God  alone  is  the  prime  way.  But  God 
in  Sikhism  is  transcendent  as  well  as  immanent. 
The  Transcendent  One  is  ineffable  and  can 
only  be  conceived  through  contemplation. 
Service  of  God,  therefore,  only  relates  to  the 
immanent  aspect  of  God  and  comprises  service 
of  His  creatures.  Humanitarian  service  is  thus 
the  Sikh  ideal  of  seva. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Teja  Singh,  Essays  in  Sikhism,  Lahore,  1941 

2.  — ,  Sikhism  :  Its  ideals  and  Institutions.  Bombay, 
1951 

3.  Cole,  W.O.  and  Piara  Singh  Sambhi,  Tiie  Sikhs : 
Their  Religious  Beliefs  and  Practices.  Delhi,  1978 

4.  Avtar  Singh,  Ethics  of  the  Sikhs.  Patiala,  1970 

5.  Wazir  Singh,  Philosophy  of  Sikh  Religion.  Delhi, 
1981 

J.S.N. 


SEVA  SINGH,  BHAI 


86 


SEVA  SINGH  KRIPAN  BAHADUR 


SEVA  SINGH,  BHAl  (1882-1945),  journalist 
and  author,  was  born  in  1882  at  Sarai  Alamgir, 
in  Gujrat  district  (now  in  Pakistan),  where  his 
father,  Lai  Singh,  was  a  village  money-lender. 
Passing  his  middle  school  examination  from 
Jehlum,  he  trained  as  a  junior  vernacular 
teacher  at  Rawalpindi,  and  took  up  service  at 
Khalsa  Middle  School,  Pindi  Gheb,  in  Attock 
district.  Simultaneously,  he  started  giving 
sermons  in  gurdwaras.  He  also  wrote  polemical 
pamphelts  in  Urdu  to  propagate  Sikh  teachings 
as  well  as  to  rebut  the  critical  propaganda  of 
the  Arya  Samajists.  Some  of  Jjis  titles  were  Guru 
Nanak  Sahib  aur  Islam,  Afzalul  Ambia,  Nur  ka 
Fatur,  Vedik  Shadi  ki Fazilat,  and  Ved  Bhagvan. 

Once  Bhai  Seva  Singh,  accompanied  by 
his  wife,  visited  Amritsar,  to  participate  in  a 
religious  debate.  The  couple  were  so  fascinated 
by  the  Golden  Temple  that  they  decided  to 
setde  in  the  city  for  good.  Seva  Singh  got  an 
appointment  in  Sant  Singh  Sukkha  Singh 
Middle  School  as  a  teacher.  A  regular  reader 
of  the  Khalsa.  Samachar,  a  Punjabi  weekly 
owned  and  edited  by  the  Sikh  poet  and  savant 
Bhai  Vir  Singh,  Seva  Singh  was  deeply 
impressed  by  its  tone  and  style.  He  started 
contributing  articles  to  the  journal.  This  led 
to  personal  acquaintance  with  Bhai  Vir  Singh 
who  offered  him  appointment  as  a  sub-editor 
in  March  1914.  Seva  Singh  rose  to  be  the  editor 
of  the  paper  which  he  served  ably  and  diligently 
for  over  30  years.  Modest  and  humble-looking, 
Seva  Singh  wielded  a  sharp  pen.  His  name  will 
go  down  in  Punjabi  letters  as  a  formidable 
editor,  revelling  in  religious  discussion  and 
debate.  An  attack  of  paralysis  towards  the  end 
of  August  1944  incapacitated  him,  the  end 
coming  on  28  January  1945.  Besides  his 
monumental  work  in  the  field  of  Punjabi 
journalism,  Bhai  Seva  Singh  was  the  author  of 
a  number  of  books.  These  included  Mokhsh 
Marag,  Amrit,  Svargi-Jivan ,  Anha  Chuha 
Thothe  Dhan,  Daya  Nand  Charitra,  Surme  Lai 
Mamira,  Quran  di  Kunji,  Quran  di  Kahani, 
Quran  Sharif  and  Bahadar  Singhaniah. 

Shn.  S. 


SEVA  SINGH,  BHAI  (1897-1921),  one  of  the 
Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  born  in  Magghar 
1954  Bk/November-December  1897,  the  son 
of  Bhai  Ishar  Singh  and  Mai  Atto  of  Chakk  No. 
80  Nizampur  Mula  Siiighvala,  district 
Sheikjjupura.  He  attended  the  village  primary 
school  and  also  learnt  lande  or  the  Mahajani 
script  traditionally  used  by  businessmen.  He 
received  the  rites  of  the  Khalsa  at  Sri  Akal  Takht 
Sahib,  Amritsar.  He  enlisted  in  the  army  and 
served  with  23rd  Cavalry.  There  he  learnt  some 
English  and  was  soon  promoted  a  dafadar 
(cavalry  sergeant) .  During  the  Great  War  (1914- 
18)  while  his  regiment  went  for  field  service 
abroad,  Seva  Singh  remained  behind  as  a  clerk 
in  the  depot  and  was  subsequendy  promoted 
head  clerk.  After  the  war,  when  he  came  home 
on  three  months'  furlough,  he  heard  about 
Gurdwara  Rikabgahj  agitation.  He  applied  for 
his  discharge  from  the  army,  but  his  request 
was  turned  down.  He  nevertheless  quit  on 
medical  grounds,  and  became  an  activist  in  the 
Akali  movement.  He  participated  in  the 
liberation  of  Gurdwara  Khara  Sauda, 
Chuharkana,  and  also  registered  himself  as  a 
volunteer  for  the  liberation  of  gurdwaras  at 
Nankana  Sahib.  He  laid  down  his  life  on  20 
February  1921  in  the  jatha  led  by  Bhai 
Lachhman  Singh  of  Dharovall. 

The  family  declined  to  receive  any 
pension  from  the  Shiromafti  Committee, 
Amritsar. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

SEVA  SINGH  KRIPAN  BAHADUR  (1890- 
1 961 ) ,  Akali  activist  and  newspaper  editor,  was 
the  son  of  Bhai  Harnam  Singh  and  Mai  Prem 
Kaur  of  Bakhtgarh.  village  18  km  northwest  of 
Barnala  (30°-22N,  75"-32  E),  in  Sahgrur 
district  of  the  Punjab.  Born  in  1890,  he  received 
lessons  in  Punjabi  and  in  scripture-reading  in 
the  local  gurdwara.  He  enlisted  in  the  Indian 


SKVA  SINGH  IvKlPAN  BAHADUR 


87 


SKVA  SINGH  THIKRIVALA 


army  (Bengal  Sappers  and  Miners)  in  1908  and 
served  in  Mesopotamia  (present  Iraq)  during 
World  War  I.  Those  days  carrying  a  kripan 
(sword)  even  as  a  religious  symbol  was  not 
permitted  under  the  Army  Act,  and  the  Sikhs 
were  feeling  deeply  agitated.  Seva  Singh,  lately 
promoted  havildar  (sergeant) ,  at  Roorkee  in 
Uttar  Pradesh  in  1917  refused  to  take  off  his 
kripan,  religious  obligation  for  him  as  a  Sikh. 
He  along  with  three  others  was  dismissed  from 
service.  He  joined  in  1919  the  Pahch  Khalsa 
Diwan,  a  Sikh  reformist  organization  based  at 
Bhasaur,  now  in  Sarigrur  district,  which 
conferred  on  him  the  title  "Kripan  Bahadur" 
He  continued  to  agitate  for  freedom  for  the 
Sikhs  to  wear  kripan,  wrote  three  pamphlets, 
Kripan  Virlap,  Kripan  Faryad  and  Kripan  da 
Piar,  which  were,  however,  confiscated  by  the 
government.  In  1922,  he  broke  away  from  the 
Bhasaur  Diwan  and  started  publishing  Kripan 
Bahadur,  a  Punjabi  weekly  from  Amritsar.  He 
was  prosecuted  in  1923  when  he  began 
serializing  the  lives  of  revolutionaries,  Kartar 
Sirigh- Sarabha  and  Rash  Bihari  Bose,  in  his 
paper  and  was  sentenced  to  one  year's 
imprisonment,  with  a  fine  of  Rs  200.  In  1927, 
Kripan  Bahadurwas  amalgamated  with  Sarigat 
edited  by  Sardul  Singh  Caveeshar,  the  new 
paper  being  known  as  Kripan  Bahadur  te 
Sarigat.  In  1931,  Seva  Singh  was  again  jailed 
for  two  years  for  delivering  a  seditious  speech 
at  Muktsar,  and  his  printing  press  was 
confiscated.  In  1933,  he  started  another  paper, 
Jagat  Sudhar  which  failing  to  build  up 
circulation  had  to  be  closed  down.  Seva  Singh 
retired  to  his  village.  He  was  elected  j&thedar 
or  leader  of  the  Sarigrur  district  Akali  Jatha  in 
the  early  1940's.  It  was  through  his  initiative 
that  a  Khalsa  high  school  was  established  at 
Bakhtgarh  in  1946.  During  the  year,  he 
convened  three  Akali  conferences  id  educate 
the  people  of  the  area  regarding  the  party's 
reaction  to  the  Cabinet  Mission  proposals  for 
India's  freedom.  Sardar  Seva  Singh  Kripan 
Bahadur  died  on  8  August  1961. 

S.S.B. 


SEVA  SINGH  THIKRIVALA  (1882-1935),  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Praja  Mandal,  a  platform 
for  ventilating  the  grievances  of  and  for  an 
open  expression  of  the  political  opinion  of  the 
inhabitants  of  territories,  mainly  in  the  Punjab, 
ruled  by  Indian  princes  during  British  times*, 
was  born  at  Thikrivala,  a  village  now  in  the 
Sarigrur  district  of  the  Punjab,  on  24  Augu^ 
1882.  His  father,  Deva  Sirigh,  was  employed  at 
the  court  of  Maharaja  Rajinder  Sirigh,  ruler  of 
Patiala  state.  Seva  Sirigh  had  his  schooling  in 
Patiala  where  he  learnt  Urdu,  Persian,  Punjabi 
and  some  English.  In  keeping  with  the  family 
custom,  he  joined  the  personal  staff  of 
Maharaja  Rajinder  Sirigh  of  Patiala  as  an  aide- 
de-camp,  but  soon  retired  to  private  life  in  his 
native  village  to  devote  himself  to  social  work. 
Amelioration  of  the  conditions  of  rural  tenants 
was  his  principal  concern.  As  one  committed 
to  the  Sirigh  Sabha  reform,  he  administered 
pkhul  to  a  large  number  of  young  men, 
opened  Gurmukhi  classes  in  the  village 
gurdwara  and  worked  zealously  for 
popularizing  the  Anand  form  of  marriage 
among  the  Sikhs.  Defying  the  state  embargo 
on  political  activity,  he  joined  the  Shiromaru 
Akali  Dal  founded  in  Amritsar  in  December 
1920,  and  became  its  vice-president.  For 
supporting  the  morcha  or  agitation  of  the  Akali 
activists  at  Jaito,  he  was  arrested  in  October 
1923,  sent  to  Lahore  Fort  and  detained  there 
along  with  other  Akali  leaders.  He  was  released 
in  November  1926,  but  was  soon  rearrested  by 
Patiala  police.  The  Shiromani  Akali  Dal 
protested  against  his  detention  and  decided 
(23  July  1929)  to  start  an  agitation  to  secure 
his  release.  Akali  leader  Baba  Kharak  Sirigh 
addressed  a  series  of  meetings  in  the  states  of 
Patiala,  Nabha  andjind,  proclaiming  that  they 
would  work  together  against  the  suppression 
of  any  political  agitation  within  their  borders. 

In  jail,  Seva'Sirigh  started  a  fast  in  June 
1929  which,  he  declared,  would  only  cease  with 
his  death.  A  deputation  of  Sikhs  representing 
moderate  political  opinion  presented  a 
memorial  to  the  Maharaja  of  Patiala  at 


SHABAD 


88 


SHABAD 


Kandaghat,  in  the  Simla  hills,  on  23  August 
1929  seeking  his  release.  Seva  Singh  was  let  off, 
but  was  taken  into  custody  again  on  2 
November  1930  for  his  continued  association 
with  the  Praja  Mandal,  and  was  sentenced  to 
imprisonment  for  10  years  and  a  fine  of  Rs 
10,000.  The  sentence  was  reduced  and  he  was 
released  on  12  March  1931,  only  to  be 
rearrested  from  his  house  in  Thikrivala  on  24 
August  1933.  In  the  court,  Seva  Singh  refused 
to  defend  himself  and  dissociated  himself  from 
the  trial  proceedings.  Protesting  against  the  ill- 
treatment  he  suffered  in  Patiala  jail,  he  went 
on  a  hunger  strike  on  18  April  1934.  Forcible 
feeding  was  tried,  but  he  died  in  the  early 
hours  of  20 January  1935.  Intrigue  and  foul  play 
were  suspected  and  the  Praja  Mandal 
demanded  an  open  inquiry  into  the  cause  of 
his  death.  The  state  authorities  kept  the  ashes 
under  police  guard  in  Gurdwara  Nihahgah  di 
BaghichI  in  Patiala  till  1938,  when  Maharaja 
Bhupinder  Singh's  successor,  Maharaja 
Yadavinder  Singh,  allowed  these  to  be  taken 
to  Thikrivala,  with  full  military  honours.  On 
his  death  anniversary  which  is  observed  on 
January  20,  Seva  Singh  receives  the  honours 
of  a  martyr  from  the  vast  numbers  of  people 
who  throng  Thikrivala  on  the  occasion. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

1 .  Ujagar  Singh  Bhaura,  Sardar  Seva  Singh  Thikivale 
da  KaumiJJvan 

2.  Gurcharan  Singh,  Jivan  Sardar  Seva  Singh 
Thikrivala.  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Tara  Singh,  Master,  Men  Yad.  Amritsar,  1945 

4.  Nijjar,  B.S.,  Punjab  Under  the  British  Rule,  vol. 
III.  Delhi,  1974 

5.  Dard,  Hira  Singh,  Meriari  Kujh  hihasak  Yadah. 
Jalandhar,  1955 

Gch.S. 

SHABAD  (Sanskrit  sabda,  of  obscure 
etymology)  is  generally  rendered  as  sound, 
voice  or  tone.  Another  series  of  meanings 
includes  word,  utterance,  speech.  In  distinctive 
Sikh  usage  shabad  means  a  hymn  or  sacred 


work  from  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  In  the 
theological  sense,  it  stands  for  the  'Word' 
revealed  by  the  Guru.  In  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  it  is  spelt  as  sabad  with  its  inflectional 
variations  sabadu,  sabadi  and  sabade.  Its 
equivalent  substitutes  used  in  the  Sikh 
Scripture  are  dhun  or  dhuni  (Sanskrit  dhvani), 
nad,  anahator  anahad  nad  (Sanskrit  nada  or 
anahata  nada),  bachan,  bam,  kavao.  Sabad  is 
often  linked  with  guru  to  form  gursabad  or 
gur  ka  sabad  (Guru's  word).  Inasmuch  as 
shabad  is  connected  with  both  sound  and  voice, 
in  English  it  may  be  rendered  as  'word-sound.' 

In  the  Nyaya  and  Vaisesika  systems,  sabda 
as  verbal  testimony  is  acknowledged  as  a  valid 
means  of  knowledge  (sabda-pramana) . 
Grammarians  such  as  Yaska,  Panini  and 
Katyayana  take  sabda  or  pada  as  a  unit  of 
language  or  speech  (vak  or  vaka).  The  word 
sabda  first  occurs  in  a  philosophical  sense  in  a 
late  Upanisad,  the  Maitri  Upanisad.  This  text 
states  that  Brahman  is  of  two  types,  sabda 
brahman  and  asabda  brahman,  Brahman  with 
sound  and  soundless  Brahman,  respectively. 
According  to  some  schools,  notably  tanlric,  the 
essence  of  sabda  -lies  in  its  significative  power 
.  (sakti):  This  power  is  defined  as  a  relation 
between  sabda  and  artha,  between  word-sound 
and  meaning. 

In  Guru  Nanak's  usage,  and  subsequently 
in  that  of  his  successor  Gurus,  shabad  means 
the  Word  of  divine  revelation  or  any  aspect  of 
Akalpurakh 's  revelation  to  mankind.  The  Word 
is  'spoken'  by  the  voice  of  Akalpurakh.  The 
'voice'  is  the  divine  Guru  who  may  be  one  of 
the  ten  personal  Gurus  of  the  Sikh  tradition, 
but  may  also  be  the  utterance  of  the  mystical 
Guru.  This  was  particularly  the  case  with  Guru 
Nanak  for  there  was  no  personal  Guru  who 
could  speak  the  Word  of  Akalpurakh  to  him. 
The  Gurus'  voice  -their  utterances-  as 
preserved  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is 
gurshabad  or  gurbani.  It  is  noteworthy  that 
the  term  shabad,  which  occurs  independently 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  1271  times,  is  also 
linked  572  times  with  the  term  guru.  It  is 


SHABAD 


89 


SHAliAD 


nowhere  used  in  the  sense  of  ordinary  human 
word  or  speech  ;  in  reference  to  common 
human  speech  other  terms  such  as  boina,  boll, 
akhan,  kahan-kahavan  and  Nathan  are  used. 

Being  a  term  of  mystical  import,  shabad 
is  capable  of  multiple  implications.  In  Sikhism, 
shabad  or  the  Word  originally  belongs  to  God, 
the  Guru  being  only  the  instrument  through 
which  it  is  articulated.  Guru  Nanak  calls  his  own 
speech  as  khasam  ki  bani  -  the  utterance  of 
the  Lord  Master  (GO,  722)  ;  for  Guru  Ram  Das, 
Nanak  IV,  it  is  satigur  ki  bani  -  utterance  of 
the  Ture  Guru  -  which  the  Creator  makes  him 
articulate  (GG,  308)  ;  and  Guru  Arjan,  Nanak  V, 
says,  nanaku  bolai  tis  ka  bolaia  -  Nanak  speaks 
what  He  makes  him  speak  (GG,  1271).  At  places 
in  the  Scripture,  shabad  is  directly  identified 
with  God  Himself  ( GG,  162, 448, 945).  Elsewhere 
it  is  called  Guru  (GG,  601,  635).  In  some  cases 
shabad  is  used  in  contexts  which  seem,  to  make 
it  for  all  practical  purposes  a  synonym  of  nam 
(GG,  932,  1125).  This  is  understandable,  for  in 
Sikh  theology  God  and  Guru,  shahad  andf  nam 
share  common  range  of  meaning.  God  speaks 
through  the  eternal  Guru  and  also  he  makes 
himself  known  through  shabad,  the  Word,  so 
that  "the  Word  is  the  Guru,"  as  says  Gum  Nanak 
(GG,  943).  At  the  same  time,  God  makes  the 
principles  of  liberation  known  to  mankind 
through  thejmmanent  pattern  of  nam.  The 
three  terms,  nam,  shabad  and  guru  overlap  in 
meaning,  each  pointing  towards  God.  At  times 
they  mean  exactly  the  same  thing.  Each  of  the 
three  terms  has,  however,  a  certain  area  which 
is  explicidy  its  own.  Akalpurakh  speaks  through 
the  eternal  Guru  and  for  His  'voice'  the  only 
possible  word  is  guru.  To  mankind  he  makes 
known  the  principles  of  liberadon  and  for  this 
immanent  pattern  the  only  effective  word  is 
nam.  The  'Word'  that  he  speaks  in  making 
known  this  pattern  of  liberation  is  the  shabad 
and  for  that  'Word'  shabad  is  the  only  term 
that  will  serve. 

The  shabad  or  the  Word  is  described  in 
its  frequent  usage  by  Guru  Nanak  and  his 
•  successors  more  in  terms  of  what  it  does  than 


in  terms  of  what  it  literally  is.  This  is  natural, 
for  it  is  the  function  which  gives  it  meaning 
and  it  is  in  actual  experience  that  if  is  to  be 
known  rather  thafi  in  any  purely  intellectual 
sense.  One  of  the  shades  of  signification  of 
shabad  is  hukam,  the  Divine  cosmic  order  or 
the  Divine  creative  might.  The  word  kavao,  a 
synonym  of  shabad,  is  used  in  this  sense  (GG,  3, 
1003).  And  shabad  itself :  "  By  the  Divine  Word 
occur  creation  and  dissolution  ;  by  the  divine 
Word  again  comes  about  creation-  utapati 
parhui  sabade  hovai/sabade  hi  phiri  opati 
hovai"  (GG,  117).  Again  :  "chahudisi  hukamu 
varatai  prabh  tera  chahudisi  namu  patalah, 
sabh  mahi  sabadu  varatai  prabh  sacha  karami 
milai  baiaiari-  in  all  four  directions,  Lord  !  is 
thy  order  operative;  in  all  four  directions  and 
in  the  nether  regions  prevails  thy  Name.  In  all 
beings  is  manifest  the  eternal  Lord's  holy 
Word.  By  good  fortune  is  the  Eternal  attained 
(GG,  1275).  "Shabad -not.  only  creates,  it  also 
sustains  (GG,  228,  282)  as  it  also  destroys  and 
recreates  (GG,  112.). 

The  function  of  the  shabad  is  that  it 
provides  the  means  whereby  man  can  know 
both  Akalpurakh  and  the  path  which  leads  to 
Him,  the  way  in  which  the  individual  may 
secure  release  from  the  bonds  of 
transmigration  and  so  attain  union  with  God 
in  Guru  Nanak's  understanding  of  the  term 
sahaj.  Again  and  again  shabad  is  declared  to 
be  the  essential  pointer  to  the  way  of  liberation, 
the  means  whereby  a  person  can  be  made 
aware  of  the  presence  around  him  and  within 
him  of  the  nam  or  divine  Name.  The  path  to 
liberation  lies  through  recognition  of  the 
immanent  Name  (nam)  and  the  duty  of 
disciplined  nam  simaran  or  remembrance  of 
the  divine  Name.  The  prime  purpose  of  the 
shabad  is  to  reveal  this  path,  in  all  its  wonder 
and  variety,  to  the  person  who  is  prepared  to 
be  a  believer.  Given  the  initial  act  of 
Akalpuarkh's  favour  (nadar),  there  arises  in 
men  and  women  a  longing  for  the 
transmigratory  bonds  to  be  broken,  leading  to 
a  state  of  union  with  the  divine.  To  such  people 


SHAliAD 


90 


SHAliAD  (SAHAO)  HAJAliE 


the  shabad  is  spoken,  or  we  may  say,  the  shabad 
speaks.  The  complete  mystery  of  shabad  is  not 
completely  within  the  range  of  human 
understanding,  for  the  shabad  shares  in  the 
infinity  of  Akalpurakh,  but  it  is  sufficiently 
within  reach  to  be  readily  accessible  to  all  who 
desire  it.  In  this  sense  the  Gurus  have  called 
shabadadipak  (lamp)  bringing  enlightenment 
(/nana)  gian  for  mankind  to  see  the  path  (GG, 
124,  664,  798).  Elsewhere  it  is  described  as  pure 
and  purifying  (GO,  32,  86, 121). 

Shabad  is  the  subde  knowledge  essential 
for  emancipation.  Says  Guru  Ram  Das  :  "tera 
sabadu  agocharu  gurmukhi  paiai  Nanak  nami 
samai  jiu  -  Thy  invisible  knowledge  by  the 
Master's  guidance  is  obtained  ;  saith  Nanak, 
this  by  absorption  in  the  Name  is  attained"  (GG, 
448).  "What  can  one  offer  to  him  through  whom 
sabda  is  received  ?  Offer  him  thy  head,  anulling 
egoism  -  tisu  kia  dijaiji  sabadu  sunae....  ihu 
siru  dijai  apu  gavae...."  (GG,  424).  "Quaff  the 
Master's  teaching  that  is  amrit  or  elixir;  thus 
shall  thy  self  be  rendered  pure  -  gur  ka  sabadu 
amrit  rasu  piu  ta  tera  hoi  nirmal jiu"  (GG.891). 
The  Guru's  sabda  is  like  an  anchor  for  the 
wavering  mind.  Guru  Arjan  says  in  the 
Sukhmani;  "As  is  the  edifice  propped  up  by  the 
pillar,  so  is  the  Guru's  sabda  support  of  the 
mind- jiu  mandarkau  thamai  thammanu,  tiu 
gurka  sabadu  manahi  asthammanu"  <GG,  282). 
In  the  Japu  (GG,  8)  in  the  line  ghariai  sabadu 
sachi  taksii,  i.e.  forge  God-consciousness  in 
such  a  holy  mint,  shabad  is  used  in  the  sense 
of  God-consciousness  (/nana)  .  A  similar  sense 
is  yielded  by  an  affirmauonin  Guru  Amar  Das' 
Anandu  :  "Andarahu  jin  ka  mohu  tuta  tin  ka 
sabadu  sachai  savaria  -  they  whose  attachment 
to  the  world  ceases  their  spiritual  vision  is 
purified"  (GG,  917). 

One  of  the  features  of  Sikh  doctrine  of 
shabad  is  the  emphasis  placed  on  nam,  i.e. 
repetition  of  the  Name  (nam)  of  God  ;  this 
name  is  shabad.  The  recitadon  (path)  of  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  and  of  the  texts  fronrit  is 
an  essendal  part  of  Sikh  practice.  One  of  the 
nine  forms  of  bhakti  is  listening  (sravana)  to 


shabad,  nam,  bani,  i.e.  words  denoting  God 
and  His  greatness.  Words  or  sounds  are  the 
means  of  celebrating  and  singing  the  glories 
of  God  and  this  act  is  called  kirtan.  Since 
worship  of  images  is  forbidden  in  his  faith,  a 
Sikh  takes  the  help  of  words  and  sounds  in  his 
daily  meditation  (dhian,  dhyana)  on  God. 
These  words  and  sounds  are  literary  and  vocal 
symbols  of  the  unmanifest  sound  (sabadu 
agocharu)  which  is  of  the  nature  of  light  (joti- 
sarup).  Without  this  luminous  Word-sound 
there  is  darkness  in  and  out.  The  light  of 
shabad  is  the  principle  of  knowledge  by  means 
of  which  one  knows  the  reality  of  God.  He  who 
succeeds  in  closing  the  nine  doors  (nau 
darva/'e)  in  his  body  and  in  opening  the  tenth 
door  (dasvari  duar)  by  breaking  the  hard  wall 
of  ignorance,  enters  the  luminous  chamber 
which  is  His  own  real  abode.  Here  he  listens  to 
that  mystic  melody  which  is  unstruck  or 
deathless  sound  (anahada  nad,  anahata  sabda). 
Knowledge  or  understanding  of  shabad  is 
important,  like  the  recitation  of  it.  One  merges 
in  the  Truth  only  when  one  comprehends  the 
utterance  (bani)  and  has  experienced  the 
sound  (shabad).  To  this  concept  of  shabad  are 
added  in  Sikhism  the  necessity  of  a  virtuous 
living  and  of  the  grace  of  blessing  of  God  or 
Guru  in  enabling  one  to  discover  the  shabad. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1959 

2.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan.  Amritsar,  1962 

3.  Jodh  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurmat  Nirnai.  Lahore,  1932 

4.  Pritam  Singh,  ed.,  Sikh  Phalsaphe  diRup  Rekha. 
Amritsar,  1975 

5.  Nirukt  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Patiala,  1972 

6.  McLeod,  W.H.,  Guru  Nanak  and  the  Sikh 
Religion.  Oxford,  1968 

7.  Sher  Singh,  Philosophy  of  Sikhism.  Lahore,  1944 

8.  Jodh  Singh,  The  Religious  Philosophy  of  Guru 
Nanak.  Delhi,  1983 

W.H.M. 

SHABAD  (SABAD)  HA] ARE,  also  called 
Hajare  de  Sabad,  is  a  collection  of  seven  hymns 


SHABAD  (SAISAD)  HAJARE 


91 


SHABAD  (SAHAD)  HAJARE 


taken  from  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  and 
grouped  together  for  the  purpose  of  daily 
recitation.  The  title  Shabad  Hajare  occurs 
nowhere  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  though  it 
has  found  its  way  into  breviaries  (gutkas)  in 
which  these  seven  sabads  appear  under  this 
heading  immediately  after  the  Japu(ji).  The 
word  'hajare',  or  'hazare'  could  be  derivative 
of  the  Arabic  word  'hijr'  which  .means 
separation,  or  of  the  Arabic  'hazir'  which 
means  present.  Shabad  Hajare  would  thus 
imply  hymns  uttered  in  pangs  of  separation 
from  the  Lord  or  those  which  constandy  bring 
to  one's  mind  His  presence. 

The  first  hymn,  by  Guru  Arjan,  Nanak  V, 
has  been  taken  from  Raga  Majh.  It  is  a 
chaupada,  i.e.  comprising  four  stanzas.  It  is 
believed  that  all  the  four  stanzas  are,  in  fact, 
letters  written  by  Guru  Arjan  to  his  father,  Guru 
Ram  Das.  As  the  story  goes,  once  Sahaii  Mall, 
first  cousin  of  Guru  Ram  Das,  elder  to  him, 
invited  the  Guru  to  attend  the  marriage  of  his 
son  at  Lahore.  The  Guru  unable  to  go  himself 
wanted  one  of  his  sons  to  represent  him  at  the 
ceremony.  He  asked  Prithi  Chand,  his  eldest 
son,  to  go  to  Lahore  to  fulfil  the  social 
obligation  on  his  behalf,  but  the  latter  made 
an  excuse  and  declined  to  undertake  the  trip 
to  Lahore.  The  second  son,,  Mahadev,  was  of  a 
retiring  nature  and  had  little  interest  in  worldly 
affairs.  Arjan,  the  youngest,  forthwith  offered 
to  do  his  father's  bidding  and  left  for  Lahore. 
He  had  instructions  to  remain  there  until 
recalled.  Receiving  no  message  for  several 
weeks  to  return  to  Chakk  Guru  (Amritsar) ,  he 
started  missing  his  Guru-father.  He  wrote  to 
him  two  letters  in  verse  one  after  the  other 
which  were  intercepted  by  his  brother,  Prithi 
Chand.  Arjan  Dev  wrote  a  third  one  marking 
it  number  3.  This  letter  did  reach  Guru  Ram 
Das  who  had  the  first  two  recovered  from  Prithi 
Chand's  house.  Young  Arjan  was  immediately 
sent  for.  On  his  arrival  in  Amritsar,  he  recited 
extempore  a  fourth  stanza  expressing  his  joy 
at  returning  to  the  presence  of  the  Guru.  Some 
believe  that  this  fourth  stanza  was  composed 


when  Arjan  was  formally  installed  as  Guru  by 
his  father,  for  he  could  not  have  used  until 
then,  the  nom  de  plume  Nanak,  which  occurs 
in  the  penultimate  line  of  this  stanza. 

The  second  hymn,  by  Guru  Nanak  ,  has 
been  taken  from  Raga  Dhanasri.  It  is  an 
invocation  to  God,  the  Merciful,  who  is  the 
Liberator  of  all  and  by  whose  favour  alone  men 
turn  to  Him.  To  remain  attached  ever  to  His 
Name  is  the  gift  sought  by  the  true  devotees. 
The  next  two  hymns,  also  by  Guru  Nanak  are 
from  Riga  Tilahg.  The  first  of  these  exalts  those 
who  absorb  themselves  in  God's  Name.  Thus 
is  maya  or  illusion  ended;  thus  one  realizes 
oneself  and  attains  union  with  the  Divine.  The 
image  used  to  describe  this  ultimate  state  of 
union  is,  that  of  husband  and  wife.  In  die  hymn 
following,  the  emphasis  is  on  love  and 
surrender  which,  according  to  Guru  Nanak,  are 
the  ultimate  means  of  attaining  discernment 
and  release.  Devotion,  freedom  from  greed  and 
attachment,  and  obedience  to  the  Divine  Will 
are  the  virtues  repeatedly  applauded. 

The  fifth  hymn  is  again  of  Guru  Nanak'r 
composition  and  occurs  in  Raga  Suhi.  It 
consists  of  four  stanzas  with  a  deeply  mystical 
strain.  Its  theme  is  illimitableness,  ineffableness 
and  all-pervasiveness  of  God.  The  last  two 
hymns,  again  by  Guru  Nanak,  are  from  Raga 
Bilaval  each  having  fpur  stanzas.  Both  are  in 
praise  of  God,  the  Creator,  who  is  infinite, 
ineffable  and  unknowable.  His  will  prevails  in 
the  world.  His  Word  is  the  music  which  the 
seers  hear  in  their  moments  of  ecstasy.  By  His 
grace  one  attains  the  vision  unattainable. 

Words  like  'chatrik'  and  'sararig'  which  in 
Indian  poetic  tradition  symbolize  the  lover's 
longing  for  the  beloved  have  been  used  in 
these  hymns  to  describe  the  devotee's  love  for 
the  Lord. 

Likewise,  use  has  been  made  of  some 
mythological  terms  as  well.  For  instance,  the 
word  lknljug'  (the  dark  age  of  vice  and  strife) 
signifies  the  pangs  of  separation.  The  word 
'maya  (illusion)  refers  to  the  transience  and 
allurement  of  worldly  attachments  and  carnal 


SHAliAD  HA] ARE  PATSHAHI 10 


92 


SHAHABAD 


pleasures.  On  the  whole,  this  is  a  collection  of 
seven  devotional  hymns.  They  recite  in 
intensely  emotional  and  spiritual  terms  the 
glory  of  God,  Who  is  the  source  of  love, 
compassion  and  grace.  The  yearning  of  the 
human  soul  for  the  Divine  and  the  means  to 
attain  union  with  Him  have  found  expression 
in  homely,  but  striking,  images  and  symbols. 
The  language  of  these  sabdas  is  Punjabi  with  a 
mixture  of  the  vocabulary  and^at  places,  even 
of  the  grammatical  constructions,  of  Sadh 
Bhasa. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Sardul  Singh,  Giani,  Nit  Nem  Satik.  Amritsar, 
1945 

3.  Narain  Singh,  Giani,  Paly  Granthi Satik.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

Gr.S. 

SHABAD  HAJARE  PATSHAHI  10  is  the  title 
by  which  a  complement  of  10  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh's  sabdas  in  the  Dasam  Granth  is  known. 
In  the  text  these  sabdas  appear  under  the 
individual  ragas  in  which  they  have  been 
composed,  carrying  no  specific  title  as  such. 
Shabad  Hajare  is  also  the  title  of  a  collection 
of  seven  sabdas  picked  from  five  different  ragas 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  They  appear  under 
this  title  in  breviaries  and  form  part  of  the  daily 
devotions  of  the  Sikhs.  Many  likewise  read 
Shabad  Hajare  Patshahi  10  as  well.  What  is  the 
signification  of  the  word  hajare  is  however  not 
clear.  One  explanation  is  that  the  devotees 
traditionally  believed  that  recitation  of  a  single 
sabda  of  these  banis  earned  one  the  merit  of 
hazar,  i.e.  one  thousand.  Some  scholars 
interpret  the  word  hajare  as  derived  from 
Arabic  hijr,  meaning  separation.  Since  yearning 
for  communion  with  the  Divine  is  the 
dominant  mood  of  these  hymns,  they  have 
been  titled  Shabad  Hajare.  In  the  midst  of 
Shabad  Hajare  Patshai  10  occurs  Guru  Gobind 
Singh's  oft-quoted  poem  delineating  in 
powerful  accents  his  ache  and  his  longing  for 


the  Lord  : 

Soft  beds,  dear  Friend,  beloved  God,  are 
but  a  torment  without  Thee, 

Residence  in  mansions  like  living  among 
sepents. 

Wine-goblets  like  the  cross;  the  rim  of 

wineglass  like  the  dagger. 
All  this,  without  Thee,  like  the  keenness  of 

a  butcher's  thrust ! 
To  dwell  with  them  in  adversity  is  better, 

far  better  than  revelry  in  places  without 

Thee  ! 

In  another  sabda  men  are  exhorted  to 
"worship  not  the  creation,  but  the  Creator" 
(verse  5) .  The  true  ascetic  is  one  who  considers 
his  home  to  be  his  forest  for  meditation,  who 
practises  continence  rather  than  sport  matted 
hair,  and  who  gives  himself  to  the  performance 
of  his  religious  duties  than  to  growing  his  nails 
long.  "When  you  seize  God's  feet,  you  will  be 
freed  from  the  noose  of  death"  (verses  3,10). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Randhir  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Sabdarth  Dasam 
Granth  Sahib.  Patiala,  1973 

2.  Jaggi,  Rattan  Singh,  Dasam  Granth  Parichaya. 
Delhi,  1990 

C.H.L. 

SHAHABAD  (30"-10'N,  76"-53'E),  also  called 
Shahabad  Markanda,  is  an  old  town  in 
Kurukshetra  district  of  Haryana  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Markanda  River,  20  km  south  of 
Ambala  Cantonment.  During  the  medieval 
period  it  had  a  fortified  serai  used  by  imperial 
officers  and  troops  moving  between  Delhi  and 
the  northern  provinces.  It  also  had  a  resident 
garrison  to  guard  the  highway.  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur  reduced  and  plundered  Shahabad  in 
1709.  Later,  when,  after  the  conquest  of  Sirhind 
by  the  Dal  Khalsa  in  January  1764,  the  Sikhs 
started  occupying  territory,  Nishanahvali  misl, 
under  Dasaundha  Singh  and  Saiigat  Singh, 
took  possession  of  a  long  and  narrow  stretch 
of  land  south  of  the  Sudej,  extending  from 
Sihghahvala  in  Firozpore  district  up  to 


SHAHBAZ  SINGH 


93 


SHAH  DAULA 


Shahabad  with  Ambala  as  the  headquarters. 
The  territory  of  Shahabad  and  Ismailabad  fell 
to  Sardar  Mehar  Singh.  Seve  ral  attempts  were 
made  by  the  Afghans  to  dislodge  the  Sikhs,  but 
they  were  repulsed  every  time.  It  was  during 
this  period,  between  1770  and  1780,  that  a 
magnificent  old  mosque,  said  to  have  been 
built  by  Emperor  Shah  Jahan  in  1630,  was 
converted  into  a  gurdwara.  The  only  major 
change  was  the  demolition  of  its  minarets.  The 
gurdwara  was  named  Mastgarh,  this 
designation  being  commonly  used  for 
gurdwaras  converted  from  mosques.  Bhai  Prem 
Singh  of  Hazur  Sahib  was  appointed  the  first 
granthi.  Gurdwara  Mastgarh  is  on  a  high 
ground  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  town. 
The  original  prayer  hall,  under  a  high  dome  is 
used  as  the  divan  hall.  The  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
is  seated  in  the  centre  in  front  of  the  mihrab. 
Bullet  marks  on  the  exterior  surface  of  the 
domes  and  the  walls  still  bear  witness  to  the 
turbulence  the  country  went  through  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  Gurdwara  is  affiliated 
to  the  ShiromanI  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  which  administers  it  through  a  local 
committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Mhalsa, 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Ganda  Singh,   Life  of  Banda  Singh  Bahadur. 
Amritsar,  1935 

3.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1978-82 

4.  Gurmukh  Singh,    Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

SHAHBAZ  SINGH  (d.  1745)  was  the  son  of 
Subeg  Singh,  the  kotwal  of  Lahore  under  the 
Mughal  governor,  Zakariya  Khan.  He  went  to 
a  Muhammadan  school  to  read  Persian  and 
Arabic.  He  made  good  progress  in  his  studies 
and  caught  the  notice  of  the  mauiawifor  his 
highly  intelligent  manner.  The  latter  wished  to 
bring  him  into  the  fold  of  Islam,  and  began  to 


offer  him  all  kinds  of  allurements.  But  young 
Shahbaz  Singh  firmly  resisted  all  his  efforts  to 
convert  him.  The  mulla  and  the  qadi  of  Lahore 
also  tried  but  failed  to  persuade  him  to  give  up 
the  faith  of  his  forefathers.  Finally,  both 
Shahbaz  Singh  and  his  father,  Subeg  Singh, 
were  arrested  under  the  orders  of  the  governor 
of  Lahore.  They  were  invited  to  accept 
conversion  to  save  their  lives  which  they 
refused.  Shahbaz  Singh  suffered  torture  with 
his  father  and  was  like  him  broken  on  the 
wheel.  This  happened  in  1745. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Panth  Prakash.  Delhi,  1880 

2.  Bhahgu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Pantl)  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

4.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

B.S. 

SHAH  DAULA  (1581P-1676) ,  a  renowned 
Muslim  divine  of  his  time,  was  the  son  of  'Abd 
ur-Rahim  Khan  Lodhi,  a  descendant  of  Sultan 
Ibrahim  Lodhi  and  Niamat  Khatun,  a  scion  of 
t  he  chiefs  of  Gakkhar  tribe  of  western  Punjab, 
though  the  Gujjars  of  Gujrat,  now  in  Pakistan, 
claim  him  as  belonging  to  their  clan.  Daula  was 
brought  up  in  utter  penury  by  his  widowed 
mother  in  her  native  Pothohar.  Upon  his 
mother's  death  in  1590  after  several  years  of 
hard  toil,  he  left  home  and  in  the  course  of  his 
wanderings  came  to  Saiigrohi,  a  village  near 
Sialkot,  where  he  became  a  disciple  of  Shah 
Saidan  Sarmast,  a  faqir  of  the  Suhrawardi  sect. 
Twelve  years  later,  Shah  Sarmast,  at  his  death- 
bed, blessed  him  and  nominated  him  as  his 
successor.  Shah  Daula  became  famous  for  his 
piety  and  he  launched  several  works  of  public 
weal.  He  built  many  mosques,  tanks,  wells  and 
bridges  over  some  unfordable  torrential, 
seasonal  rivulets,  which  earned  him  the  epithet 
of  Daryai,  from  darya,  i.e.  river.  Shah  Daula 
Daryai  shifted,  in  1612,  to  Gujrat  where  he 


SHAH  DIN,  FAQlR 


94 


SHAH  HUSAIN 


settled  permanently.  He  died  there,  according 
to  the  anagram  of  his  death,  Khudadost.  in  1676. 

Shah  Daula  was  acquainted  with  the 
teaching  of  Guru  Nanak.  According  to  Sarup 
Das  Bhalla,  Mahima  Prakash,  he  once  met  at 
Gujrat  Bhai  Garhia,  appointed  masand  by  Guru 
Hargobind  to  preach  in  Kashmir,  and 
requested  him  to  recite  Guru  Arjan's  Sukhmani 
to  him.  Bhai  Garhia,  uttered  the  verse  :  "In 
Sukhmani  is  the  peace,  the  very  ambrosia  of 
God's  Name  and  it  dwelleth  in  the  hearts  of 
the  devotees."  Shah  Daula  was  enchanted  and, 
to  quote  the  Mahima  Prakash,  instantaneously 
spoke,  "Nothing  equals  the  Guru's  word. 
Listening  even  to  a  single  line  brings  the 
highest  bliss."  Shah  Daula  is  also  said  to  have 
met  Guru  Hargobind  when  he  visited  Gujrat 
on  his  way  back  from  Kashmir. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Sura/' 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

5.  Rose,  H.A.,  ed.,  A  Glossary  of  theTribes  and 
Castes  of  the  Punjab  and  North-West  Frontier 
Province.  Lahore,  1911-19 

B.S. 

SHAH  DIN,  FAQIR  (d.  1842),  son  of  Faqir 
'Aziz  ud-Din,  minister  to  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh,  was  the  Sikh  court's  envoy  with  the 
Briush  political  agent  at  Ludhiana  and  later  at 
Firozpur.  He  is  described  in  contemporary 
chronicles  as  an  able  diplomat  who  often 
accompanied  foreign  dignitaries  visiting 
Lahore  and  acted  as  an  interpreter.  Successive 
British  political  agents  -  CM.  Wade,  Dr  Murray 
and  George  Russell  Clerk-  spoke  highly  of  his 
skill  and  wisdom.  In  1831,  Faqir  Shah  Din  was 
assigned  to  C.M.  Wade  at  Ludhiana  and  ,  in 
1834,  he  conducted  Dr  Murray  to  the  Sikh 
capital.  At  Firospur,  he  acted  as  the  Maharaja's 


envoy  and  supply  officer.  He  enjoyed  the  trust 
of  both  the  Sikh  Darbar  and  the  Briush. 

Shah  Din  was  also  associated  with  some 
of  the  Darbar's  commercial  enterprises,  in 
particular  the  shawl  trade  with  Briush  India, 
Sindh  and  Afghanistan.  In  1839,  he  was 
deputed  to  Mitthankot  to  supervise  the  Indus 
navigation  trade  on  behalf  of  the  Lahore 
government.  Later,  he  accompanied  Major 
Mackeson  to  Amritsar  to  exhibit  to  the  Briush 
agent  the  silk  manufactures  of  the  Sikh 
kingdom  with  a  view  to  promoting  export. 

Both  Victor  Jacquemont,  the  French 
naturalist  who  visited  India  in  1834,  and 
Munshi  Shahamat  'All  speak  highly  of  the 
discretion  shown  by  Faqir  Shah  Din  in  public 
lfie.  The  Sikh  Darbar  rewarded  his  services  and 
he  and  his  brother,  Faqir  Chiragh  Din,  shared 
a  jagir  valued  at  15,000  rupees  annually.  Shah 
Din  died  at  Lahore  in  1842. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Surl,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Waheeduddin,  Faqir  Syed,    The  Real  Ranjit 
Singh.  Delhi,  1976 

H.D. 

SHAH  HUSAIN,  a  Muslim  recluse  said  to  have 
possessed  high  spiritual  powers,  was  an  admirer 
of  Guru  Amar  Das.  According  to  Sarup  Das 
Bhalla,  Mahima  Prakash,  he  once  miraculously 
cured  of  genetic  lameness  a  devoted  Sikh 
whom  Guru  Amar  Das  had  directed  to  him. 
When  the  Sikh  fell  at  his  feet  to  express  his 
gratefulness,  Shah  Husain  would  not  take  the 
credit  and  ascribed  the  miracle  to  the  Guru. 
He  said,  to  quote  the  Mahima  Prakash,  "  Guru 
Amar  Das,  the  benign  Lord,  has  helped  you. 
He  himself  does  all,  but  bestows  fame  on  us. 
Go,  fall  at  his  feet  and  pay  him  my  respects." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 


SHAHID  Ml  AS  (HHAl  MANI  SINGH) 


95 


SHAHiD  Ml  AS  ( RHAl  MAN  I  SINGH) 


3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

B.S.D. 

SHAHID  BILAS  (BHAI  MANI  SINGH) ,  by  Kavi 
Seva  Singh,  is  a  biography  in  verse  of  Bhai  Mani 
Singh,  a  Rajput  warrior  of  Panvar  clan,  whom 
the  poet  identifies  with  Bhai  Mani  Singh,  the 
martyr.  Seva  Singh,  son  of  Kesar  Singh 
Kaushish,  was  a  bhatt  or  family  bard  of  one  of 
Bhai  Mani  Singh's  great-grandsons,  Sahgat 
Singh,  who  had  setded  at  Ladva,  in  the  present 
Yamunanagar  district  of  Haryana,  as  ajagirdar 
under  Raja  Ajit  Singh.  According  to  the  poet 
himself,  he  commenced  wridng  Shahid  Bilas 
at  Ladva,  but  completed  it  at  Bhadsoh,  in 
Parganah  Thanesar,  to  which  place  he 
migrated,  probably  in  1846,  when  Raja  Ajit 
Singh's  estates  were  confiscated  by  the  E.ritish 
for  helping  the  Lahore  armies  in  the  first 
Anglo-Sikh  war.  Originally  written  in 
Bhattakshri,  script  commonly  used  by  the 
Bhatts,  it  was  transcribed  into  Gurmukhl  by 
Chhajju  Singh  Bhatt  of  Bhadsoh,  in  1870.  This 
manuscript  in  Gurmukhl  script,  the  only  one 
available,  was  aquired  by  a  researcher,  Giani 
Garja  Singh  (1904-77),  from  the  house  of  Bhatt 
Mohlu  Ram  with  the  help  of  Bhatt  Man  Singh 
of  Karsindhu  village,  in  Jind  district  of 
Haryana.  It  was  edited  by  him  and  published 
by  Pahjabi  Sahitya  Academy,  Ludhiana,  in  1961. 

According  to  Seva  Singh,  who  uses  Seva 
Hari  as  his  nom  de  plume  (Singh  and  hari  both 
meaning  a  lion),  Mani  Singh  was  the  third  of 
the  twelve  sons  of  Mai  Das  of  'Alipur,  near 
Multan,  now  in  Pakistan.  His  grandfather,  Ballu 
Rao  had  borne  arms  and  served  Guru 
Hargobind  (1595-1644).  Mani  Singh  was  born 
to  Madhari,  the  first  wife  of  Mai  Das,  on 
Sunday,  Chet  sudl  12,1701  Bk/7  April  1644. 
Mani  Singh  was  13  when  he  was  taken  by  his 
father  to  Guru  Har  Rai  at  KIratpur  where  he 
stayed  for  two  years  serving  in  the  Guru  ka 
Lahgar  and  studying  gurbarti,  i.e.  the  Scriptural 
texts.  He  was  married  at  the  age  of  15  to  Slto, 


daughter  of  Lakkhi  Rai  of  Khairpur.  He  kept 
company  with  Guru  Har  Rai  and  Guru  Har 
Krishan  and,  except  a  short  intermission,  with 
Tegh  Bahadur  whom  he  rejoined  in  1672  and 
was  assigned  to  preparing  copies  of  the 
Scripture  and  to  studying  as  well  as  instructing 
other  Sikhs  in  the  sacred  text.  He  practised  the 
martial  arts  under  Guru  Gobind  Singh  and  took 
part  in  the  batdes  of  Bhahgani  and  Nadaun. 
At  the  time  of  the  initiation  of  the  Khalsa.  Mani 
Singh  along  with  five  of  his  sons  received 
Jcharide  ki  pahul  or  initiation  by  the  double- 
edged  sword.  Soon  after  this  he  was  sent  by 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  to  take  charge  of  the 
shrines  at  Amritsar.  He  rejoined  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  at  Talvandi  Sabo  and  accompanied  him 
to  the  South  up  to  Baghaur  from  where  the 
Guru  sent  him  back  to  Amritsar.  During  the 
time  of  fierce  persecution  which  followed,  the 
venerable  Bhai  Mani  Singh  remained 
unharmed.  In  1733  he  even  obtained 
government's  permission  to  hold  in 
Harimandar  at  Amritsar  a  fair  on  die  occasion 
of  Divan  festival  for  which  a  cess  had  to  be  paid. 
Owing  to  apprehension  of  an  attack  by  imperial 
troops,  the  attendance  was  meagre,  and  the 
stipulated  amount  could  not  be  raised.  Bhai 
Mani  Singh  was  arrested,  charged  with  non- 
payment of  the  tax,  and  was  executed  in  Lahore 
on  Har  sudi  5,1791  Bk/24June  1734. 

Giani  Garja  Singh,  in  his  introduction  as 
well  as  in  footnotes  to  the  text,  has  tried  to 
support  the  poet's  account  as  authentic  history 
with  ample  quotations  from  various  published 
and  unpublished  works,  especially  from  a  new 
source,  the  Bhatt  Vahis,  or  scrolls  of  the 
traditional  family  bards;  but  the  account  given 
in  the  Shahid  Bilas  has  not  yet  received  firm 
acceptance.  Neither  the  original  manuscript  in 
Bhattakshri  nor  the  original  of  its  Gurmukhl 
transcript  is  available  for  verification.  Besides, 
some  of  the  crucial  dates  given  in  the  Shahid 
Bilas  (e.g.  those  of  the  creation  of  Khalsa  and 
martyrdom  of  Bhai  Mani  Singh  Shahid)  are  at 
variance  with  those  given  by  other  chroniclers. 
It  appears  that  there  were  two  different 


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96 


SHAHlDGANJ  AGJTATION 


historical  personalities  :  Mani  Ram,  a  Rajput 
warrior  and  father  of  Bhai  Ude  Singh,  Bachittar 
Singh  and  their  three  brothers  who  attained 
martyrdom  fighting  for  the  Guru,  and  Bhai 
Mani  Singh,  scholar  and  exegete,  who  met  a 
martyr's  death  in  1737.  Kavi  Seva  Singh,  in 
panegyrizing  the  former  ancestor  of  his  patron, 
Sahgat  Singh,  identified  him  with  the  latter. 
The  veracity  of  the  work  must  await  further 
research. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Gurmukh  Singh,  "Identity  of  Bhai  Mani  Singh 
Shahid",      Proceedings,   Punjab  History 
Conference,  Twenty-second  Session,  March  25- 
27,1988.  Patiala,  1989 

H.S.S. 

SHAHlDGANJ  AGITATION  (1935-40)  marked 
culmination  of  the  tussle  between  Sikh  and 
Muslim  communities  in  the  Punjab  for  the 
possession  of  a  sacred  site  in  Lahore  upon 
which  stood  Gurdwara  Shahidgahj  {shahid  = 
martyr,  gaiij  =  hoard,  treasure  or  mart)  in 
memory  of  Sikh  martyrs  of  the  eighteenth 
century  and  which  the  Muslims  claimed  as 
having  been  the  location  of  an  historic  Islamic 
site.  The  Gurdwara  is  located  in  Landa  Bazar 
midway  between  the  Lahore  railway  stadon  and 
the  Delhi  Gate  at  the  site  known  earlier  as 
Nakhas  (Persian  nakhkhas.  meaning  a 
marketplace  for  the  sale  of  captives,  horses 
and  catde  taken  as  war  prize).  This  was  the 
place  where  thousands  of  Sikhs,  including  the 
celebrated  Bhai  Taru  Singh,  and  about  3,000 
capdves  of  the  Chhota  Ghallughara  campaign 
(1746)  were  executed  or  tortured  to  death. 
Here  Mu'in  ul-Mulk  (Mir  Mannu,  in  Sikh 
chronicles),  governor  of  Lahore  during  1748- 
53,  raised  a  building  shaped  like  a  mosque 
sitting  where  the  muftis,  Muslim  judges,  gave 
their  summary  judgements  after  giving  their 
victims  a  straight  choice  between  conversion 
to  Islam  and  death.  Almost  invariably  the 
victims  chose  the  latter.  Close  by  was  the  place 
where  Sikh  women  and  children  were  kept  in 


narrow  cells  to  meet  slow  death  through  hard 
labour  and  starvation.  The  Nakhas,  long  soaked 
with  the  blood  of  martyrs,  became  for  the  Sikhs 
a  sacred  spot  and,  after  they  came  into  power 
in  Punjab  during  the  1760's,  they  established  a 
gurdwara  there  which  they  named  Shahidganj. 
Since  then  it  had  remained  in  the  possession 
of  the  Sikhs  as  a  sacred  place.  Soon  after  the 
annexation  of  the  Punjab  to  the  British  empire, 
one  Nur  Muhammad  filed  a  case  in  1850  for 
the  reversion  of  the  "mosque"  to  him  as  its 
rightful  owner,  but  it  was  turned  down  as  the 
court  was  not  convinced  of  the  genuineness  of 
the  claim.  Similar  claims  raised  in  1854  and 
1883  were  also  dismissed  on  the  ground  that 
the  place  was  no  longer  a  mosque  but  a 
gurdwara.  According  to  the  Punjab 
Government  Gazette  Notification  No  275, 
dated  22  December  1927,  the  shrine  was  listed 
as  Gurdwara  Shahigahj  Bhai  Taru  Singh.  The 
Muslims  again  contested  the  Sikhs'  claim  to 
their  "mosque"  but  the  Sikh  Gurdwara 
Tribunal,  established  under  the  Sikh 
Gurdwaras  Act,  1925,  in  its  judgement  dated 
20  January  1930  determined  that  the  place  was 
the  property  of  Gurdwara  Bhai  Taru  Singh.  The 
Muslims  went  in  appeal,  but  the  Lahore  High 
Court  in  1934  upheld  the  verdict  of  the 
Gurdwara  Tribunal.  The  local  Gurdwara 
Prabandhak  Committee,  Lahore,  got 
possession  of  the  Shahidgahj  in  March  1935 
and  decided  to  replace  the  old  mosque-like 
building  with  a  new  one.  The  bulk  of  the 
clearing  work  having  been  completed  by  7  June 
1935,  the  demolition  of  the  old  building  was 
taken  in  hand  on  8  June.  It  continued 
uninterrupted  for  20  days,  but  on  29  June  a 
Muslim  mob  tried  to  enter  the  premises  and, 
although  they  were  successfully  checked  by  the 
inmates,  the  Deputy  Commissioner  of  Lahore, 
Mr  S.  Pratab,  stayed  further  demolition.  The 
political  climate  in  the  country  was  already 
charged  with  communal  passions  aroused  by 
the  Communal  Award  of  1932.  The  Sikhs, 
considering  that,  after  the  decision  of  the 
courts  in  their  favour,  the  reconstruction  of  the 


SHAHlDGANJ  AGITATION 


97 


SHAHID  SIKH  MISSIONARY  COLLEGE 


Gurdwara  was  their  natural  and  legal  right, 
resumed  the  demolition  on  8  July  despite  the 
stay  order.  This  was  resented  by  the  Muslims, 
but  the  government  did  not  use  force  to 
prevent  the  demolition,  for  the  reason  that  the 
"Sikhs  in  taking  this  action  were  not 
committing  any  criminal  offence."  In  fact  Sikh 
leaders  had  asked  many  Akiilis  to  leave  the  city 
and  sent  out  instructions  to  different  centres 
not  to  send  any  more  volunteers  to  Lahore. 
The  tension  did  mount,  but  Lahore  remained 
free  from  any  communal  incidents.  On  2 
December  the  government  passed  a  general 
restrictive  order  under  Arms  Act,  1878, 
banning  the  carrying  of  swords  and  kirpan.  The 
Sikhs  resented  the  restriction  on  kirpan  which 
was  one  of  their  religious  symbols,  and 
launched  an  agitation  against  the  ban  on  1 
January  1936.  The  ban  was;  withdrawn  on  31 
January  1936. 

Meanwhile,  the  Muslims  had  filed,  on  30 
October  1935,  a  fresh  suit  for  the  possession 
of  the  Shahidgahj  "Mosque".  Though  the  suit 
was  dismissed  on  25  May  1936,  an  appeal  was 
filed  in  the  High  Court.  The  Shahidgahj  issue 
temporarily  receded  into  the  background 
partly  owing  to  the  impending  elections  to  the 
Punjab  Legislative  Assembly  under  the 
Government  of  India  Act,  1935.  In  April'1937 
the  Unionist  party  representing  sections  of 
Muslims,  Hindus  and  Sikhs  formed  the  ministry 
under  Sir  Sikandar  Hayat  Khan,  who  claiming 
his  ministry  to  be  neutral  in  character,  made  it 
clear  to  the  Muslims  that  their  claim  in  the 
Shahidgahj  case  could  not  be  accepted 
arbitrarily.  He  promised  to  strive  for  an 
amicable  settlement  of  the  problem  and 
appealed  to  the  parties  to  the  dispute  not.  to 
do  anything  which  might  worsen  the 
communal  situation  in  the  Punjab.  The 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee, 
an  elected  body  representing  the  Sikh  pieople, 
unanimously  passed  a  resolution  at  its  meeting 
held  on  10-11  March  1938  affirming  that  no 
compromise  was  possible  on  what  it  considered 
a  vital  religious  issue.  Meanwhile,  the  legal 


battle  continued.  The  Muslims'  appeal  filed  in 
the  High  Court  was  dismissed  on  26  January 
1938,  and  a  further  appeal  to  the  Judicial 
Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  met  with  the 
same  fate  on  2  May  1940.  This  virtually  ended 
the  dispute. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Some  Confidential  Papers  of 
the  Akali  Movement.  Amritsar,  1965 

2.  Mohinder  Singh,  The  Akali  Movement.  Delhi,  1978 

3.  Tuteja,  K.L.,  Sikh  Politics.  Kurukshetra,  1984 

4.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

5.  Josh,  Sohan  Siiigh,  Akali  Morchiah  da  Itihas. 
Delhi,  1972 

6.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Shromani  Gurdwara 
Prabandhak  Committee  da  Panjah  Sa/a  Itihas. 
Amritsar,  1982 

K.L.T. 

SHAHID  SIKH  MISSIONARY  COLLEGE,  at 
Amritsar,  a  college  for  training  Sikh  preachers, 
was  opened  in  October  1927  in  memory  of  the 
shahids,  i.e.  martyrs,  who  had  on  20  February 
1921  laid  down  their  lives  at  Nankana  Sahib, 
birthplace  of  Guru  Nanak,  during  the 
campaign  for  the  reform  of  the  management 
of  Sikh  shrines.  The  idea  of  starting  such  a 
college  originated  with  the  managing 
committee  of  the  Gurdwara  Sri  Nankana  Sahib 
formed  in  consequence  of  the  passage  of  the 
Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act  of  1925.  A  Shahidi  Fund 
(martyrs'  fund)  had  in  fact  been  opened  and 
a  Sikh  Mission  Society  formed  in  1921  at 
Nankana  Sahib,  the  former  to  raise  a  memorial 
in  honour  of  the  martyrs  and  the  latter  to 
spread  Sikh  teaching.  Both  objectives  found 
fulfilment  in  the  establishment  in  1927  of  the 
Shahid  Sikh  Missionary  College  at  Amritsar, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee.  Gahga  Singh,  well 
versed  in  the  art  of  oratory  and  with  perfect 
mastery  of  Persian,  Urdu  and  Punjabi 
languages,  became  its  first  principal.  With  gaps 
from  1932  to  1935  and  from  1938  to  1943,  the 


SHAHI  TIBllI 


98 


SHAH  SHUJA' 


College  has  continued  to  this  day.  In  June  1936, 
it  was  revived  under  a  new  management,  the 
Sarab  Hind  Sikh  Mission,  formed  by  the 
ShiromanI  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee, 
and  Dharamanant  Singh,  learned  in 
philosophy  and  theology,  was  named  the 
principal.  Eminent  theologians,  Sahib  Singh 
and  Taran  Singh,  were  also  associated  with  the 
institution. 

The  college  is  now  run  by  the  Daram 
Prachar  Committee  of  the  ShiromanI 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  which  is  also 
the  examining  authority.  The  curriculum 
includes  Sikh  sacred  texts,  philosophy,  history 
and  music.  Three  diploma  courses,  each  of  two 
years'  duration,  are  offered  with  a  view  to 
training  preachers,  granthis,  i.e.  scripture- 
readers  and  ragis,  i.e.  musicians.  Some  of  the 
College  graduates  have  distinguished 
themselves  in  fields  as  far  apart  as  theology  and 
politics.  Giani  Zail  Singh  who  was  elected 
President  of  India  in  1982  is  an  alumnus  of  this 
College. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Shromani  Gurdwara. 
Prabandhak  Committee  da  Panjah  Sala  Itihas. 
Amritsar,  1982 

Bn.S. 

SHAHITIBBI,  a  low  mound  about  6  km  south 
of  Kiratpur  Sahib  (31"-11'N,  76"-35'E)  in  Ropar 
district  of  the  Punjab,  was  the  scene  of  a  fierce 
battle  in  the  time  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  The 
Guru  who  evacuated  Anandpur  on  the  night 
of  5-6  December  1705,  was  given  a  hot  pursuit 
by  the  besieging  host  contrary  to  solemn 
assurances  of  safe  conduct.  He  was  following 
the  main  route  to  Ropar.  By  the  time  he  had 
reached  near  Shahi  Tibbi,  covering  a  distance 
of  about  14  km  from  Anandpur,  he  was 
overtaken  by  the  pursuers.  Bhai  Udai  Singh, 
one  of  the  followers,  engaged  them,  while  the 
rest  of  the  column  marched  on.  This  was  a 
desperate  rearguard  action.  Bhai  Udai  Sirigh 
and  his  50  companions  fought  valiantly  and 


were  killed  to  a  man. 

The  shrine  at  Shahi  Tibbi  (lit.,  the  Royal 
Mound)  commemorating  the  heroic  action  is 
a  modest  one-room  gurdwara  looked  after  by 
a  solitary  Niharig. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsu 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

M.G.S. 

SHAHPUR  KALAN,  a  village  13  km  west  of 
Sunam  (30"-7'N,  75"-48'E)  in  Sangrur  district 
of  the  Punjab,  is  sacred  to  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
who,  during  one  of  his  journeys  through  the 
Malva  country,  came  and  stayed  here  near  the 
pond  north  of  the  village.  Gurdwara  Mahji 
Sahib  Patshahl  IX,  which  marks  the  site, 
comprises  a  Mahji  Sahib  and  a  Darbar  Sahib. 
The  former  is  a  square  domed  room,  with  a 
circumambulatory  verandah.  The  Darbar  Sahib 
is  a  separate  hall  with  a  square  sanctum  in  the 
middle  and  a  high  vaulted  ceiling.  The  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  is  seated  in  both  buildings.  The 
Gurdwara  is  managed  by  a  committee  of  the 
village  sangat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Van  a  Asthan, 
Paiamparavah  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

2.  Visakha  Singh,  Sant,  Malva  Itihas.  Kishanpura, 
1954, 

3.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

SHAH  SHUJA'  (1780-1842)  or  Shuja'ul-Mulk, 
the  King  of  Kabul,  was  the  youngest  son  of 
Taimur  Shah  and  grandson  of  Ahmad  Shah 
Durrani.  Shah  Zaman,  his  elder  brother, 
appointed  him  governor  of  Peshawar.  In  1800. 
Shah  Zaman  was  defeated  and  dethroned  by 
his  half-brother,  Shah  Mahmud,  bin  Shah 
Shuja'  defeated  Shah  Mahmud  in  1803  and 


SHAH  SHUJA' 


99 


SHAH  ZAMAN 


occupied  the  throne  of  Kabul.  In  1809,  Shah 
Mahmud  again  rose  to  power  and  defeated 
Shah  Shuja'.  In  February  1810,  Shah  Shuja' 
escaped  towards  the  Punjab.  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh  received  him  with  honour  at  Sahival  and 
provided  him  with  a  residence  at  Rawalpindi. 
The  Shah  seized  Peshawar  in  March  1810,  only 
to  be  expelled  within  six  months  by 
Muhammad  'Azlm  Khan  Barakzai.  He  captured 
Peshawar  a  second  time,  but  as  he  tried  to  take 
Attock  in  1812,  he  was  apprehended  by 
Jahahdad  Khan  and  sent  to  Srinagar  where  he 
remained  in  the  custody  of  'Ata  Muhammad 
Khan,  the  governor  of  Kashmir.  Soon 
afterwards,  Fateh  Khan,  the  wazir  of 
Afghanistan,  jointly  with  the  Sikh  forces 
invaded  Kashmir.  At  Srinagar,  the  Sikh 
commander,  Diwan  Muhkaim  Charid,  had  Shah 
Shuja'  released  from  captivity  and  brought  him 
to  Lahore  in  March  1813.  Here  he  was  forced 
to  surrender  to  Ranjit  Singh  the  celebrated 
diamond  Koh-i-Nur  which  his  wife,  Wafa 
Begam,  had  promised  to  give  the  Maharaja  if 
he  would  have  him  rescued  from  the  clutches 
of  'Ata  Muhammad  Khan.  In  Aprilvl815 
disguised  as  a  Muslim  faquir,  the  Shah  escaped 
from  Lahore  and,  after  wandering  around  for 
many  months,  reached  Ludhiana  in  September 
1815.  The  British  government  settled  upon 
Shah  Shuja'  an  allowance  of  50,000  rupees  per 
annum.  From  Ludhiana,  Shah  Shuja'  made  a 
few  attempts  to  recover  his  throne  at  Kabul, 
but  in  vain.  Ultimately,  he  was  restored  to  his 
throne  on  7  August  1839  as  a  result  of  the 
tripartite  treaty  entered  into  by  him,  the  British 
government  and  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh.  But 
he  failed  to  establish  himself  in  power.  He  was 
killed  at  the  instance  of  Muhammad  Akbar 
Khan  on  5  April  1842,  his  family  returnig  to 
their  old  asylum  in  Ludhiana. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Burnes,  Alexander,  CabooL  London,  1843 

3.  Khushwant  Singh,  Ranjit  Singh  :  Maharajah  of 


the  Punjab.  London,  1962 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

5.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,  Life  and  Times  of  Ranjit 
Singh.  Nabha,  1971 

H.R.G. 

SHAHZADA,  son  of  Bhai  Mardana,  Guru 
Nanak's  favourite  minstrel  and  companion. 
Like  his  father,  Shahzada  was  a  devotee  of  the 
Guru  and  an  accomplished  musician.  After  the 
death  of  Mardana,  he  remained  in  attendance 
upon  Guru  Nanak  at  Kartarpur  and  continued 
to  perform  kirtan  or  hymn-singing  to  the 
accompaniment  of  rabab  or  rebeck. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Athur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

Gn.S. 

SHAH  ZAMAN,  son  of  Taimur  Shah  and 
grandson  of  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  became  the 
ruler  of  Afghanistan  in  May  1793  at  the  age  of 
23.  As  soon  as  Shah  Zaman  came  to  the  throne, 
he  proclaimed  his  intention  of  re-establishing 
the  Afghan  sway  in  India.  His  first  attempt  to 
conquer  India  brought  him  as  far  as  Hasan 
Abdal;  he  had  to  return  to  Afghanistan  to  put 
down  a  revolt  by  his  brother,  Mahmud.  Two 
years  later  he  was  back  in  the  Punjab  again  and, 
in  addition  to  retaking  Hasan  Abdal,  he 
captured  Rohtas  from  the  Sukkarchakkias, 
Ranjit  Singh  thus  being  the  first  Sikh  chieftain 
to  sufieraggression  at  his  hands.  Once  again 
Shah  Zaman  had  to  return  home,  this  time  to 
prevent  an  invasion  of  his  own  country  from 
the  west.  Ranjit  Singh  did  not  have  much  difficulty 
in  recovering  Rohtas,  but  the  Punjab  had  not 
yet  seen  the  last  of  Zaman  and  his  armies. 

In  the  autumn  of  1796  Shah  Zaman 
crossed  the  Indus  for  the  third  time  with  the 


SHAH  ZAMAN 


100 


SHAMIR  SINGH  THETHAR 


intention  of  proceeding  to  Delhi.  He  had  a 
well-equipped  army  of  over  thirty  thousand 
men,  and  was  assured  of  help  from  many 
quarters.  As  the  news  of  the  invasion  spread, 
Sikh  chiefs  evacuated  their  families  to  the  hills 
and  forgathered  in  Amritsar.  The  two  Sikh 
chiefs  whose  territories  lay  on  the  Afghans' 
route  to  Lahore  were  Sahib  Singh  Bhahgi  and 
Ranjit  Singh.  Sahib  Singh  made  a  feeble 
attempt  to  halt  the  invaders.  Ranjit  Singh  also 
left  his  district  and  repaired  post-haste  to 
Amritsar. The  majority  of  the  sardars  who  met 
in  Amritsar  felt  that  the  best  they  could  do  was 
to  retreat  to  the  hills,  and  close  in  on  the 
Afghans  when  they  were  returning  home  with 
the  booty.  Ranjit  Singh  exhorted  them  to  stay 
in  the  plains  to  defend  the  people  from  whom 
they  had  been  receiving  a  protecdon  tax  for 
many  years.  Many  chiefs  agreed  to  support  him 
and  he,  taking  command  of  the  Sikh  forces, 
cleared  the  Lahore  countryside  of  the  Afghans 
and  threw  a  cordon  round  the  city.  Every  night 
he  organized  raids  on  different  suburbs, 
keeping  the  invaders  on  the  defensive. 

In  January  1797,  Shah  Zaman  received 
intelligence  that  his  brother,  Mahmud,  was 
again  up  in  arms  against  him.  He  left  his  ablest 
officer,  Ahmad  Khan  Shahanchlbashl,  with 
twelve  thousand  Afghan  soldiers  in  the  Punjab 
and  took  the  road  back  to  Kabul.  The  Sikhs 
followed  closely  at  his  heels,  harassing  him  all 
the  way  up  tcF'the  Jehlum.  Ahmad  Khan,  who 
attempted  to  attack  Sikhs  from  the  rear,  was 
trounced  at  Ram  Nagar.  Ranjit  Singh 
decimated  his  columns  fleeing  towards  Gujrat. 

On  27  November  1798,  Shah  Zaman  again 
entered  Lahore.  An  Afghan  detachment  was 
sent  towards  Amritsar.  Ranjit  Singh 
accompanied  by  other  Sikh  sardars  met  it  about 
10  km  outside  the  city  and,  after  a  fierce  three- 
hour  encounter  compelled  the  Afghans  to 
retreat.  The  Afghans  were  pursued  to  the  walls 
of  Lahore. 

Shah  Zaman  was  compelled  to  return  to 
Afghanistan  where  his  brother,  Mahmud,  was 
again  stirring  up  trouble.  As  soon  as  the  news 


of  Shah  Zaman's  departure  for  Afghanistan 
reached  the  Sikhs  at  Amritsar,  they  broke  camp 
and  hurried  back  to  reclaim  their  estates.  Ranjit 
Singh  quickly  reoccupied  Gujrahwala  and  went 
in  pursuit  of  the  Afghans,  keeping  up  a  running 
fight  with  them  right  up  to  Attock.  Shah 
Zaman,  still  ambitious  of  establishing  an 
empire  in  Hindustan,  made  overtures  to  Ranjit 
Singh  by  sending  him  presents  of  horses  and 
expensive  dresses.  Ranjit  Singh  responded  by 
restoring  to  him  cannon  the  Shah  had  lost  in 
the  Jehlum  river  in  his  hurry  to  escape. 

Shah  Zaman,  who  made  four  attempts  to 
conquer  India,  was  overthrown  by  the  Barakzais 
who  installed  Mahmud  in  his  place.  Mahmud 
put  out  Zaman's  eyes  and  turned  him  out  of 
Kabul.  The  blind  and  dethroned  Shah  Zaman 
took  asylum  at  Rawalpindi  where  he  was  met 
by  Ranjit  Singh  who  invited  him  to  come  and 
stay  in  Lahore.  Ranjit  Singh  settled  upon  him 
a  monthly  allowance  of  1,500  rupees  and  on 
his  (Shah  zaman's)  arrival  in  Lahore  accorded 
him  a  welcome  befitting  his  rank. 

Shah  Zaman  died  many  years  later  a  quiet 
and  neglected  pensioner  of  the  British 
government  at  Ludhiana. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 

1885-89 

2.  ShahamatAli,  The  Sikhs  and  Afghans  [Reprint]. 
Patiala,  1970 

3.  Burnes,  Alexander,  Cabool.  London,  1843 

4.  Ganda  Singh,  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani.  Bombay, 
1959 

5.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

S.S.B. 

SHAMIR  SINGH  TOETHAR  (d.  1824),  soldier 
and  a  minor  commander  in  the  Sikh  times.  He 
was  the  son  of  Prem  Singh,  of  the  village  of 
Thethar,  near  Lahore,  and  brother  of  Lakkha 
Singh  along  with  whom  he  entered  the  service 
of  Sukkarchakkias.  Shamir  Singh  fought  in  the 
battle  of  Rasulnagar  in  1778-79  under  Mahah 


SHAMSHER  SINGH  SANDHANVAl.IA 


101 


SHAM  SINGH  ATARIVALA 


Singh,  who  had  joined  hands  with  Jai  Singh, 
of  the  Kanhaiya  misl,  against  Pir  Muhammad 
Khan  Chattha.  To  recover  the  famous  cannon 
Zamzama,  which  the  Bhahgi  chief  Jhanda 
Singh  had  left  with  Pir  Muhammad  Khan,  the 
Sikh  chiefs  attacked  Rasulnagar.  It  is  claimed 
that  Shamir  Singh  killed  die  Chattha  chief  with 
a  musket-shot  during  the  siege.  Shamir  Singh 
built  the  Fort  of  Gobindgarh  at  Amritsar  at 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh's  order  and  became  its 
first  qiladar  (commandant) .  He  served  in  the  ex- 
pedition of  Kasur  (1807).  In  1819,  the  Maharaja 
appointed  him  the  thanedar  of  Nurpur.  He 
held  a  jagir  in  Gujrariwala.  He  died  in  1824. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

B.j.H. 

SHAMSHER  SINGH  SANDHANVALIA  (1816- 
1871)  was  son  of  Buddh  Singh  and  a  collateral 
of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh.  Shamsher  Singh 
distinguished  himself  as  a  soldier  and  served 
on  acrive  duty  in  the  Peshawar  area.  He  was  by 
nature  averse  to  politics  and  took  no  part  in 
courdy  intrigues  which  engulfed  Lahore  after 
the  death  of  Maharaja  Rinjlt  Singh.  Shamsher 
Singh  maintained  his  position  at  the  Darbar 
and  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  Regency  in  December  1846.  In  February 
1848,  the  Resident  at  Lahore  placed  the  civil 
and  military  establishments  in  Amritsar  under 
his  charge.  In  1857,  he  raised  a  troop  of  125 
horsemen,  which  formed  part  of  Hodson's 
Horse.  In  February  1862,  he  was  given  full 
■revenue,  civil  and  criminal  powers  of  a  deputy 
commissioner  in  his  own  jagir. 

Shamsher  Singh  died  issueless  in  1871. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 

1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 


3.  Chopra,  Barkat  Rai,  Kingdom  of  the  Punjab. 
Hoshiarpur,  1969 

BJ.H. 

SHAM  SINGH  ATARIVALA  (d.  1846),  a 
general  in  the  Sikh  army,  was  the  grandson  of 
Sardar  Gauhar  Singh,  who  had  embraced 
Sikhism  in  the  early  days  of  Sikh  political 
ascendancy  and  joined  the  jatha  or  band  of 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  of  Rorahvala.  He  soon 
established  his  rakhior  protection  over  an  area 
around  Atari,  a  village  he  had  founded  some 
16  miles  from  Amritsar.  His  son,  Nihal  Singh, 
was  known  for  his  martial  prowess  and  for  his 
personal  loyalty  to  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh. 
Nihal  Singh's  son,  Sham  Singh,  entered  the 
service  of  the  Maharaja  in  1817  and,  in  1818, 
took  part  in  the  military  campaigns  of 
Peshawar,  Attock  and  Multan.  He  also  fought 
in  Kashmir  in  1819.  He  led  Sikh  forces  against 
Sayyid  Ahmad  of  Bareilly  who  had  during  the 
years  1826-31  carried  on  in  the  trans-Indus 
region  a  relendess  crusade  against  the  Sikhs. 
Sayyid  Ahmad  was  overcome  and  killed  on  6 
May  1831,  along  with  his  chief  lieutenant, 
Muhammad  Ismail. 

At  the  Darbar,  Sham  Singh  Atarivala  acted 
on  occasions  as  Chief  of  Protocol.  In  that 
capacity,  he  received  Sir  Alexander  Burnes 
when  he  had  in  July  1831  brought  from  the 
King  of  England  presents  of  horses  and  a 
carriage  for  the  Maharaja.  He  was  charged  with 
protocol  duties  at  the  Ropar  meeting  in 
October  1831  between  Lord  William  Bentinck, 
the  Governor-General  of  India,  and  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh,  as  also  at  the  FIrozpur  meeting 
in  November  1838  between  the  Maharaja  and 
Lord  Auckland.  Sham  Singh's  influence  at  the 
court  was  further  enhanced  by  the  marriage 
of  his  daughter,  Bibl  NanakI,  to  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Sihgh's_grandson,  Prince  Nau  Nihal  Singh. 

In  the  cold  season  of  1844,  Sham  Singh 
led  a  punitive  expedition  to  Jammu  against  Raja 
Gulab  Singh  and  secured  the  surrender  of 
Jasrota.  His  troops  led  the  insurrection  against 
Dogra  dominance  in  Lahore  which  ended  in 


SHAM  SINGH  ATARlVALA 


102 


SHAM  SINGH  NIHANG 


the  assassination  of  Hira  Singh  and  his 
favourite,  Pandit  Jalla.  For  his  influence  over 
the  Khalsa  army  and  for  his  qualitites  of 
courage  and  forthrightness,  Sham  Singh  was 
nominated  to  the  council  of  regency  set  up  by 
Maharanijind  Kaur  on  22  December  1844  for 
the  minor  sovereign  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh. 
In  March  1845,  Sham  Singh  led  another 
punitive  expedition  against  Gulab  Singh  of 
Jammu  who  had  refused  to  surrender  to  the 
Lahore  government  the  treasure  of  Hira  Singh 
amounting  to  35,00,000  rupees  which  he  had 
carted  away  from  Jasrota  to  Jammu.  The  army 
under  Sham  Singh  reached  within  10  km  of 
Jammu  and  obtained  from  Gulab  Singh  the 
undertaking  to  indemnify  the  arrears  of  the 
tribute,  pay  nazaranas  and  return  to  the  Lahore 
government  Hira  Singh's  treasure. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  first  Anglo-Sikh 
war,  Sham  Singh  was  at  Kakrala,  south  of  the 
Sikh  frontier,  for  the  wedding  of  his  second 
son,  Kahn  Singh.  As  he  heard  the  news,  he 
rushed  back  to  the  Punjab.  The  defeat  of  the 
Sikh  forces  at  Ferozeshah  led  the  Queen 
Mother,  Maharanijind  Kaur,  to  summon  him 
from  Atari.  Sham  Singh  immediately  repaired 
to  Lahore.  He  chided  the  commanders,  Misr 
Tej  Singh  and  Misr  Lai  Singh,  who  had  fled 
the  field,  and  himself  crossed  the  Sutlej 
swearing  an  oath  on  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
that  he  would  lay  down  his  life  rather  than 
return  in  defeat. . 

The  batde  was  joined  at  Sabhraori  on  10 
February  1846.  Dressed  in  white  and  riding  his 
white  steed,  the  grey-bearded  Sardar  Sham 
Singh  moved  from  column  to  column  calling 
upon  his  men  to  fight  to  the  last.  As  the  battle 
was  in  a  critical  stage,  Misr  Tej  Singh  fled  across 
the  Sudej  and  sank  a  part  of  the  bridge  of  boats 
after  him.  Sham  Singh,  far  from  disheartened 
by  this,  rushed  into  the  thick  of  the  batde.  He 
made  a  desperate  charge  along  with  his  fifty 
men  against  the  advancing  enemy.  Within 
minutes  he  was  overpowered  and  he  fell  to  the 
ground  dead.  In  the  evening  as  the  batde  was 
over,  his  servants  swam  from  across  the  river  to 


recover  the  body.  On  12  February  1846,  Sham 
Singh  was  cremated  outside  his  village.  A 
samadh  raised  on  the  site  now  honours  his 
memory. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Ganda  Singh,  Sardar  Sham  Singh  Atarivala. 
Amritsar,  1942 

3.  Griffin,  Lepel  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

5.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Princeton,  1966 

G.S. 

SHAM  SINGH  NIHANG  (1854-1924)  was  born 
Harkesh,  in  1854,  to  Chaudhari  Jasvant  Singh 
at  the  village  of  Muhammadpur,  in  Sultanpur 
district  of  Uttar  Pradesh.  As  he  grew  up,  he 
helped  his  father  in  the  family's  profession  of 
farming  before  migrating  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five  to  Hyderabad,  in  the'Deccan,  to  do 
business.  There,  undergoing  several  sudden 
turns  of  fortune,  he  went  through  the  rites  of 
Khalsa  initiation  at  Gurdwara  Sri  Hazur  Sahib 
at  Nanded,  receiving  the  name  of  Sham  Singh. 
He  donned  the  blue  and  saffron  robes  of  a 
Nihahg  and  came  to  be  known  as  Nihaiig  Sham 
Singh.  He  dedicated  his  life  to  preaching  the 
Sikh  faith.  He  returned  to  his  native  village,  in 
Uttar  Pradesh,  where  his  erstwhile  busines 
partner,  Shera,  was  the  first  to  come  under  his 
influence.  He  escorted  Shera  to  Bhasaur,  then 
an  active  centre  of  Singh  Sabha,  the  Sikh 
renaissance  movement.  Here  he  was 
converted  by  Bhai  Teja  Singh,  a  leading  Sikh 
of  the  day,  and  named  Hari  Singh.  Sham  Singh 
continued  his  missionary  work  in  Uttar 
Pradesh.  In  1914,  he  came  to  settle  at  Paniali 
Qasimpur  where  he  set  up  a  gurdwara.  Many 
were  drawn  to  the  Sikh  faith  by  his  pious 
example. 

Sham  Singh  died  in  1924,  leaving  his  sue- 


SHAM  SINGH,  SANT 


103 


SHANKAR  NATH,  DlWAN 


cessor,  Bhai  Mahan  Singh,  to  carry  on  his  work. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Gia.n  Amrh.  Amritsar,  1976 

P.S.G. 

SHAM  SINGH,  SANT  (1303-1926),  holy  man 
who  was  also  an  accomplished  musician,  was 
born  in  1803  to  Bhai  Darbari  and  Krishan  Kaur, 
a  couple  of  humble  means  belonging  to  the 
SevapanthI  sect  of  the  Sikhs  and  inhabitants 
of  Shahpur,  in  Sargodha  district  of  Pakistan. 
His  father  died  when  he  was  barely  five  year 
old.  Sant  Ram  Singh,  a  SevapanthI  preacher 
originally  belonging  to  Mirpur,  in  Jarmmu  and 
Kashmir  region,  took  him  under  his  care  and 
moved,  along  with  his  young  ward,  to  Amritsar 
where  he  stayed  at  Dharamsala  of  Addanshahls 
-  another  name  for  Sevapanthis.  After  his 
preliminary  training  in  scripture  reading,  Sham 
Singh  studied  Sikh  theology  and  history 
successively  under  the  guidance  of  Pandit  Atma 
Singh  and  the  Nirmala  scholar,  Thakur  Dayal 
Singh.  Having  an  ear  for  music  and  a  good 
singing  voice,  he  learnt  Sikh  devodonalniusic 
from  Baba  Naudh  Singh  and  became  an 
eminent  performer  of  Jdrtan  specializing  in 
playing  saranda.  He  would  daily  sing  Asa  ki  Var 
in  the  morning  in  Harimandar,  the  Golden 
Temple,  and  Sodar  in  the  evening  at  the  Akal 
Takht  where  he  attracted  large  audiences. 

Sant  Sham  Singh  led  a  simple  life  of  self- 
effacement  and  service,  and  came  to  command 
great  esteem  and  reverence.  Bhaii  Vir  Singh 
(1872-1957)  and  Sardar  Sundar  Singh  Majlthla 
(1872-1941)  are  said  to  have  taken  ilchande  di 
pahul  at  his  hands.  It  was  he  who  inspired  Sant 
Gurmukh  Singh  of  Patiala  (1849-1947)  to  take 
up  kar-seva  (cleaning,  construction  and 
reconstruction  projects  at  Sikh  shrine  s  with  free 
voluntary  labour)  as  his  life's  mission. 

As  Sant  Sham  Singh  grew  too  old  to  go  to 
Harimandar,  his  devotees  built  in  1911  a 
gurdwara  for  him  in  the  Ata  Mandi  sector  of 
Amritsar.  They  called  it  Dharamsala  Sant  Sham 
Singh,  but  he  changed  die  name  to  Dharamsala 


Sri  Guru  Nanak  Dev  ji  -  Dasan  Das  Sham  Singh 
(dasan-das  literally  meaning  slave  of  slaves). 
He  died  of  pneumonia  on  23  April  1926  at  the 
great  age  of  123. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Prem  Singh,  Major,  Jivan  Sant  Baba  Sham  Singh. 
Amritsar,  n.d 

2.  Balwant  Singh,  Giani,  Agam  Agadh  Purakh 
Shriman  Pujya  Sant  Atar  Singh  Ji  Maharaj 
Mastuane  Valian  da  Sampuran  Jivan  Charittar. 
Mastuana,  1983 

P.S.G. 

SHANKAR  DAS  (d.  1832)  was  introduced  at 
the  Sikh  court  by  his  father,  Shiv  Dial,  himself 
an  employee  of  Maharaj  a  Ranjit  Singh  who  had 
appointed  him  manager  of  the  Dhanni  country. 
Shahkar  Das  was  placed  under  Prince  Kharak 
Singh,  the  heir  apparent,  to  manage  his  jagirs. 
When  Dlwan  Mot!  Ram  was  appointed 
governor  of  Kashmir  in  1819,  Shahkar  Das  was 
seconded  for  service  as  head  of  the  Financial 
office.  Shahkar  Das  died  in  1832. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Griffin,  Lepel  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

S.S.B. 

SHANKAR  NATH,  DIWAN  (1805-1876),  born 
at  Delhi  in  1805,  was  brought  to  Lahore  in  1820 
by  his  father  Pandit  Hari  Ram,  an  employee  of 
the  Lahore  kingdom.  Shahkar  Nath  was  placed 
in  the  treasury  office  of  Prince  Kharak  Singh 
and  was  afterwards  transferred  to  the  central 
record  office  where  he  remained  until 
annexation  of  the  Punjab  in  1849.  During  the 
time  of  the  residency  from  1846  to  1849,  he 
worked  mainly  with  the  British  officers. 
Shahkar  Nath  was  appointed  honorary 
magistrate  of  Lahore  in  1862.  He  possessed 
great  knowledge  of  Hindu  law  and  his  opinion 
was  sought  by  the  British  magistrates  of  Lahore. 
He  was  created  a  Dlwan  in  January  1865.  He 
died  at  Lahore  in  1876. 


SHARDHA 


104 


SHARDHA 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Griffin,  Lepel,  and  C.F.  Masscy,  Chiefs  and 
Families  of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

S.S.B. 

SHARDHA  or  Sardha  (Skt.  sraddha),  a 
conscious  positive  mental  attitude  towards  a 
person  owing  to  some  special  development  of 
a  virtue  or  power  in  him,  is  closely  connected 
with  faith  or  bhakti,  i.e.  loving  devotion  to  God. 
Etymologically  speaking,  it  is  a  compound  word 
formed  by  a  combination  of  srat,  'heart'  and 
dha,  'to  put',  meaning  to  put  one's  heart  and 
mind  on  something.  Translated  into  English, 
belief,  trust,  confidence  and  faith  are  the  terms 
which  put  forth  different  shades  of  sraddha. 
In  so  far  as  sraddha  is  related  to  sradha,  a 
funeral  rite  in  Hinduism  performed  in  honour 
of  the  departed  spirits  of  dead  ancestors  or 
relatives,  it  can  be  interpreted  as  reverence. 

Shardha  or  faith  is  the  bedrock  of  all 
religions.  In  the  Vedic  texts,  sraddha  denotes 
a  belief  in  the  powers  of  rituals  and  the  priests 
for  securing  all  that  is  desired  including  svarga, 
heaven.  The  Upanisads,  however,  present  us 
with  new  dimensions  of  sraddha.  In  these  texts, 
sraddha  emerges  as  a  moral  and  religious 
notion.  Here  it  is  closely  connected  with  the 
ideas  of  dhayana,  yoga,  karma,  sahsara  and 
moicsa,  the  ideas  which  were  originally  pecular 
to  SYamana  thought.  The  Mundaka  Upanisad 
representative  of  the  Sramanic  impact  treats 
the  entire  heritage  of  old  Vedic  knowledge  as 
lower  and  declares  that  knowledge  as  higher 
(paravidya)  which  reveals  the  Indestructible 
(Afundak.  1. 1.5.).  This  higher  knowledge  which 
leads  to  spiritual  emancipation  is  the  object  of 
s'raddha.  However,  it  must  be  noted  here  that 
the  nature  and  function  of  sraddha  in  these 
texts  are  relative  to  ritualistic,  theistic,  dualistic 
and  non-dualistic  theologies.  The 
Bhagavadgita  gives  to  this  term  a  definitive 
meaning  for  subsequent  Brahmanical 
developments.  According  to  the  Bhagavadgita, 
faith  (Sraddha)  is  a  factor  in  mukti  (III. 31)  : 
^those  endowed  with  faith  attain  wisdom,  and 


those  without  faith  perish  (IV.  39-40)  :  faith  is 
direcdy  associated  with  devotion  and  adoration 
(VII.  21)  :  among  all  the  yogis  one  endowed 
with  faith  is  the  best.  This  soteriological 
significance  and  importance  of  sraddha  is 
tacitly  accepted  in  all  the  sects  of  the 
Brahmanical  tradition  including  Saivism, 
Saktism,  Vaisnavism  and  the  yogic  schools.  In 
addition  to  God  or  goddess,  the  prescribed 
paths,  and  the  scripture,  in  these  schools,  the 
position  of  teacher  or  guru  becomes  an 
increasingly  important  object  of  sraddha.  The 
concept  of  sraddha  occupies  an  important 
place  in  the  sVamanic  traditions  ofjainism  and 
Buddhism  also. 

The  word  sardha  occurs  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  at  numerous  places.  Often  it  is 
associated  with  other  related  theological  terms 
such  as  prem,  bhagati  (bhakti),  puja  and  seva 
(devotion,  adoration  and  service,  respectively). 
The  necessity  of  faith  and  confidence  is  tacitly 
accepted  in  Sikhism  and  there  is  a  general 
uniformity  in  its  meaning  throughout  the  Sikh 
texts.  Besides  sardha  we  find  other  words, 
nihcha  (nischaya),  bisvas  and  partiti  (00,87,284, 
292,877, 1270) ;  these  words  maybe  translated  as 
'faith',  'belief  and  'confidence'.  The  word 
partiti  (Skt.  pratiti)  can  also  be  translated  as 
faith  or  belief.  One  has  partiti  when  one  has 
clear  apprehension  of  or  insight  into  anything ; 
it  gives  the  sense  of  complete  understanding, 
ascertainment  and  conviction.  By  implication 
partiti  means  credit,  respect,  trust, 
confirmation  and  acknowledgement.  Partiti 
thus  is  a  synonym  of  shardha  in  Sikhism.  It  is  a 
cardinal  moral  virtue  and  a  prerequisite  of 
piety.  The  nature  and  function  of  shardha  in 
Sikh  religion  and  the  way  of  life  cannot  be 
understood  without  recourse  to  Sikh  theology. 

Devotion  to  God  proceeds  from  faith  in 
God  :  faith  in  God  is  linked  to  love  for  God  : 
love  for  God  manifests  itself  in  adoration  and 
service.  It  is,  therefore,  appropriate  to 
understand  the  concept  of  shardha  in  the 
context  of  bhagti,  prem,  puja  and  seva.  All 
these  terms  bear  a  significance  in  Sikh  teaching 


SHARDHA 


105 


SHARDHA 


only  when  we  consider  their  meaning  in 
relation  to  the  reality  of  Supreme  Lord 
(paramesvara).  The  first  object  of  faith  in 
Sikhism  is  thus  the  supreme  Lord.  His  nature 
and  existence  are  revealed  by  the  Teacher 
(Guru)  who  is  another  object  of  faith.  This 
office  of  revealer  and  guide  has  been  held  by  a 
line  often  teachers  ;  the  ten  Gurus  from  Guru 
Nanak  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh  are  therefore 
equally  the  centre  of  faith  in  this  tradition. 
After  the  death  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  the 
Holy  Granth  assumed  the  authority  of  the 
Teacher.  It  is  nowjusdy  called  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib,  the  Book  that  is  the  Teacher  or  the 
Teacher-Scripture.  This  being  the  collection  of 
canonical  texts  of  Sikhism,  is  the  third  major 
object  of  faith  in  Sikhism.  In  this  system 
shardha  is  directed  to  God,  Guru  and  the 
Granth. 

Belief  in  God  and  love  of  God  go  together: 
the  functional  value  of  loving  and  believing 
leads  to  the  same  purpose  and  would  seem  to 
be  equal.  The  devotee  is  said  to  spread  the  bed 
made  of  shardha  for  his  Lord-  hari  hari  sardha 
sej  vlchhai  prabhu  chhodi  na  sakai  (GG,  830)  ; 
because  of  shardha  fixed  on  his  Beloved  he 
cannot  live  even  for  a  moment-  sardha  lagi 
sahgi  pritamai  iku  tilu  rahanu  na  jai  (GG,  928). 
To  have  faith  in  God  means  to  have  love  for 
god,  and  vice  versa,  to  have  love  for  god  means 
to  have  faith  in  God. 

As  an  ultimate  commitment  and  supreme 
concern,  shardha  may  be  summed  up  as 
concentration  of  belief  in  God.  It  has  been  said 
that  those  that  have  faith  in  Ram  Nam,  do  not 
turn  their  thoughts  to  any  thing  else-^'i  n  sardha 
ram  nam  lag!  tin  du/a  chitu  na  laia  ram  (GG.444). 
The  nature  of  faith  is  unifying,  which  is  also  to 
say,  it  is  exclusive  and  undivided.  One  cannot 
have  faith  in  both  Divinity  and  egoity,  in  God 
and  not-God  at  the  same  time.  Firm  and 
undivided  faith  leads  to  union  with  God.  He 
who  is  endowed  with  true  faith*  is  united  to 
God-  jin  kai  rnani  sacha  bisvasu,  pekhi  pekhi 
suami  ki  sobha  anandu  sada  ulasu  (GG.677). 

Occasionally  this  term  is  used  in  the  sense 


of  a  wish  or  longing  for  God.  Thus  when  we 
read  nanak  ki  prabh  sardha  pud,  we  have  to 
understand  it  in  the  sense  that  'God  has 
fulfilled  the  desire  of  Nanak'  (GG,  893).  Again, 
chid  avai  ta  sardha  piiri-  when  awareness  (of 
God)  comes  then  the  longing  is  satisfied  (GG, 
114).  We  can  even  say  that  in  these  usages 
sardha  is  like  mansa,  thought,  wish,  longing, 
quest.  God  is  the  object  of  love  and  object  of 
faith  and  therefore  the  object  of  quest. 

Although  God  is  attainable  through  love 
and  faith  or  loving  faith,  it  is  clearly  taught  that 
one  becomes  faithful  through  God's  grace 
(hari  kirpa),  faith  in  His  name  is  inspired  by 
Him-  hari  hari  kripa  karahu  jagjivan  mai  sardha 
nami  lagavaigo  (GG.1310).  Faith  in  God  comes 
through  faith  in  Guru  who  unites  the  seeker 
with  the  former  -  sardha  sardha  upai  milae  mo 
kau  hari  gur  guri  nistare  (GG,  983).  God's 
servants  are  very  good  because  they  uphold 
Hari  in  their  heart  with  faith,  and  Hari  is  so 
good  that  He  accepts  the  faith  of  His  followers 
and  upholds  their  honour-prabh  ke  sevak 
bahutu  ad  nike  mani  sardha  kari  hari  dhare  ; 
mere  prabhi  sardha  bhagad  mani  bhavai  jan 
ki  pay  savare  (GG,  982).  Those  who  with  faith 
sing,  listen,  and  cause  others  to  listen  (the  glory 
of  God)  and  drink  the  Divine  elixir  (hari— ras), 
they  are  indeed  fortunate-  gavat  sunat,  sunavat 
sardha  hari  rasu  pi  vadbhage  (GG,  1306). 

In  addition  to  God,  Guru  and  the  Granth, 
a  fourth  field  for  the  cultivation  of  faith  in 
Sikhism  consists  of  the  holy  company 
(sadhsahg'ad)  of  the  devotees  (sadh,  sant). 
Faith  rises  in  their  company  and  one  enjoys 
the  taste  of  the  Divine  essence  through  Guru's 
Word-  mili  sangat  sardha  upajai  gur  sabdi  hari 
rasu  chakhu  (GG.997).  Happiness  (sukh),  peace 
and  longing  (sardha)  all  these  are  attained  with 
the  help  of  the  holy  -  sukh  sital  sardha  sabh 
pirihoe  santsahai  (GG,  1000).  The  Scripture  lays 
down  that  the  dust  of  the  feet  of  those  sages 
should  be  kissed  with  love  and  confidence  who 
have  given  their  lives  for  the  sake  of  God  -  jin 
hari  arathi  sariru  lagaia  gur  sadhu  bahu  saradha 
lai  mukhi  dhura  (GG,  698).  The  sages  found  Hari 


SHERIFF 


106 


SHKR  SINGH 


through  faith  ;  they  found  Hari  through  the 
word  of  the  Teacher.  That  is  to  say,  faith  in  the 
Teacher's  word  is  the  door  to  God-realizadon. 
The  word  gurmukh  literally  means  'Teacher's 
mouth' ;  it  symbolically  means  the  word  (sabda) 
or  speech  (ban!)  which  comes  out  of  Guru's 
mouth.  This  word  or  speech  documented  in 
the  Granth  is  an  object  of  faith  because  it  is 
the  vehicle  to  go  beyond  sarisara.  The  gurmukh 
or  Teacher's  word  is  therefore  called  the  door 
of  deliverance  (mokhu-duar) .  As  is  well  known, 
the  word  gurmukh  also  means  a  pious  person 
imbued  with  faith,  who  has  turned  towards  God 
or  the  Guru,  a  God-faced  person.  As  such,  the 
gurmukh  is  the  ideal  person  of  Sikh  culture 
and,  therefore,  an  embodiment  of  shardha,  faith. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jayatillake,  N.,  Early  Buddhist  Theory  of 
Knowledge.  London,  1963 

2.  Gyomroi-Ludowyk,  'The  Valuation  of  Sraddha 
in  the  Early  Buddhist  Texts'  in  The  University  of 
Ceylon  Review,  Vol.  V 

3.  Edward  Conze,  Buddhism.  Oxford,  1951 

4.  Minuchehar,  'Notes  on  Two  Sanskrit  Terms  : 
bhakti  and  sraddha'  in  Indo-Iranian Journal,  vol. 
VII,  1964 

5.  Rao,  K.L.  Seshagiri,  The  Concept  of  Sraddha. 
Patiala,  1971 

6.  Sabadarath  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib Ji.  Amritsar, 
1964 

7.  Wazlr  Singh,  Dharam  da  Darshanik  Pakkh. 
Patiala,  1986 

L.M.J. 

SHERIFF,  a  Spaniard,  who  joined  the  Sikh  army 
as  an  engineer  in  1841  on  a  salary  of  Rs  300 
per  month.  He  had  not  been  in  service  more 
than  an  year  when  he  fell  off  his  horse  and 
died  in  Lahore. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Grey,  O,  and  Garrett,  H.L.O.,  European 
Adventurers  of  Northern  India.  Lahore,  1929 

Gl.S. 


SHER  MUHAMMAD  KHAN,  NAWAB  (d. 
1710),  an  Afghan  feudatory  of  the  Mughals, 
was  the  chief  of  Malerkotla  and  held  a  high 
military  position  in  the  sarkar  or  division  of 
Sirhind.  He  had  participated  in  the  battle  of 
Chamkaur  and  was  present  in  the  court  at 
Sirhind  when  Nawab  Wazir  Khan,  the  faujdar, 
pronounced  death  for  Sahibzada  Zorawar 
Singh  and  Sahibzada  Fateh  Singh,  the  younger 
sons  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  who  were  9  and  7 
years  of  age,  respectively.  Sher  Muhammad 
Khan  pleaded  against  the  death  sentence  on 
the  ground  that  the  boys  were  too  young  to  be 
given  such  a  harsh  penalty  and  could  not  in 
any  case  be  held  responsible  for  the  actions  of 
their  father.  Wazir  Khan,  however,  overruled 
the  objection  and  the  Sahibzadas  were  brutally 
executed. 

When  Banda  Singh  Bahadur  advanced  on 
Sirhind  in  1710,  Nawab  Sher  Muhammad  Khan 
at  the  head  of  his  Malerkotla  contingent, 
formed  part  of  Wazir  Khan's  army.  He  was 
killed  in  the  action  that  ensued,  i.e.  the  battle 
of  Chappar  Chiri  fought  on  12  May  1710. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhal,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  Life  of  Banda  Singh  Bahadur. 
Amritsar,  1935 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

P.S.P. 

SHER  SINGH,  leader  of  a  group  of  Sikh 
warriors  who  was  rewarded  by  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  (1666-1708)  for  his  initiative  and  alacrity 
in  one  of  the  battles  of  Anandpur.  He  fell  upon 
a  contingent  of  the  Mughal  force  fatigued  after 
a  quick  day's  action.  This  sudden  attack  took 
the  enemy  by  surprise.  The  Sikhs  overpowered 
the  Mughal  troop  and  robbed  it  of  much  of 
its  loot. 


SHER  SINGH  ATARIVALA 


107 


SHER  SINGH  CHHACHHI 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  1 0.  Ed.  Shs.msher 
Singh  Ashok.  Patiala,  1968 

M.G.S. 

SHER  SINGH  ATARIVALA  (d.  1858), 
provincial  governor  under  Maharaja  Duleep 
Singh  of  Lahore,  was  the  son  of  Chatar  Singh 
Atarivala.  He  was  appointed  governor  of 
Peshawar  in  October  1845,  and  recalled  in 
August  1846  to  Lahore  where  he  was 
nominated  a  member  of  the  Council  of 
Regency.  He  was  created  Raja  in  November 
1847.  In  April  1848,  Raja  Sher  Singh 
commanded  the  Lahore  Darbar  troops  sent  out 
to  Multan  by  the  British  Resident  to  quell  the 
rebellion  by  Diwan  Mul  Raj.  But  on  hearing  of 
the  humiliation  his  father,  Chatar  Singh,  who 
was  governor  of  Hazara,  had  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  Captain  James  Abbott,  the  Assistant 
Resident,  and  sore  at  the  British  refusal  to 
permit  the  marriage  of  his  sister  who  had  been 
betrothed  to  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh,  Sher 
Singh  left  the  British  camp  and  went  over  to 
Mul  Raj  along  with  the  Darbar  troops.  He 
moved  northwards  to  join  his  father,  Chatar 
Singh,  at  Hazara.  Sher  Singh's  action  set  into 
motion  a  chain  of  events  which  set  the  whole 
of  the  Punjab  ablaze.  From  across  the  Ravi  and 
from  the  Sind  Sagar  Doab  multitudes  of 
disbanded  Khalsa  soldiers  swelled  his  ranks. 
Overnight,  he  became  a  leader  of  Sikh 
resistance.  He  proclaimed  himself  a  Servant  of 
the  Khalsa  and  that  of  the  sovereign,  and  called 
upon  the  people  to  rise  in  arms  and  expel  the 
British  from  their  country. 

Simultaneously,  the  rising  in  the  north 
under  his  father,  Chatar  Singh  Atarivala,  gained 
popular  support.  The  Sikh  contingents  at 
Bannu,  Kohat,  Tohk,  Peshawar  and  Attock 
revolted  and  joined  him.  On  the  other  hand, 
without  a  formal  declaration  of  war,  the  British 
commander-in-chief,  Lord  Sir  Hugh  Gough, 
crossed  the  Ravi  on  16  November  1848,  with 
24,000  men  and  65  guns. 

Sher  Singh  fought  the  British  at  Ramnagar 


on  22  November  1848,  defeating  Brigadier- 
General  Campbell's  3rd  Infantry  Division.  The 
force  under  his  command  fought  another 
action  on  3  December  at  Sadullapur  engaging 
the  British  division  commanded  by  General 
Thackwell,  and  crossed  over  to  the  left  bank 
of  the  river.  Soon  afterwards  he  joined  his 
father,  Chatar  Singh,  and  together  they  worsted 
the  British  at  Chellahvala  on  13  January  1849 
but  in  the  last  action  at  Gujrat  on  21  Febuary 
1849  they  suffered  a  heavy  defeat.  Both  Chattar 
Singh  and  Sher  Singh  fled  towards  Jehlum, 
pursued  by  General  Gilbert.  On  14  March,  Sher 
Singh  surrendered  to  the  British  commander 
at  Rawalpindi.  The  Punjab  was  annexed  to  the 
British  dominions  and  Sher  Singh  along  with 
his  father  was  detained  at  Atari  and  then 
imprisoned  at  Allahabad.  They  were  later 
transferred  to  Fort  William  at  Calcutta  from 
where  they  were  released  in  January  1854. 

Raja  Sher  Singh  died  at  Banaras  in  1858. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Surl,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Ganda  Singh,   Sardar  Sham  Singh  Atarivala. 
Amritsar,  1942 

3.  Griffin,  Lepel  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Siklis.  Delhi, 
1983 

5.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Princeton,  1966 

G.S. 

SHER  SINGH  CHHACHHI  (d.  1814),  son  of 
Tahal  Singh  Chhachhi  of  Kohli  Khatri  caste, 
served  under  Maharaja  Ranjlt  Singh.  As  his 
ancestors  had  settled  in  Chhachh,  in  Attock 
district  (now  in  Pakistan)  the  family  came  to 
be  known  as  Chhachhi.  Sher  Singh  succeeded 
to  the  estates  of  his  father  along  with  his  two 
brothers,  Jassa  Singh  and  Fateh  Singh.  He  took 
part  in  several  of  the  Maharaja's  early 
campaigns  of  conquest  receiving  large 
additions  to  his  estates  at  Bharatpur,  Safhval 


SHKR  SINGH,  GIANI 


108 


SHER  SINGH,  GIANI 


and  Kunjah.  He  served  at  Kask  in  Pind  Dadan 
Khan  district,  at  Pindl  Gheb  and  Jharig  and 
joined  die  expedition  against  Kashmir  in  1814 
in  which  he  was  killed. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Griffin,  Lepel  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

S.S.B. 

SHER  SINGH,  GIANI  (1890-1944),  political 
leader,  orator  and  newspaper  editor,  was  born 
the  son  of  Varyam  Singh  and  Nand  Kaur  at  the 
village  of  Thikrivala,  now  in  Saiigrur  district  of 
the  Punjab,  .in  January  1890.  An  attack  of 
smallpox  when  he  was  barely  two  years  old  left 
him  totally  blind.  Yet  he  educated  himself,  first 
receiving  instruction  at  the  hands  of  two  Sikh 
schoolmen,  Sant  Javala  Das  and  Sant  Bhola 
Singh,  and  then  attending  for  nearly  five  years 
an  institute  for  the  blind  children  at  Daudhar. 
He  gained  good  command  of  Sikh  theology 
and  scriptures  and  came  to  be  known  as  a  Gianl. 
Early  in  his  life  he  took  to  preaching.  The  first 
centre  he  chose  was  Peshawar  where  he 
remained  from  1911  to  1915,  thereafter  shifting 
to  Rawalpindi,  his  host  in  that  town  being 
Nanak  Singh,  then  a  rising  poet,  who  later 
became  famous  as  a  Punjabi  novelist.  From 
Rawalpindi,  Gianl  Sher  Singh  started  a  series 
of  Punjabi  tracts  and  books,  Gurmat  Parchar 
Lari,  to  which  he  contributed  the  lives  of  Guru 
Hargobind,  Guru  Har  Rai,  Guru  Har  Krishan 
and  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  The  Nitnem  Satlk, 
Guru  Sahib  te  Ved,  Guru  Granth  te  Panth  and 
Ragmala  Darpan  are  some  of  his  other  better- 
known  works. 

Transferring  himself  to  Amritsar,  he 
edited  successively  the  Parde si  Khalsa,  the  daily 
Qaumj  Dard,  Ash  Qaumi  Dard,  the  Sikh  Sevak 
and  the  Khalsa  Sevak.  His  last  newspaper  was 
the  weekly  Punjab  which  he  launched  in  1938, 
after  severing  connection  with  the  Khalsa 
Sevak.  As  a  newspaper  editor,  Giani  Sher  Sirigh 
enjoyed  great  influence.  His  editorials  were 
marked  by  forthrightness,  a  flair  for  polemics 


and  argument  and  remarkable  political  acumen, 
and  he  was  known  for  his  strong  advocacy  of 
Sikh  rights  and  interests.  Besides  his 
journalism,  Giani  Sher  Singh  also  took  active 
part  in  politics.  He  made  powerful  speeches 
from  the  Congress  platform  and  was  taken  into 
custody  for  one  of  these  and  confined  in  jail 
from  23  June  1922  to  30  June  1923. 

He  was  again  arrested  in  October  1923 
when  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  of  which  he  was  a  member  was 
declared  to  be  an  unlawful  organization.  He 
was  released  from  Lahore  Fort  towards  the  end 
of  January  1926  along  with  19  other  Akali 
leaders  who  agreed  to  give  an  undertaking  to 
work  by  the  newly  passed  Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act. 
The  other  section  of  the  Akalis,  led  by  Teja 
Singh  Samundri  and  Master  Tara  Singh, 
refused  to  give  any  such  undertaking  and 
continued  in  confinement.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  a  schism  in  the  Akali  ranks  which 
resulted  in  the  formation  of  two  separate 
parties  -  Shiromani  Akali  Dal  and  the  Central 
Akali  Dal.  Giani  Sher  Singh  was  a  leading  figure 
in  the  latter.  Giani  Sher  Singh  served  another 
term  in  jail  from  16  November  1931  to  17  May 
1932  for  participation  in  the  Akali  morcha  at 
Daska. 

In  the  first  elections  held  under  the  Sikh 
Gurdwaras  Act  in  the  summer  of  1926,  Giani 
Sher  sihgh  was  elected  unopposed  to  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee. 
In  the  committee  his  role  was  that  of  the  leader 
of  the  opposition  who  for  many  a  long  year 
gave  the  ruling  party  led  by  Master  Tara  Sihgh 
a  stubborn  fight.  Giani  Sher  Sihgh,  who  was 
vice-president  of  the  Central  Sikh  League, 
represented  the  Sikhs  in  All-India  forums  such 
as  the  All  Pardes  Conference  held  at  Lucknow 
in  August  1928  and  the  Unity  Conference 
convened  by  Madan  Mohan  Malaviya  and 
Shaukat  'Ali  at  Allahabad  in  November  1932. 
In  the  elections  to  the  provincial  assemblies 
held  in  the  winter  of  1936-37  under  the 
Government  of  India  Act  of  1935,  Giani  Sher 
Sihgh  lent  powerful  support  to  the  Khalsa 


SHER  SINGH,  MAHARAJA 


109 


SHER  SINGH,  MAHARAJA 


National  Party  sponsored  by  Sir  Sunclar  Singh 
Majithia  and  Sir  Jogendra  Singh  and  played  a 
crucial  role  in  bridging  the  gap  between  the 
elitist  group  and  the  masses.  The  Khalsa 
National  Party  won  more  than  half  of  the  Sikh 
seats  against  the  Akall-Congress  alliance  and 
its  representative  Sundar  Siiigh  Majlthiajoined 
the  ministry  formed  by  Muslim-dominated 
Unionist  Party.  The  wrangling  between  Master 
Tara  Singh's  Shiromani  AkalUDal  and!  Giani 
Sher  Singh's  Central  Akali  Dal  continued  until 
the  two  leaders  decided  to  bury  the  hatchet, 
formally  arriving  at  a  compromise  on  15 
November  1941.  Together  they  campaigned  for 
Azad  Punjab,  a  formula  for  readjusting  the 
boundaries  of  the  Punjab  aiming  at  subtracting 
the  Hindu-Sikh  majority  areas  from  the 
Muslim  League's  scheme  of  Pakistan. 

Giani  Sher  Singh  died  on  7  October  1944 
in  the  Civil  Hospital  at  Amritsar  where  he  had 
been  under  treatment  for  a  tumour  in  the  brain. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurcharan  Singh,  Giani,  Gia.nl  Sher  Singh  :Jivan 
ate  Likhtan.  Delhi,  1988 

2.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

3.  Jaswant  Singh,  ed.,   Master  Tara  Singh  :  Jivan 
Sangharsh  te  Udesh.  Amristsar,  1972 

4.  Tuteja,  K.L.,  Sikh  Politics.  Kurukshetra,  1984 

5.  Gulati,  K.C.,  Aiaiis  Past  and  Present.  Delhi,  1974 

6.  Mohinder  Singh,  The  Akali  Movement.  Delhi, 
1978 

7.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikh::.  Delhi, 
1983 

Gmt.  S. 

SHER  SINGH,  MAHARAJA  (1807-1843),  Sikh 
sovereign  of  the  Punjab  from  January  1841 
until  his  death  in  September  1843,  was  the  son 
of  Maharaja  Ranjlt  Singh,  born  on  4  December 
1807  to  Mahitab  Kaur,  the  Maharaja's  first  wife. 
Sher  Singh  grew  up  into  a  handsome,  broad- 
chested  young  man.  His  soldierly  mien  made 
him  popular  with  the  army.  He  loved  hunting 
and  hawking,  and  devoted  attention  to 


cultivating  European  interests  and  hobbies  in 
the  company  of  foreigners  serving  at  the  Sikh 
court.  In  1820,  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh 
conferred  upon  him  civil  and  military  honours 
and  the  privilege  of  sitting  on  a  chair  in  the 
Darbar.  Sher  Singh  took  part  in  many  of  the 
compaigns  undertaken  by  the  Maharaja  for  the 
expansion  of  his  kingdom.  In  May  1831,  he 
defeated  at  Balakot,  in  Hazara  district,  the 
turbulent  Sayyid  Ahmad  Barelavi  who  had 
started  a  jihad  against  the  Sikh  rule.  From  1831 
to  1834  he  acted  as  governor  of  the  province 
of  Kashmir.  He  was  one  of  the  army 
commanders  who  led  in  1834  forces  in 
Peshawar  and  who  finally  seized  the  city  from 
the  Afghans. 

In  the  political  vacuum  created  by  the 
deaths  in  November  1840  successively  of 
Maharaja  Kharak  Siiigh  and  his  son  Kahvar  Nau 
Nihal  Singh,  Sher  Singh  staked  his  claim  to  the 
throne  of  the  Punjab.  Another  major 
contestant  was  Rani  Chand  Kaur,  Kharak 
Singh's  widow,  who  sent  for  Gulab  Singh  Dogra 
fromjammu  to  counteract  the  influence  of  his 
brother,  Raja  Dhian  Singh,  who  had  declared 
support  for  Sher  Singh.  Dhian  Singh  suggested 
several  compromises.  Chand  Kaur  could  marry 
Sher  Singh  or,  being  childless  could  adopt  Sher 
Singh's  son  Partap  Siiigh  as  her  son.  However, 
Chand  Kaur  asserted  that  Nau  Nihal  Singh's 
widow  was  pregnant  and  might  give  birth  to  a 
rightful  successor.  Ultimately  an  arrangement 
was  arrived  at  under  which  Chand  Kaur  was  to 
act  as  regent  for  her  expected  grandson,  while 
Sher  Singh  would  function  as  vice-regent  and 
head  of  the  council  of  regency,  and  Dhian 
Singh  as  the  principal  minister.  But  the 
triumvirate  failed  to  work  in  unison.  A  few  days 
later,  two  powerful  Sandhahvalia  Sardars,  Atar 
Singh  and  Ajit  Siiigh,  collaterals  of  the  royal 
contenders  for  the  throne,  arrived  in  Lahore 
and  took  over  control.  On  2  December  1840, 
Chand  Kaur  was  proclaimed  Maharani  of  the 
Punjab,  with  the  tide  of  Malika  Muqaddasa, 
empress  immaculate.  The  next  day  Sher  Singh 
left  Lahore  for  his  estate  in  Batala.  A  month 


SHER  SINGH,  MAHARAJA 


110 


SHliR  SINGH,  MAHARAJA 


later,  Dhian  Singh  Dogra  too  was  compelled 
to  quit  the  capital,  and  Chand  Kaur  and  the 
Sandhahvalias  gained  complete  control  of  the 
administradon. 

Sher  Singh  sdll  had  the  support  of  the 
army  and  most  of  the  crack  regiments  had  gone 
over  to  his  side.  The  European  officers  were 
with  him,  too.  In  January  1841,  he  arrived  in 
Lahore  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force. 
Chand  Kaur  appointed  Gulab  Singh  Dogra  as 
commander-in-chief  and  charged  him  with 
the  task  of  defending  the  city.  She  cleared  the 
soldiers'  arrears  of  pay  for  four  months,  and 
lavished  presents  of  gold  bangles,  necklaces 
and  shawls  on  the  officers.  She  issued  orders 
to  the  city's  bankers  forbidding  them  to  lend 
money  to  Sher  Singh.  But  the  situadon  turned 
decisively  in  favour  of  Sher  Singh,  when 
regiments  stationed  outside  the  city-walls 
joined  him  in  a  body.  He  finally  had  with  him 
26,000  infantry,  8,000  horse,  and  45  guns, 
whereas  Chand  Kaur  was  left  with  only  5,000 
men,  a  few  guns  and  a  limited  quantity  of 
gunpowder. 

Sher  Singh  forced  his  way  into  the  city, 
and  made  a  proclamation  assuring  safety  of  life 
and  property  to  the  citizens  and  offering 
pardon  to  those  who  would  come  over  to  him. 
The  leading  courders  made  their  submission 
and  forwarded  a  joint  appeal  to  Chand  Kaur 
and  Gulab  Singh  Dogra  to  lay  down  arms.  The 
Maharani,  however,  chose  to  fight.  For  two 
days,  Sher  Singh's  artillery  shelled  the  Fort,  but 
with  litde  effect.  On  the  evening  of  17January 
1841,  Dhian  Singh  D°gra  arrived  and  secured 
a  ceasefire.  Chand  Kaur  was  persuaded  to 
accept  a  jagir  and  relinquish  her  claim  to  the 
throne.  At  midnight  Gulab  Singh  and  his 
soldiers  evacuated  the  Fort,  taking  with  them 
all  the  State's  hoard  of  gold  and  jewels.  From 
among  the  Sandhahvalia  supporters  of  Chand 
Kaur,  Ajit  Singh  fled  to  seek  help  from  Mr 
Clerk,  British  polidcal  agent  in  Ludhiana,  and, 
on  his  refusal  to  receive  him,  he  proceeded  to 
Calcutta  to  see  the  Governor-General.  Ajit 
Singh's  uncle,  Atar  Singh,  also  sought  asylum 


in  the  British  territory. 

Sher  Singh  occupied  the  fort  and 
ascended  the  throne  on  20  January  1841, 
though  the  formal  tilak  (anointment) 
ceremony  was  performed  a  week  later  on  27 
January  by  Baba  Bikram  Singh  Bedi  of  Una. 
His  son,  Kahvar  Partap  Singh,  received  a  khiU'at 
as  heir  apparent  and  Dhian  Singh  Dogra  as 
Wazir  or  minster.  In  the  second  half  of  July, 
Sher  Singh  married  the  daughter  of  the  Raja 
of  Suket.  Known  in  the  palace  as  Rani  Dukno, 
she  earned  fame  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
women  of  her  time.  The  match  was  made  on 
the  recommendadon  of  Lahina  Singh  Majithia 
who  conducted  the  preparatory  negotiadons. 

Sher  Singh  forbore  from  taking  any 
reprisals  and  treated  generously  even  those 
who  had  opposed  him.  Through  a 
proclamauon  by  the  beat  of  drum,  he  assured 
the  people  of  Lahore  peace  and  security.  The 
army  was  warned  not  to  molest  the  citizens  in 
any  manner,  and  the  commanders  were 
cautioned  to  exercise  maximum  vigilance  to 
this  end.  But  since  the  Maharaja  was  not  able 
to  redeem  his  promises  of  rewards  to  the 
troops,  they  went  berserk,  killing  regimental 
accountants  and  officers,  who  they  suspected 
of  having  embezzled  their  wages  or  having 
dealings  with  the  English,  and  plundering  the 
city.  As  the  presdge  of  the  Darbar  declined,  the 
men  of  the  army  arose  to  have  their  voice  heard 
in  matters  of  state.  The  one  institution  with 
which  they  were  familiar  was  the  paiichayat  - 
the  council  of  elders  which  regulated  the  affairs 
in  their  villages.  The  system  was  imported  into 
the  army,  and  each  regiment  began  to  elect  its 
own  pahches  whose  duty  was  to  deliberate  on 
the  orders  of  the  commanding  officer  and  then 
to  make  their  recommendations  to  the  men. 
This  seriously  affected  discipline  in  the  army. 

The  British  from  across  the  border  might 
have  intervened  in  the  affairs  of  Maharaja  Sher 
Singh's  administration,  but  were  prevented 
from  doing  so  by  a  sudden  turn  of  events  in 
Afghanistan  which  the  British  had  occupied 
earlier  with  the  active  heljD  of  the  Sikhs  under 


SHER  SINGH,  MAHARAJA 


111 


SHER  SINGH,  MAHARAJA 


the  Tripartite  Treaty  of  1838,  placing  Shah 
Shuja'  on  the  throne  of  Kabul.  In  a  bloody 
rising  in  Kabul  in  the  autumn  of  1841,  Shah 
Shuja'  was  murdered  and  the  British  army  of 
occupation  annihilated.  For  the  recovery  of 
Afghanistan,  Lord  Ellenborough,  the 
governor-general,  sought  (spring  1842)  the  co- 
operation of  the  Sikhs.  Reassured  that  the 
Sandhanvalia  refugees  in  the  British  territory 
would  not  be  allowed  to  disturb  his  reign,  Sher 
Singh  was  persuaded  to  assist.  The  purchase 
of  grain  and  hire  of  carriage  cattle  in  the 
Punjab  were  facilitated,  and  a  division  of  5,000 
Sikhs  helped  force  the  Khaibar  Pass.  Sher  Singh 
allowed  Dost  Muhammad  Khan,  with  whom  the 
Sikhs  had  crossed  swords  in  many  a  battle  and 
whom  the  British  were  escorting  to  Kabul  for 
installation  as  the  new  king.  The  Lahore  Darbar 
signed  a  separate  treaty  with  Dost  Muhammad 
Khan  as  the  Amir  of  Afghanistan. 

A  notable  event  during  Sher  Singh's  reign 
was  the  conquest  of  the  Ladakh  valley  which 
was  strategically  very  important  and  which 
made  the  frontier  secure  against  the  expanding 
influence  of  China.  A  Sikh  expedition  under 
the  Dogra  general,  Zorawar  Singh,  marched 
towards  Tibet.  Garo  and  Rudok  were  occupied 
and  the  Lhasa  armies  attacked.  Although  the 
expedition  did  not  make  much  headway  owing 
to  premature  snowfall  and  difficult  and 
unfamiliar  terrain,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed 
on  17  September  1842  between  the 
representative  of  the  Khalsa  Darbar  and  the 
representative  of  the  Chinese  emperor.  It  was 
agreed  that  the  traditional  boundaries  of 
Ladakh  and  Tibet  would  be  considered 
inviolable  by  both  parties  and  trade, 
particularly  of  tea  and  pashmina  wool,  would, 
as  in  the  past,pass  through  Ladakh. 

In  March  1842,  Mr  Cler  k  of  the  Luclhiana 
political  agency  had  led  a  diplomatic  mission 
to  Amritsar  to  condole  with  Maharaja  Sher 
Singh  on  the  death  of  his  predecessor  and 
congratulate  him  upon  his  accession.  He  also 
took  the  opportunity  of  interceding  on  behalf 
of  the  Sandhahvalias,  Atar  Singh  and  Ajit  Singh, 


who  had  formally  sought  the  Maharaja's 
permission  for  returning  to  the  Punjab.  In 
September'  1842  a  letter  was  received  from  Ajit 
Singh  announcing  "his  intention  to  come  to 
Lahore  for  presenting  himself  before  the 
Shahzada  (Sher  Singh)."  Sher  Singh  gave  his 
approval  for  the  return  of  the  fugitives.  Baba 
Bikram  Singh  of  Una  placed  them  under 
solemn  oaths.  On  his  standing  surety  for  them, 
Sher  Singh  pardoned  them.  Ajit  Singh  arrived 
in  Lahore  on  17  November  1842,  followed  by 
Atar  Singh.  Amnesty  was  also  extended  to 
Lahina  Singh  Sandhanvalia  and  Kehar  Singh 
Sandhanvalia  who  were  released  from 
confinement  in  the  Mukeriah  Fort. 

Although  Sher  Singh  had  shown 
magnanimity  in  allowing  Atar  Singh  and  Ajit 
Singh  to  return  to  the  Punjab  and  to  resume 
their  accustomed  positions  at  the  court,  they 
were  not  reconciled  to  him.  Their  original 
nominee  for  the  throne  of  the  Punjab,  Mai 
Chand  Kaur,  whose  cause  they  had  persistendy 
espoused  even  after  crossing  over  to  the  British 
territory,  was  now  dead  (9  June  1842),  yet  they 
continued  to  nurture  a  feeling  of  hostility 
towards  Sher  Singh.  This  culminated  in  a 
murderous  plot.'  On  15  September  1843,  the 
Maharaja  rode  out  of  the  city  early  in  the 
morning,  that  being  a  sari&rant,  the  first  day 
of  the  Bikrami  month,  there  was  no  darbar  for 
him  to  attend.  He  alighted  near  Tej  Singh's 
garden  where  tents  were  put  up  for  his  son, 
Kahvar  Partap  Singh.  To  fulfil  the  morning's 
engagement,  he  moved  on  the  Shah  Balaval 
where  sitting  in  the  baradari or  pleasure  house, 
he  witnessed  wrestling-bouts,  with  Dlwan  Dina 
Nat.li  and  Buddh  Singh,  his  armour-bearer,  in 
attendance.  After  he  had  dismissed  the 
wrestlers  with  due  charity,  the  Sandhanvalia 
Sardars,  who  had  followed  him  with  150  horse 
and  300  foot,  requested  him  to  inspect  their 
troops.  Totally  without  suspicion,  Sher  Singh 
agreed  and  came  out  of  the  room.  After  the 
parade,  Ajit  Singh  sought  his  permission  to 
show  him  a  carbine  he  had  obtained  from  an 
Englishman  in  Calcutta.  As  the  Maharaja  who 


SHER  SINGH  NAMAH 


112 


SHER  SINGH  NAMAH 


was  a  great  lover  of  weapons  put  forth  his  hands 
to  take  hold  of  the  rifle,  Ajit  Singh  pressed  the 
triggers  and  empded  the  loaded  barrels  into 
his  chest.  "Oh,  Sardar,  what  decepdon?"  was 
all  the  Maharaja  could  say  as  he  dropped  to 
the  ground  dead.  Ajit  Singh  rushed  forward 
and  cut  off  his  head  with  a  single  blow  of  the 
sword.  The  shots  that  killed  Sher  Singh  were  a 
signal  for  the  elder  Sandharivalia,  Lahina 
Singh,  to  pounce  upon  his  12-years-old  son, 
Partap  Singh,  in  the  nearby  Tej  Singh  garden, 
and  hack  off  his  head. 

Sher  Singh  was  survived  by  his  son  Sahdev 
Singh,  born  to  Rani  Dukno  in  1843,  who,  after 
the  annexation  of  the  Punjab  in  1849, 
accompanied  the  deported  king,  Duleep  Singh, 
to  Fatehgarh  in  Uttar  Pradesh.  Descendants  of 
Sahdev  Singh,  his  son  Basdev  Singh  and 
daughter  Harbaris  Kaur  (later  married  to  the 
Rana  of  Dhaulpur) ,  lived  at  Rae  Bareli. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sun,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdit  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore,  1885- 
89 

2.  Prem  Singh,  Baba,  Maharaja.  Sner  Singh. 
Ludhiana,  1951 

3.  Smyth,  G.  Carmichael,  A  History  of  the  Reigning 
Family  of  Lahore.  Calcutta,  1847 

4.  Cunningham,  Joseph  Davey,  A  History  of  the 
Sikhs  from  the  Origin  of  the  Nation  to  the  Battles 
of  the  Sutlej.  London,  1849 

5.  Osborne,  W.G.,  The  Court  and  Camp  ofRunjeet 
Sing.  London,  1840 

6.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Princeton,  1966 

7.  Chopra,  Barkat  Rai,  Kingdom  of  the  Punjab. 
Hoshiarpur,  1969 

8.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

9.  Hasrat,  Bikramajit,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations,  1 799- 
1849.  Hoshiarpur,  1968 

B.j.H. 

SHER  SINGH  NAMAH,  also  known  as  HaJat- 
i— Punjab,  by  Muhammad  Naqi  Peshawar!  Ibn 
Khwaja  Bakhsh  Mulla,  is  an  unpublished 


manuscript,  in  Persian,  containing  an  account 
of  events  of  the  Punjab  from  the  death  of 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  in  1839  to  the  accession 
to  the  throne  in  1843  of  Maharaja  Duleep 
Singh.  The  date  of  its  composition  is  not 
mentioned,  but  internal  evidence  suggests  that 
the  author  took  up  this  work  at  the  request  of 
Bakhshi  Bhagat  Ram,  a  Lahore  Darbar  official, 
and  completed  it  in  1843.  According  to  Mr. 
Charles  Raikes,  the  Commissioner  and 
Superintendent  of  Lahore,  the  manuscript  was 
sent  to  the  Imperial  Exhibition  held  in  Paris 
in  1855.  Copies  of  the  manuscript  are  preserved 
in  the  British  Library  (No.  Or  1780),  India 
Office  Library  (No.  505)  and  the  Punjab  State 
Archives  at  Patiala  (No.  327).  The  last- 
mentioned  manuscript  comprises  sixty-eight 
folios  and  is  divided  into  four  sections.  The  first 
section  (ff.  7a-12''  )  gives  a  description  of  the 
situation  within  the  kingdom  of  the  Punjab 
after  the  death  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh,  and 
the  second  (ff.  12''-25h)  describes  Karivar  Sher 
■Singh's  march  from  Batala  to  stake  his  claim 
to  the  throne  of  Lahore  and  his  clash  with  Bibi 
Chand  Kaur  and  her  adherents.  The  third 
section  (ff.  26a-40a)  deals  with  the  disturbed 
political  state  of  the  capital  of  Lahore  and  the 
assassination  of  Maharaja  Sher  Singh  and  the 
last  section  covers  the  assassination  of  Dhian 
Singh  and  the  retribution  which  overtook  the 
Maharaja's  killers.  Muhammad  Naqi  bemoans 
the  tragic  death  of  Karivar  Nau  Nihal  Singh  who 
was  mortally  wounded  by  the  fall  of  parapet  of 
the  northern  gate  of  the  Hazuri  Bagh  while 
returning  from  the  funeral  of  his  father,  Kharak 
Singh  :  "Glory  has  departed  from  the  Punjab; 
gloom  engulfs  the  royal  household"  (fol.  121')- 
He  comments  upon  the  "usurpation"  of  the 
throne  by  Chand  Kaur,  Kharak  Singh's  widow. 
The  kingdom  of  the  Punjab,  he  observes,  "has 
fallen  a  prey  to  a  cancerous  malady.  Chaos 
reigns  supreme.  Spring  has  departed  ushering 
in  bleak  autumn"  (fol.  13a).  Chand  Kaur, 
according  to  him,  was  "neither  a  soldier  nor 
did  she  possess...  the  experience  of  governing 
the  country."  Describing  the  struggle  for 


SHF.R  SINGH  NAMAH 


113 


SHlHAN 


political  power  between  Chand  Kaur  and  Sher 
Singh,  Naqi  says  that  the  Khalsa  troops  were 
attached  to  Sher  Singh  and  obeyed  his  orders; 
that  while  at  Batala  he  had  been  summoned 
by  the  army  panchayats  and  State  counsellors 
"  to  bless  them  with  his  arrival"  and  occupy  the 
throne  (fol.  15a).  Sher  Singh  marched  on 
Lahore  in  January  1841  and  gained  the 
allegiance  of  the  army  and  the  Darbar  officials. 
On  14  January  the  Khalsa  proclaimed  him  the 
new  sovereign  of  the  Punjab.  As  the  situation 
calmed  down,  Maharaja  Sher  Singh  became 
engrossed  in  his  pursuits  of  pleasure.  "He 
would  ride  an  Arab  horse  and  roam  the  jungles 
with  his  hounds  and  hawks  hunting  deer, 
partridge,  quail  and  woodcock"  (fol.  30").  Sher 
Singh  is  charged  with  neglect  of  State  business 
leaving  the  reins  of  administration  in  the  hands 
of  Wazir  Dhian  Singh  who  kept  warning  him 
against  the  machinations  of  the  Sandhanvalia 
chiefs.  But  "he  treated  the  Wazir's  advice  and 
entreaties  as  husk"  (fol.  36a) .  "In  the  third  year 
of  his  reign,  the  Maharaja  began  to  neglect  the 
care  of  the  land  and  welfare  of  his  sul>jects. 
The  soldiery  became  more  oppressive.  Th  e  rich 
fled  the  land,  the  wicked  defied  the  law,  and 
evil-doers  took  the  place  of  good  men.  Even 
the  lives  of  counsellors  of  State  became 
unbearable.  The  government  ceased  to  exist" 
(fol.  33a).  The  Maharaja's  continued  absence 
at  Batala  worsened  the  situation.  Dhian  Singh 
left  for  Jammu,  and  Bhai  Gurmukh  Singh 
gained  ascendancy  at  the  Darbar.  On  return 
to  the  capital,  Dhian  Singh  conspired  to  replace 
Sher  Singh  by  minor  Duleep  Singh.  On  15 
September  1843,  the  Sandhanvalia  chiefs 
murdered  Sher  Singh,  his  son  Partap  Singh  and 
Wazir  Dhian  Singh  (ff  38a-40"),  and 
proclaimed  Duleep  Singh  as  the  new  king  of 
the  Punjab,  but  "their  crafty  assurances 
appeared  more  or  less  as  hunters'  cries  or 
soldiers'  shouts"  (fol.  60'').  Nemesis  soon 
overtook  the  Sandhahvalias.  Hira  Singh,  son 
of  Raja  Dhian  Singh,  won  over  the  troops  and 
■the  principal  sardars.  The  Fort  was  stormed  on 
1 6  September  and  Ajit  Singh  Sandhanvalia  and 


Lahina  Singh  Sandhanvalia  were  slain.  Hira 
Singh  ordered  their  kith  and  kin  put  to  the 
sword  and  their  houses  at  Raja  Sahsi  razed  : 
"Ajit  Singh's  house  was  destroyed,  and  it  was 
declared  that  thenceforward  his  lands  should 
no  longer  be  ploughed  with  oxen,  but  with 
asses"  (ff.  63-64). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and  Sanskrit 
Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

B.J.H. 

SHIAM  SINGH  (d.  1705),  keeper  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  treasure  as  well  as  his  armoury, 
fought  in  the  batde  against  Said  Khan  in  1703. 
Upon  the  evacuation  of  Anandpur,  he 
accompanied  the  Guru  up  to  Chamkaur  where 
a  Mughal  force  caught  up  with  them.  Shiam 
Singh  fell  in  the  battle  which  ensued  (  7 
December  1705). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Cranth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

P.S.P. 

SHIHAN,  recorded  in  a  Sikh  chronicle  as  the 
birthplace  of  Akali  Phula  Singh,  celebrated 
warrior  of  Sikh  times,  was  village  10  km  from 
Lahira  (29"-56'N,  75"-48'E),  now  in  Sahgrur 
district  of  the  Punjab.  What  remains  of  the 
village  now  is  a  ruined  mound  near  an  extensive 
depression  forming  a  big  shallow  lake.  The 
mound  lies  in  the  revenue  limits  of  Dehla 
village,  whose  sangat  has  now  established  a 
gurdwara  near  the  mound,  one  kilometre  west 
of  the  village.  It  is  called  Gurdwara  Baba  Phu.1^ 
Singh  Akali.  A  Nihang  Singh  looks  after  the . 
shrine  on  behalf  of  the  village  sangat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Hoti,  Prem  Singh.Jjvan  BritantBatia  Phiila  Singh 
Akali.  Amritsar,  1914 


SHlHAN 


114 


SH1ROMANI  COMMITTEE 


2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

M.G.S. 

SHIHAN,  Dhir  Mall's  masand,  desperately 
supported  his  patron  who  had  set  himself  up 
at  Bakala  as  one  of  the  several  claimants  to  the 
guruship  following  the  death  of  Guru  Har 
Krishan  in  March  1664.  He  enticed  the  Sikhs 
to  his  patron's  presence  telling  them  that  he 
was  the  late  Guru's  successor  and  he,  as  a  mark 
of  it,  had  in  his  possession  the  original  copy  of 
the  Holy  Granth.  After  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  had 
been  anointed  Guru,  Shihah  counselled  Dhir 
Mall  to  occupy  the  gaddi  by  force.  Dhir  Mall 
agreed  to  the  proposal  and  allowed  Shihah  to 
make  an  armed  attack  on  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
and  ransack  his  house.  Shihah  even  fired  at 
the  Guru,  who  however  escaped  unhurt. 
Makkhan  Shah,  a  wealthy  trader  and  a  staunch 
follower  of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  who  happened 
to  be  in  town  with  his  armed  attendants, 
retaliated  and  plundered  Dhir  Mall's  residence. 
But  when  the  Guru  learnt  what  Makkhan  Shah 
had  done,  he  bade  him  restore  the  property 
to  its  owner.  He  even  had  the  sacred  volume 
returned  to  Dhir  Mall.  Shihah  was  not  deterred 
from  his  malicious  ways.  According  to  Guru 
kian  Sakhian,  he  was  still  with  Dhir  Mall  when 
the  latter,  in  1676,  was  summoned  by  royal 
warrant  to  Delhi  to  be  confined  to  the  Fort  of 
Ranthambore. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash,  vol.11. 
Patiala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Padam,  Piara  Singh  and  Giani  Garja  Singh,  eds., 
Guru  kian  Sakhian.  Patiala,  1986 

4.  Trilochan  singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  :  Prophet 
and  Martyr.,  Delhi,  1967 

5.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  Delhi,  1982 

A.C.B. 

SHIHAN,  BHAI,  an  Uppal  Khatri  of  Khadiir 


Sahib  in  present-day  Amritsar  district  of  the 
Punjab,  was  a  prominent  Sikh  of  the  time  of 
Guru  Ahgad  (1504-52)  and  Guru  Amar  Das 
(1479-1574). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

Gn.S. 

SHIROMANI  GURDWARA  PARBANDHAK 
COMMITTEE,  a  statutory  body  comprising 
elected  representatives  of  the  Sikhs  concerned 
primarily  with  the  management  of  sacred  Sikh 
shrines  under  its  control  within  the  territorial 
limits  of  Punjab,  Haryana,  Himachal  Pradesh 
and  the  Union  territory  of  Chandigarh.  It 
originated  with  the  Gurdwara  Reform  or  Akali 
movement  of  the  early  1920's,  which  lasted 
until  the  1925  when  the  Gurdwara  bill  was 
placed  on  the  statute  book. 

The  administration  of  Darbar  Sahib  (the 
Golden  Temple)  complex  had  been,  since  the 
annexation  of  the  Punjab  to  the  British 
territory  in  1849,  controlled  by  the  British 
government  through  a  committee  of  Sikh 
aristocrats  and  a  manager  (sarbarah) 
appointed  by  the  British  deputy  commissioner 
of  Amritsar  district.  The  committee  and  the 
sarbarah,  a  retired  risaldar  major  and  honorary 
captain  of  the  Indian  army,  Arur  Singh,  were 
anathematized  among  Sikhs  for  their 
association  with  the  Jalliativala  Bagh  tragedy. 

On  12  October  1920,  the  Khalsa  Baradari, 
an  organization  of  Sikhs  from  backward  classes, 
held  a  divan  (religious  assembly)  in  Jallianvala 
Bagh  at  which  some  teachers  and  students  of 
the  Khalsa  College  were  also  present.  A  large 
number  of  new  entrants  were  initiated  into  the 
Khalsa  Brotherhood  by  administering  to  them 
the  rites  of  the  Khalsa.  As  the  ceremony 
concluded,  the  entire  sarigat  went  to  the 
Golden  Temple  to  offer  karah  prasad  and  at  das. 


SH1ROMANI  COMMITTEE 


115 


SHIROMANl  COMMITTEE 


The  clergy  at  first  refused  to  accept  the 
offerings  from  the  so-called  untouchables,  but 
later  agreed  when  on  a  reference  being  made 
to  the  holy  book,  a  hymn  which  was  read  out 
instantaneously  favoured  the  reformists'  views. 
The  sarigat  then  went  to  the  Akal  Takht. 
honoured  as  the  highest  seat  of  religious 
authority  for  the  Sikhs,  to  pay  their  homage. 
The  priests  on  seeing  the  sarigat  coming  fled 
leaving  the  holy  Takht  Sahib  untenanted.  The 
reformers  occupied  the  Akal  Buhga  and 
appointed  Teja  Singh  Bhuchchar  as  Jfathedar 
of  the  Akal  Takht.  with  25  volunteers  to  guard 
and  serve  it. 

The  deputy  commissioner,  on  13  O  ctober 
1920,  summoned  the  priests,  the  sarbariih,  and 
some  notable  citizens  for  consultation.  The 
priests  did  not  appear  at  the  meeting,  and  the 
deputy  commissioner  appointed  a  fresh 
committee  under  the  chairmanship  of  the 
sarbarah.  The  reformers  on  the  other  hand 
summoned,  under  the  authority  of  the  Akal 
Takht.  a  general  assembly  of  the  Sikhs  to  meet 
in  front  of  the  Akal  Takht  on  15  Novemberv1920 
to  deliberate  the  question,  The  government 
held  hasty  consultadons  with  the  Maharaja  of 
Patiala  and,  on  13  November,  nominated  a 
committee  of  36  Sikh  notables  for  the 
management  of  the  Golden  Temple  and  other 
gurdwaras  including  the  Darbar  Sahib  at  Tarn 
Taran.  The  Sikh  assembly  held  on  15  and  16 
November  elected  a  committee  of  175 
members  represendng  all  the  districts,  Sikh 
states  of  the  Punjab,  other  Indian  provinces, 
and  Sikh  organizations  in  Burma,  Malaya, 
China  and  North  America.  It  also  included  the 
36  government  nominees  in  the  committee 
which  it  named  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  SGPC  for  short. 

The  inaugural  meedng  of  the  SGPC  was 
held  at  the  Akal  Takht  on  12  December  1920. 
It  appointed  a  sub-committee  to  draft  the 
Committee's  constitution.  It  elected  Sardar 
Sundar  Singh  Majithia  as  president,  Harbaris 
Singh,  of  Atari,  as  vice-president  and  Sundar 
Singh  Ramgarhia  as  secretary. 


The  Majithia  Sardar  resigned  early  in  1921 
to  join  the  ministry  set  up  under  the 
Government  of  India  Act,  1919,  and  Baba 
Kharak  Singh  was  elected  in  his  place  president 
of  the  SGPC.  The  Committee  was  registered 
under  the  Societies  Registration  Act,  1860,  on 
30  April  1921. 

Under  its  constitution,  80  per  cent  of  the 
175-member  Committee  were  to  be  elected 
from  different  constituencies  in  the  Punjab  and 
outside  including  the  princely  states  and  the 
remaining  seats  were  to  be  nominated  by  the 
elected  members.  There  were  to  be  a  president, 
a  vice-president,  a  secretary,  an  executive 
committee  of  35  members  of  whom  19  could 
form  a  quorum  and  a  7-member  working 
committee.  In  addition,  local  committees  with 
paid  secretaries  were  to  be  formed  for  the 
management  of  important  shrines  or  groups 
of  shrines.  Conditions  of  membership  of  the 
SGPC  included  conformity  to  the  teachings  of 
the  Gurus,  adherence  to  the  injunction 
regarding  five  K's,  and  a  subscription  of  Re. 
1.25  per  month.  The  prime  functions  of  the 
Committee  were  to  manage  all  gurdwaras 
under  its  control,  cleanse  them  of  un-Sikh  and 
undesirable  practices,  to  regularize 
expenditure  and  to  utilize  all  income 
appropriately  for  purposes  such  as  propagation 
of  religion  and  education,  upkeep  and 
improvement  of  buildings  and  the  running  of 
Guru  ka  Larigar  (free  community  kitchens) . 

New  elections  under  the  constitution  were 
held  in  July  1921 .  Baba  Kharak  Singh  was  elected 
president,  Captain  Ram  Singh  vice-president 
and  Sardar  Bahadur  Mehtab  Singh  secretary. 
Meanwhile,  more  gurdwaras  were  brought 
under  the  Committee's  control,  usually  through 
negodadon  and  persuasion  but  also  sometimes 
by  coercion  or  use  of  force.  The  mahants  often 
resisted  strongly  with  resort,  at  times,  to 
violence.  The  first  such  incident  took  place  at 
Tarn  Taran  where  a  group  of  Akali  negotiators 
was  attacked  by  the  priests  with  lethal  weapons 
causing  death  of  two  Akalis  and  injuries  to 
many  others.  A  far  more  serious  tragedy  took 


SHIROMANI  COMMITTEE 


116 


SHIROMANI  COMMITTEE 


place  on  20  February  1921  at  Nankana  Sahib 
where  about  200  Sikh  volunteers  were  killed 
by  hired  assassins  of  Mahant  Narain  Das,  the 
custodian  of  Gurdwara  Janam  Asthan. 

There  was  clear  evidence  that  the  mahants 
had  the  support  of  the  government.  This  fact 
led  to  the  purely  religious  movement  into  the 
political  struggle  involving  direct  clash  between 
the  reformists  and  the  government.  Two  days 
after  the  inaugural  session  of  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  on  12 
December  1920,  the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal  as  the 
political  wing  of  the  SGPC  came  into  existence. 
It  carried  out,  under  the  overall  guidance  and 
control  of  the  parent  body,  a  series  of  morchas 
(1922),  Bhai  Pheru  andjaito  morchas  (1923- 
24).  The  SGPC  in  this  struggle  maintained  a 
policy  of  non-violence  and  peaceful,  passive 
resistance  whereas  the  government  tried  all 
means  of  suppression-  arrests,  merciless 
beating,  detention,  summary  trials, 
imprisonment  and  even  firing  on  a  peaceful 
unarmed  band  of  volunteers  atjaito  on  21 
February  1924.  Both  the  SGPC  and  the  Akali 
Dal  were  declared  unlawful  bodies  on  12 
October  1923  and  all  their  top  leaders  and 
hundreds  of  activists  were  put  behind  the  bars. 
The  agitation  however  continued.  Ultimately 
the  government  relented  and  recognized  the 
exclusive  right  of  the  Sikhs  to  manage  their 
own  religious  shrines.  Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act, 
1925,  passed  by  the  provincial  legislative 
assembly  on  9  July  1925  and  implemented  with 
effect  from  1  November  1925  created  a 
"Board",  renamed  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  soon  after  (although 
the  word  Board  still  exists  in  the  statute  book) 
to  provide  for  the  better  administration  of 
certain  Sikh  Gurdwaras  and  for  inquiries  into 
matters  and  setdement  of  disputes  connected 
therewith.  This  covered  gurdwaras,  listed  in 
Schedules  I  and  II  annexed  to  the  Act,  located 
within  the  then  province  of  Punjab.  Later  after 
the  merger  of  the  Patiala  and  East  Punjab 
States  Union  (PEPSU)  with  the  Punjab  in  1-956, 
gurdwaras  falling  therein  were  also  included 


in  the  respective  schedules  vide  the  amending 
Act  I  of  1959,  while  gurdwaras  lying  in  parts 
separated  under  the  Reorganization  Act  of  1 966 
continued  to  remain  under  SGPC'sjurisdiction. 
The  Committee's  control  over  gurdwaras  in 
Pakistan  of  course  lapsed  on  15  August  1947. 

The  "Board",  i.e.  the  SGPC,  originally 
comprised  132  elected  members  from  the 
Punjab  besides  head  ministers  of  Sri  Darbar 
Sahib  and  of  the  Takhts.  at  Amritsar,  Patna, 
Anandpur  Sahib  and  Nanded,  and  25  co-opted 
members  from  Sikh  residents  in  the  rest  of 
India.  Consequent  to  amendments  made  from 
time  to  time,  the  present  composition  of  the 
Board  is  140  elected  members,  five  head 
ministers  and  15  co-opted  members.  Twenty 
seats  are  reserved  for  scheduled  caste  Sikhs. 
The  tenure  of  the  Board,  originally  3  years,  is 
now  5  years  or  until  the  composition  of  a  new 
Board.  The  tenure  of  the  executive,  however, 
is  only  one  year.  Delimitation  of  constituencies 
and  the  conduct  of  quinquennial  elections  is 
the  responsibility  of  the  state  government. 
Every  Sikh,  male  or  female,  who  is  more  than 
21  years  of  age  has  the  right  to  be  registered 
as  a  voter  provided  he  does  not  trim  or  shave 
his  beard  or  hair  (Sahajdhari  Sikhs  exempted). 
The  first  meeting  of  a  newly  elected  committee 
must  be  held  not  later  than  one  month  after 
the.  government  notification  regarding  its 
constitution,  and  thereafter  a  general  meeting 
must  be  held  at  least  once  in  a  year.  The 
quorum  will  consist  of  31  members.  The 
executive  to  be  elected  in  general  meeting 
every  year  consists  of  the  president,  two  vice- 
presidents  (one  senior  and  one  junior)  and  a 
general  secretary  (all  these  to  be  known  as 
office-bearers),  and  between  5  and  11 
members.  The  executive  exercises,  on  behalf 
of  the  committee,  all  powers  conferred  on  the 
latter  which  are  not  expressly  reserved  in  the 
Act  for  the  general  meeting.  All  decisions  in 
the  executive  as  well  as  in  the  general  meeting 
will  be  decided  by  majority  vote,  the  president 
possessing  a  casting  vote  in  the  case  of  equality 
of  votes  for  and  against,  provided  that  the  head; 


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117 


SHIROMANI  COMMITTEE 


ministers  are  not  entitled  to  vote  during  the 
election  of  the  office-bearers  and  members  of 
the  executive  committee. 

To  adjudicate  on  any  disputes  regarding 
recognition  of  any  shrines  as  being  a  Sikh 
gurdwara  under  the  Act  or  on  complaints  with 
respect  to  the  SGPC  or  its  committees  or 
against  any  of  its  office  holder  or  member  past 
or  present,  a  Judicial  Commission  consisting 
of  three  members  is  continued  under  the  Act. 
Its  members  must  be  Sikh  lawyers  or  ex-judges 
of  not  fewer  than  10  years  standing. 
Appointments  to  it  are  made  by  the 
government  provided  that  two  of  them  must 
be  selected  out  of  a  panel  of  seven  names 
submitted  by  the  SGPC.  The  expenses  of  the 
Commission  are  shared  by  SGPC  and  the 
government  in  the  ratio  of  two  to  one.  The 
Commission  is  not  a  court  in  the  legal  sense 
but  ajudicial  body  which  substantially  controls 
the  functioning  and  operation  of  gurdwara 
management.  Cases  before  it  are  regarded  as 
complaints  and  not  as  suits.  It  is  permanently 
situated  in  a  building  owned  by  the  SGPC,  close 
to  district  courts  in  Amritsar. 

Although  constituted  as  a  purely  religious 
body  for  the  management,  of  gurdwaras,  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
with  its  vast  resources  (its  annual  budget  now 
is  around  a  thousand  million  rupees)  performs 
multifarious  functions.  Besides  propagation  of 
religion  including  running  of  free  ki  tchens,  it 
runs  a  large  number  of  schools  and  colleges, 
manages  agricultural  farms  on  gurdwara  lands, 
encourages  research,  printing  and  publication 
of  works  on  Sikh  religion  and  history,  and  helps 
victims  of  political  repression  as  well  as  of 
natural  calamities.  It  arranges  visits  of  Sikh 
pilgrims  to  gurdwaras  left  in  Pakistan  and 
maintains  liaison  with  Sikh  organizations  in 
other  Indian  states  and  abroad.  It  takes  up  with 
the  government  matters  of  Sikh  interests  or 
grievances.  In  this  it  collaborates  with  the 
Shiromani  Akali  Dal,  a  political  party 
representing  the  Sikh  masses. 

The  position  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 


Parbandhak  Committee  vis-a-vis  the  Shiromani 
Akali  Dal  underwent  a  change  soon  after  the 
passing  of  the  Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act,  1925. 
Originally  the  Dal  functioned  under  the 
control  of  the  Committee,  designed  as  it  was 
to  co-ordinate  the  activities  of  local  and 
regional  units  of  Akali  workers  which  already 
existed  at  the  birth  of  the  SGPC,  and  to 
mobilize  and  provide  volunteers  to  the 
Committee  as,  when  and  where  required.  A 
confidential  report  of  the  C.I.D.  (Criminal 
Investigation'  Department),  Punjab,  dated  22 
February  1922,  refers  to  the  Dal  as  "Central" 
Akali  Dal  which  appellation  indicates  its 
coordinating  role  in  a  federal  set-up.. The 
Gurdwara  Act,  while  restricting  the  committee's 
field  of  action  to  purely  religious,  introduced 
an  electoral  system  which  needed  an  organ  for 
politically  educating  and  organizing  the 
electrorate,  which  was  supposed  to  be  the  real 
sanction  behind  the  representative  character 
of  the  committee.  This  role  naturally  fell  to  the 
Shiromani  Akali  Dal.  As  long  as  the  apex 
leadership  was  common  to  both  organizations, 
there  was  no  difficulty  for  the  two  to  co-exist. 
But  as  differences  arose  (and  they  cropped  up 
as  soon  as  the  Act  was  passed) ,  political  activity 
in  the  Dal  quickened.  The  very  first  election 
under  the  Act,  held  on  18  June  1926,  was 
fought  between  a  moderate  group  led  by 
Sardar  Bahadur  Mehtab  Singh,  who  had 
obtained  their  release  by  giving  the  undertaking 
of  acceptance  of  the  Act  as  demanded  by  the 
government,  and  others  led  by  those  who 
refused  a  conditional,  release  and  were  still  in 
jail.  The  result  gave  a  landslide  victory  to  the 
latter,  who  rightfully  claimed  to  be  the  Shiromani 
Akali  Dal.  Thereafter  it  was  the  Dal  which  by 
virtue  of  its  political  strength  controlled  the 
SGPC.  The  latter  provided  the  Dal  with  moral 
support  and  monopoly  in  the  use  of  the  pulpit 
on  the  plea  that  Sikhism  recognizes  no  hiatus 
between  religion  and  politics. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Teja  Singh,  Gurdwara  Reform  and  the  Sikh 


SHIROMANI  KHALSA  DiWAN 


118 


SHIVDIAL. 


Awakening.  Jalandhar,  1922 

2.  Sahni,  Ruchi  Ram,  Struggle  for  Reform  in  Sikh 
Shrines.  Amritsar,  n.d 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi 
1983 

4.  Kashmir  Singh,  Law  of  Religious  Institutions- 
Sikh  Gurdwaras.  Amritsar,  1989 

5.  Ganda  Singh,  "The  Akali  Dal  and  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee,"  Panjab  Past 
and  Present.  Patiala,  October  1967 

6.  — .  ed.,  Some  Confidential  Papers  of  the  Akali 
Movement.  Amritsar,  1965 

7.  MohinderSingh,  The  Akali  Movement  Delhi,  1978 

8.  Josh,  S.S.,  Akali  Morchian  da  Itihas.  Delhi,  1972 

9.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Shromani  Gurdwara 
Prabandhak  Committee  da  Panjah  Sala  Itihas. 
Patiala,  1982 

10.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

A.S.S. 

SHIROMANI  KHALSA  DIWAN,  NORTH- 
WEST FRONTIER  PROVINCE,  a  socio- 
political organization  of  the  Sikhs  of  the 
frontier  province  (now  in  Pakistan),  was 
founded  in  the  1920's  by  Sardar  Jagat  Singh 
Narag  of  Peshawar,  a  businessman,  later  a 
member  of  the  provincial  legislative  assembly. 
The  Sikh  population  of  the  North-West 
Frontier  Province  was  according  to  the  1941 
Census  62,411,  about  one  half  of  which  were 
Sahajdhari  Sikhs.  They  were  mainly 
businessmen  and  professionals,  but  a  fair 
number  also  represented  farmers  concentrated 
chiefly  in  Hazara  district.  Sikhism  had  been 
introduced  in  the  region  in  the  days  of  the  early 
Gurus.  A  number  of  Sikh  residents  were  the 
descendants  of  Punjabi  soldiers  who  had  setded 
down  here  after  the  annexation  of  Peshawar 
by  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  in  1834.  Every  town 
had  at  least.one  gurdwara.  Singh  Sabhas  had 
been  established  in  larger  towns  such  as 
Haripur  (1886),  Kohat  (1886-87),  Loralai 
(1903)  and  Peshawar  (1905).  All  the  Singh 
Sabhas  in  the  province  came  to  be  affiliated  to 
the  Shiromani  Khalsa  Diwan  which  in  turn  was 


affiliated  to  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan,  Amritsar. 

Asocial  and  religious  organization  to  start 
with,  the  Shiromani  Khalsa  Diwan  also  took  up 
the  cause  of  safeguarding  the  political  interests 
of  the  Sikhs,  especially  after  the  Communal 
Award  of  1932,  and  pressed  for  weigh tage  for 
the  Sikh  minority  in  the  legislature.  It 
succeeded  in  securing  for  the  Sikhs  three  seats 
in  a  house  of  50.  During  the  elections  held  early 
in  1937,  the  Diwan's  candidates  carried  all  the 
three  seats.  In  the  legislature  they  collaborated 
with  the  9-member  Hindu  group  to  form  a  12- 
member  Hindu-Sikh  legislative  party.  After  the 
adoption  of  the  Pakistan  resolution  by  the  All- 
India  Muslim  League  in  1940,  the  Shiromani 
Khalsa  Diwan  gave  support  to  the  Shiromani 
Akali  Dai's  Azad  Punjab  scheme  for  the 
protection  of  Sikh  interests.  Thereafter  the 
Diwan  became  virtually  an  affiliated  unit  of  the 
Shiromani  Akali  Dal.  During  the  general 
elections  of  1946,  the  Diwan's  candidates  for 
the  three  Sikh  seats  in  the  provincial  legislature 
contested  as  Akali  Dal  nominees.  The 
Shiromani  Khalsa  Diwan,  North-West  Frontier 
Province,  ceased  to  exist  after  the  partition  of 
1947. 

A.S.S. 

SHIV  DIAL,  whose  ancestors  had  made  their 
home  in  Wazirabad,  entered  the  service  of 
Charhat  Singh  Sukkarchakkia  and  was  assigned 
to  managing  his  estates.  His  father,  Kishan 
Kumar,  a  follower  of  Gurbakhsh  Singh 
Wazirabadia,  was  the  first  in  the  family  to  have 
taken  up  service  with  the  Sikhs.  When  Ranjit 
Singh  conquered  the  Dhanni  country,  he 
appointed  Shiv  Dial  manager  and  gave  him  an 
estate  at  Nurpur,  subject  to  service.  When 
advanced  in  years,  Shiv  Dial  introduced  his  sons 
Shahkar  Das  and  Kanhaiya  Lai  at  the  Lahore 
court,  himself  retiring  to  Wazirabad. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Griffin,  Lepel  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

S.S.B. 


SHIVNABH,  RAJA 


119 


SHUDDHI  SABHA 


SHIVNABH,  RAJA,  was,  according  to  the  Janam 
Sakhi  tradition,  a  Ceylonese  king  who  became 
a  devotee  of  Guru  Nanak.  It  was  a  merchant  of 
Lahore,  Bhai  Mansukh,  who  during  a  visit  to 
Ceylon,  then  known  as  Sinhaldvip,  had 
impressed  the  king  with  his  conduct  as  well  as 
with  the  account  of  what  he  described  as  his 
perfect  Guru,  Nanak.  Shivnabh  became 
interested  in  Guru  Nanak  and  was  anxious  to 
see  him.  But  Mansukh  advised  him  to  meditate 
on  the  Guru  and  wait  for  him  in  Ceylon  itself. 
Since  then  the  Raja  had  awaited  the  Guru's 
coming.  Guru  Nanak  travelled  to  the  far  off 
"Singhal  dip"  (Sinhaldvip,  the  island  of  the 
Sinhalese)  accompanied  according  to  Puratan 
Janam  Sakhi  by  two  disciples,  Saido  and  Siho. 
Raja  Shivnabh  along  with  his  wife  Chandrakala, 
and  their  12-year  old  son,  entered  the  path  of 
discipleship.  So  did  some  of  the  populace.  At 
the  Guru's  instance,  Shivnabh  established  a 
dharamsala  where  the  faithful  assembled  by 
night  to  pray  and  recite  hymns  in  praise  of  God. 

While  in  Ceylon,  relates  the  Puratan 
Janam  Sakhi,  Guru  Nanak  was  inspired  to  utter 
Pran  Sangli,  a  metrical  composition  of  twenty- 
one  stanzas  describing  the  state  of  true 
religious  discernment  A  written  script  was 
made  by  Saido  and  left  with  Raja  Shivnabh. 
When  Guru  Arjan  (1563-1606)  began  to  collect 
the  sayings  of  his  predecessors  for  inclusion  in 
the  Scripture,  a  Sikh  by  the  name  of  Bhai  Paira 
was  sent  to  Ceylon  in  search  of  this 
composidon.  The  copy  that  he  brought  was  not 
regarded  as  genuine  by  theGuru  and  was  thus 
excluded  from  the  sacred  volume  he  was 
compiling.  It  was  however  included  in  Bhai 
Banno's  copy  of  the  Scripture  as  Haqiqat  Rah 
Maqam  Shivnabh  Raje  Ki,  which  is  considered 
by  the  Sikhs  as  an  apocryphal  composition. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Vir  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Puratan  Janam  Sakhi. 
Amritsar,  1971 

2.  Santokh    Singh,    Bhai,    Sri   Gur  Pratap 
Suraj  Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Kirpal  Sirigh,Janam  Sakhi Parampara.  Patiala,  1969 


4.  Macauliffe,  MA,  The  Sikh  Religion,  Oxford,  1909 

5.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Nanak  and  Origins  of  the 
Sikh  Faith.  Bombay,  1969 

Gn.S. 

SHIV  RAM  (b.  1418),  grandfather  of  Guru 
Nanak,  was  the  son  of  Ram  Narain,  a  Bedi 
Khatri.  He  and  his  wife,  Banarasi,  lived  in  a 
village  called  Patthevind,  now  the  site  of 
Gurdwara  Dera  Sahib,  1 0  km  east  of  Naushahra 
Panniiah  in  present-day  Amritsar  district  of  the 
Punjab.  Two  sons,  Kalu  and  Lalu,  were  born  to 
them  -  the  former  in  1440  and  the  latter  in 
1444.  The  elder,  Baba  Kalu,  variously 
mentioned  by  chroniclers  as  Mahita  Kalu, 
Kalian  Rai,  Kalu  Rai,  Kalu  Chand  or  Kalian 
Chand,  was  the  father  of  Guru  Nanak. 
Sometime  during  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  family  shifted  to  Talvandi  Rai  Bhoi 
KI,  now  Nankana  Sahib  in  Sheikhupura  district 
of  Pakistan,  where  Shiv  Ram  became  a  pafvari 
or  village  rent  collector  for  the  local  chief,  Rai 
Bular,  a  descendant  of  Rai  Bhoi  the  Bhatti 
noble  whose  name  the  village  commemorated. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  TwarJM  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Kohli,  S.S.,  ed.,  Janam  Sakhi  Bhai  Bala. 
Chandigarh,  1975 

4.  Vir  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Puratan  Janam  Sakhi. 
Amritsar, 

5.  McLeod,  W.H.,  tr.,    The  B40  Janam-sakhi. 
Amritsar,  1980 

Gn.S. 

SHUDDHI  SABHA,  a  society  working  in  the 
closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century 
primarily  for  the  reconversion  to  Sikhism  of 
those  proselytized  into  Christianity  or  Islam, 
was  established  in  1893.  .  Christian 
proselytization  had  started  with  the  advent  of 
British  rule  in  the  Punjab  with  official 
encouragement.  Though  the  rate  was  never 


SHUDDHl  SABHA 


120 


SHYAM  SINGH 


alarming,  the  local  religious  communities  were 
becoming  increasingly  self-conscious.  The  Sikh 
response  had  materialized  in  the  shape  of  the 
Singh  Sabha.  That  the  Sikhs  were  the  main 
target  is  clear  from  the  valedictory  instructions 
given  to  the  first  batch  of  misssionaries  of  the 
Church  of  England  appointed  to  the  Punjab 
in  1852.  "A  few  hopeful  instances,"  they  were 
told,  "lead  us  to  believe  that  the  Sikhs  may 
prove  more  accessible  to  scriptural  truths  than 
the  Hindus  and  the  Muhammedans...."  The 
principal  mission  centre  was  set  up  at  Amritsar, 
the  religious  capital  of  the  Sikhs.  Converts 
steadily  came  from  amongst  Sikhs,  Hindus  and 
Muslims.  To  reclaim  such  of  them  as  had 
converted  to  Christianity,  the  Muslims  formed 
associations  like  Himayat-i-Islam.  Orthodox 
Hinduism  does  not  permit  readmission  of  the 
apostates,  and  it  was  not  till  the  rise  of  the  Arya 
Samaj  that  reconversion  of  shuddhi  was 
encouraged.  The  Singh  Sabha  was  not  averse 
to  reclaiming  converts,  but  its  focus  was  mainly 
on  religious  reform  and  education.  Specifically 
for  reconversion  a  separate  Jatt  Singh  Sabha 
was  formed  at  Lahore  by  Bhai  Uttam  Singh  and 
Bhal  Nihal  Singh  Jamadar.  Some  other  Sikhs 
individually  cooperated  with  the  Arya  Samaj  ists 
in  their  efforts  at  reconversion.  A  broad-based 
organization  came  into  existence  only  when  Dr 
Jai  Singh  ( 1 856-1 898) ,  who  hair  not  long  before 
set  up  as  a  chemist  in  Lahore,  established  on 
17  April  1893  the  Shuddhi  Sabha,  with 
representatives  from  the  Singh  Sabha,  Jatt 
Singh  Sabha,  Arya  Samaj,  Sanatan  Dharam 
Sabha,  and  Pandit  Sabha.  Its  first  president  was 
Sardar  Basant  Singh,  vice-president  Lala 
Dilbagh.  Rai  Bakhshi  and  secretary  Sardar 
Mehar  Singh  Chawla.  By  August  1893,  its 
membership  had  risen  to  70. 

Under  the  constitution  of  the  Sabha, 
shuddhi  meant  conversion  or  reconversion  of 
one  from  Christianity  or  Islam  to  Sikh-  or 
Hindu  faith.  Like  converts,  patits,  i.e.  fallen 
ones  guilty  of  a  major  kurahit  or  breach  of 
religious  discipline,  were  readmitted  into  the 
Sikh  faith.  If  a  Hindu  wanted  to  enter  the  Sikh 


fold  and  was  willing  to  observe  rahhor  the  code 
of  the  Khalsa,  he  was  to  be  administered 
khande  di  pahul,  Khalsa  rites  by  the  double- 
edged  sword.  If  any  new  entrant  was  not  yet 
prepared  to  adopt  the  Sikh  discipline,  he  was, 
as  a  first  step,  administered  charan  pahul,  or 
initiation  by  sanctified  waterr  to  become  a 
sahajdhari  (gradualist)  Sikh  declaring  himself 
a  follower  of  the  Sikh  Gurus  and  of  no  other 
religion. 

The  main  force  behind  the  activities  of 
the  Shuddhi  Sabha  was  Dr  Jai  Singh.  In  Baisakh 
1953  Bk/ April-May  1896,  he  established  a 
journal  in  Punjabi  called  Shuddhi Patra  Khalsa 
Dharam  Prakashak.  A  large  number  of  converts 
were  brought  back  into  the  Sikh  fold  through 
the  initiative  of  Shuddhi  Sabha.  But  the  death 
on  9  June  1898  of  its  founder,  Dr  Jai  Singh, 
tolled  its  knell.  Both  the  Sabha  and  itsjournal 
folded  up  soon  afterwards. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jagjit  Singh,  Singh  Sabha  Lahir.  Ludhiana,  1974 

2.  Shuddhi  Patra  Khalsa  Dhararn  Prakashak.  April- 
May  1896  and  January-February  1897 

3.  V7r  Sudhar  Pattar  arthat  Sri  Guru  Singh  Sabha 
Bhasaur  de  Athme  te  Naume  Saline  Divan  da 
Sitta.  Bhasaur,  1903 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

JgS. 

SHYAM  SINGH,  a  great-  grandson  of  Guru 
Hargobind  (1595-1644),  received  the  rites  of 
the  Khalsa  at  the  hands  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
(1666-1708).  After  the  evacuation  of  the  town 
in  December  1705,  Shyam  Singh  along  with  his 
brother  Gulab  Singh  was  left  at  Anandpur,  with 
the  Guru's  letter  of  introduction  to  the  ruler 
of  Nahan  in  case  they  found  their  stay  at 
Anandpur  made  difficult.  The  brothers 
escaped  to  Nahan  and  found  asylum  there,  but 
returned  to  Anandput  when  the  situation  so 
permitted,  and  purchased  the  town  from  the 
Raja  of  Bilaspur.  The  Sodhis  of  Anandpur  are 
Shyam  Singh's  descendants. 


SIALKOJ 


121 


SIALKOT 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Sura/ 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarflch  Guru  Khaki  [Reprint]. 
Patiala,  1970 

3.  Kahn  Singh,  Gurushabad  Ratnakar  Mahan  Kosh 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

M.GS. 

SIALKOT  (32°-30N,  74°-32'N),  an  ancient 
town  now  in  Pakistan,  was  visited  by  Guru 
Nanak  more  than  once  during  his  travels  across 
the  country.  According  to  Gian  fiaianavaii, 
better  known  as  Janam  Saldii  Bhai  Main  Singh, 
supported  by  local  tradition,  as  he  once  arrived 
here  travelling  from  his  native  Talvandi,  via 
Saidpur,  and  took  his  seat  under  a  ber  tree 
southeast  of  the  town  across  the  Aik  stream, 
he  learnt  that  a  Sufi  faqir,  Hamza  Ghaus,  had 
laid  the  town  under  a  curse  of  destru  ction  and 
was  undergoing  a  chalisa,  or  forty-day  self- 
mortification,  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
doom  he  had  invoked  on  the  citizens.  The 
reason  for  his  wrath  was  the  failure  of  a  Khatri 
inhabitant,  Gahga,  to  fulfil  his  promise  to 
present  the  first-born  of  his  three  sons  he  owed 
to  his  (faqir's)  own  blessing.  Guru  Nanak 
reasoned  with  Hamza  Ghaus  that  he  must  not 
blame  the  sins  of  one  person  upon  the  entire 
populace  among  whom  there  might  be  some 
good  and  wise  men.  To  make  a  test,  the  Guru 
sent  his  companion  Bhai  Mardana  into  the 
town  to  purchase  one  farthing's  worth  of  truth 
and  one  farthing's  worth  of  falsehood. 
Mardana  went  from  shop  to  shop  showing  the 
slips  the  Guru  had  given  ,  but  no  one 
understood  the  strange  request  until  one 
shopkeeper,  Mula  by  name,  took  the  slips  from 
him  and  writing  on  their  back' the  words  "Life 
is  false"  and  "death  is  the  truth",  returned  these 
to  Mardana  who  brought  them  back  to  where 
Guru  Nanak  and  Hamza  Ghaus  had  been 
waiting  for  him.  These  answers  mollified  the 
faqir  and  pleased  the  Gum,  who  went  to  meet 
Mula.  Mula  felt  heartily  rejoiced  to  see  the 
Guru  and  turned  a  disciple.  He  gave  up  his 


business  and  accompanied  Guru  Nanak  on  his 
travels  through  Kashmir  and  parts  of  Afghanistan. 

According  to  Miharban  Janam  Sakhi, 
Guru  Nanak,  during  his  stay  at  Kartarpur  after 
his  long  travels,  visited  Siaikot  once  again  to 
see  Bhai  Mula.  This  time,  records  the  Miharban 
Janam  Sakhi,  he  was  accompanied  by  a  band 
of  bare-bodied  ascetics.  Mula,  at  the  suggestion 
of  his  wife,  who  had  from  a  distance  seen  the 
Guru  approach,  hid  himself  in  a  dark  room  at 
the  back  of  the  house.  As  the  Guru  arrived  and 
enquired  about  Mula,  the  latter's  wife  replied 
that  he  was  not  at  home  and  had  gone  out  of 
town.  Guru  Nanak  left  after  uttering  a  couplet: 
naii  kirara  dosti  kurai  kuri  pai ;  maranu  na japai 
mulia  avai  kitai  thai  (False  is  the  friendship  of 
shopkeepers ;  one  never  knows,  O  Mula!  where 
death  may  befall  one)  (GG,  1412).  Bhai  Mula 
died  soon  after.  Although  the  Meharban 
Janam  Sakhi  says  that  he  was  struck  by  remorse 
and  was  pardoned  and  blessed  by  the  Guru 
before  his  end,  popular  tradition  attributes 
Mula's  death  to  a  snake-bite  he  suffered  in  his 
place  of  hiding  itself. 

There  were  two  historic  gxirdwaras  in 
Siaikot  tjoth  affiliated  to  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee,  which  were 
abandoned  at  the  time  of  the  1947  exodus. 
gurdwara  BABE  Di  ber  marks  the  site  where 
Guru  Nanak  had  stayed  under  a  ber  tree,  still 
preserved,  at  the  time  of  his  first  visit  to  the 
town.  In  1913  when  the  mahant  or  priest-in- 
charge,  Harnam  Singh,  died,  the  government 
recognized  a  minor  as  his  successor  and 
appointed  an  apostate,  Ganda  Singh,  as 
sarbarah  or  manager.  This  was  resented  by  the 
Sikhs  who,  organizing  themselves  into  Khjilsa 
Sevak  Jatha,  challenged  the  arrangement  and 
sought  management  of  the  shrine  to  be 
transferred  to  a  committee  chosen  by  it.  As  the 
law  court  dismissed  the  Jatha's  suit,  it  launched 
an  agitation  which  took  the  form  of  meetings 
and  processions  to  press  its  viewpoint.  In  face 
of  the  mounting  protest,  the  government 
relented  and  withdrew  on  5  October  1920  the 
case  against  Sikh  leaders  who  were  being 


SIANA  SAYYIDAN 


122 


SIARH 


prosecuted,  and  extended  recognition  to  the 
9-member  committee  which  had  already 
occupied  the  Gurdwara.  This  could  be  counted 
as  the  first  episode  in  the  long-drawn  campaign 
for  the  reform  of  the  management  of  Sikh 
shrines  in  the  Punjab. 

GURDWARA  BAOLI  SAHIB,  named  after  an  open 
well  with  steps  descending  to  water  level  (baoli, 
in  Punjabi),  marks  the  house  of  Bhai  Mula.  This 
shrine  too  was  abandoned  following  partition 
of  the  Punajb  in  1947. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Nanak  and  Origins  of  the 
Sikh  Faith.  Bombay,  1969 

2.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  Travels  of  Guru  Nanak. 
Chandigarh,  1969 

3.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

4.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduariah.  Amritsar,  n.d 

5.  VIr  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Puratan  Janam  Sakhi. 
Amritsar,  1971 

6.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  SriGurPratap  Sura/  Granth 
Amritsar,  1927-35 

M.G.S. 

SIANA  SAYYIDAN,  a  village  in  Kurukshetra 
district  of  Haryana  5  km  from  Pehowa  (29"- 
59'N,  76"-35'E),  is  the  birthplace  of  Sayyid 
Shah  Bhikh  or  Bhikhan  Shah,  a  Muslim  saint, 
who  guided  by  intuition  and  divine  inspiration, 
had  gone  to  pay  obeisance  to  the  child  Gobind 
at  Lakhnaur  in  1670.  There  are  two  historical 
gurdwaras  in  this  village. 

GURDWARA  DAMDAMA  SAHIB.  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  had  not  forgotten  this  elderly  devotee, 
and,  when  he  visited  Kurukshetra  and  Pehowa 
in  1 702,  he  detoured  into  this  village  and  halted 
there  for  a  night.  The  site  where  he  had 
encamped  is  now  marked  by  Gurdwara 
Damdama  Sahib.  The  present  building  was 
raised  during  the  1960's  by  Sant  Baba  JTvan 
Singh.  It  is  located  inside  a  walled  compound 
and  has  a  hall,  with  a  white  marble  canopied 
platform  for  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  in  the 


middle  of  it.  The  facade  of  the  hall  is  covered 
with  marble  tiles  and  the  entire  compound  has 
a  marble  floor.  The  ribbed  lotus  dome  above 
the  central  pavilion  on  the  first  floor  has  also  a 
white  marble  pinnacle.  The  khanda  on  top  of 
the  flagmast  is  gold-plated.  Another  walled 
compound  near  by  has  rooms  for  the  granthi 
and  for  the  Guru  ka  Lahgar.  The  Shiromaru 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  manages 
the  shrine  through  the  committee  which  looks 
after  Gurdwara  Baoli  Sahib  at  Pehowa. 

GURDWARA  JORA  SAHIB.  The  descendants  of 
Bhai  Jhanda,  one  of  Guru  Nanak's  disciples, 
were  also  living  in  this  village  following  a 
carpenter's  trade.  They  came  to  pay  homage 
and  took  the  Guru  to  their  house.  One  of  them 
presented  him  with  a  pair  of  wooden  sandals. 
The  Guru  was  pleased  and  not  only  accepted 
the  present  but  also  left  his  own  pair  of  shoes 
(j'ora,  in  Punjabi)  in  the  house.  This  family  is 
no  longer  living  in  Siana,  but  the  Guru's  shoes, 
embriodered  in  red  and  white  silk  thread,  are 
still  kept  reverentially  in  a  glass  case  at  the 
Gurdwara  inside  the  village  known  as  Gurdwara 
Jora  ( lit.  pair;  pair  of  shoes)  Sahib. 

It  is  a  single  flat-roofed  room,  housing  the 
holy  relic  as  well  as  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 
The  Gurdwara  is  administered  by  the  village 
sangat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 

Kankhal,  1975 
2  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  TvvariJ^  GunJuariari.  Amritsar,  n.d 
3.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Chandigarh, 

1966 

M.G.S. 

SIARH,  village  14  km  southeast  of  Mandi 
Ahmadgarh  (30"-42'N,  75°-51'E),  in  Ludhiana 
district  of  the  Punjab,  has  a  historical  shrine, 
Gurdwara  Gurusar  Patshahi  Chhevih.  It  is  said 
that  as  Guru  Hargobihd  was  moving  from  Rara 
towards  Jagera,  his  horse  suddenly  became  so 
sick  that  the  Guru  had  to  break  his  journey  in 


S1DDHSEN,  RAJA 


123 


sum  GOSTI 


a  thicket  near  this  village.  The  horse  soon  died. 
The  Guru  had  the  animal  covered  with  a  costly 
shroud  and  buried.  According  to  local 
tradition,  two  greedy  residents  of  Siarh,  who 
had  witnessed  the  burial,  dug  up  the  grave 
after  the  Guru's  departure,  removed  the  shroud, 
and  sold  it.  Misfortune  befell  the  miscreants. 
The  villagers  began  to  treat  the  spot  as  a  holy 
place.  They  built  a  samadh  over  the  horse's 
grave  and  a  platform  where  Guru  Hargobihd 
had  sat.  In  course  of  time,  this  platform  gave 
place  to  a  simple  hut  attended  by  stray  sadhus. 
In  1975  Bk/AD  1918,  one  Bhai  Tahil  Singh 
established  a  gurdwara.  To  the  square  domed 
sanctum  have  recently  been  added  a  hall  and 
a  small  sarovar.  The  shrine  though  affiliated  to 
the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
as  one  unscheduled  gurdwara,  is  managed  by 
a  village  committee.  Besides  the  principal  Sikh 
anniversaries,  the  birthday  of  Guru  Hargobind 
is  celebrated  with  special  eclat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

SIDDHSEN,  RAJA,  chief  of  Mandi  state  in 
Himachal  Pradesh  from  1686  to  1729,  became 
a  devotee  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  At  his  request 
the  Guru  went  to  Mandi  and  stayed  with  him 
for  some  time.  The  Raja  later  had  the  chance 
of  playing  host  to  Banda  Singh  Bahadur  as  well. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Sirigh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  Life  of  Banda  Singli  Bahadur. 
Amritsar,  1935 

Gn.S. 

S1DDHVAN  KALAN,  village  7  km  northeast  of 
Jagraoh  (30"-47'N,  75"-28E)  in  Ludhiana 
district,  is  sacred  to  Guru  Hargobind  who 


halted  here  awhile  during  his  journey  across 
the  Malva  country  in  1631.  The  Guru 
encamped  under  a  plpal  tree  near  a  pond  to 
the  north  of  the  village.  Bhai  Mansa  Ram 
established  on  the  site  a  simple  shrine  which 
was  replaced  in  1938  by  a  small  octagon-shaped 
domed  room  with  a  circumambulatory  passage 
around  it.  This  structure  still  forms  the  sanctum 
where  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  seated,  with 
an  additional  hall  constructed  later.  The  old 
pjpai  tree  stands  in  the  circumambulatory 
passage  at  the  back  of  the  sanctum.  Devotees 
make  offerings  of  milk  here  on  every  tenth  day 
of  the  light  half  of  the  lunar  month.  A  double- 
storeyed  gateway  has  been  added  and  the  Guru 
ka  Lahgar  reconstructed  in  recent  years.  A  part 
of  the  village  pond  has  also  been  reclaimed  and 
coverted  into  a  sarovar.  The  Gurdwara  is 
managed  by  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  through  a  local 
committee.  The  most  important  celebration  of 
the  year  is  3-day  festival  held  on  16,  17  and  18 
Savan  (first  week  of  August)  to  commemorate 
Guru  Hargobind's  visit  to  the  village. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Visakha  Singh,  Sant,  Malva  Itihas.  Kishanpura, 
1954 

M.G.S. 

SIDH  GOSTI,  i.e.  dicourse  or  dialogue  with  the 
Siddhas  or  mystics  adept  in  hatha  yoga  and 
possessing  supernatural  powers,  is  the  title  of 
one  of  Guru  Nanak's  longer  compositions 
recorded  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  A  goshti 
(gostlu)  seeks  to  expound  the  respective 
doctrines  of  scholars  or  saints  participating  in 
it,  revealing  in  the  process  their  dialectical 
prowess  and  learning.  In  the  Sidh  Gosti  all  the 
questions  are  raised  by  the  Siddhas  and  all  the 
answers  come  from  Guru  Nanak.  It  brings  out 
strikingly  the  crux  of  his  teaching,  especially 


SIOH  GOSTl 


124 


SIDH  GOSTl 


in  relation  to  the  Siddhas'  philosophy  and  way 
of  life.  The  text  itself  does  not  provide  any  clue 
as  to  the  time  and  place  of  its  composition, 
though  it  is  generally  placed  in  the  last  years 
of  Guru  Nanak's  life  when  he  had  finally  settled 
down  at  Kartarpur  after  completing  his  major 
preaching  odysseys.  And,  the  composition 
might  not  be  the  record  of  any  of  the  goshtis 
that  are  said  to  have  occurred  at  Gorakh  Hatri, 
Gorakh  Mata,  also  known  as  Nanak  Mata, 
Sumer  Parbat  and  Achal  Batala,  but  a 
recollection  in  tranquillity  of  the  major  points 
from  discourses  between  Guru  Nanak  and  the 
Siddhas  at  any  of  these  or  other  places.  The 
Sidh  Gosti  comprises  seventy-three  stanzas  of 
which  the  first  stanza  consisting  of  four  lines  is 
by  way  of  a  prologue  wherein  Guru  Nanak  is 
shown  as  discoursing  with  the  Siddh  Sabha,  i.e. 
assembly  of  the  Siddhas,  proclaiming  that  he 
paid  obeisance  to  none  other  than  the  True 
Infinite  One  before  whom  everybody  bows  and 
who  can  be  realized  only  with  the  aid  of  a 
spiritual  preceptor.  He  says  that  meditation  on 
His  Name  was  the  only  way  to  liberation  and 
that  the  outer  garb  and  wandering  in  search 
of  Him  were  futile.  After  the  first  stanza  in  this 
section,  there  is  a  couplet  which,  marked  as 
ra/iau  or  pause,  sums  up  the  substance  of  the 
whole  composition,  i.e.  renouncing  the  world 
and  wandering  in  woods  and  mountains  will 
be  fruitless;  it  is  through  the  True  Name  that 
life  becomes  pure  and  purposeful  and  one  can 
attain  emancipation.  The  three  stanzas, 
numbering  four  to  six,  are  designed  as  Guru 
Nanak's  discourse  with  Charpat,  who  belonged 
not  to  the  Siddha  but  Natha  tradition  which 
had  evolved  in  protest  against  the  former's  over 
infatuation  with  supernatural  powers  which 
they  generally  used  for  the  satisfaction  of  their 
carnal  desires.  Charpat  puts  two  questions  to 
Guru  Nanak  as  to  how  successfully  to  swim 
across  the  ocean  of  life  and  how  to  realize  God. 
Guru  Nanak's  reply  is  that  one  can  achieve 
liberation  by  remaining  detached  while  still 
living  in  the  world  and  by  making  human  heart 
a  worthy  abode  for  the  Supreme  Being  by 


cleansing  it  of  all  impurities,  and  not  by 
renouncing  the  world  as  did  the  Siddhas, 
Nathas  and  Yogis.  Stanzas  seven  to  eleven 
comprise  Guru  Nanak's  dialogue  with 
Loharipa,  who  proclaims  the-  importance  of 
renunciation,  outer  garbs  and  rituals  in 
contradistinction  to  the  former's  stress  on 
inner  purity  and  self-control.  Loharipa  favours 
the  austere  life  of  Sidddhas  who  lived  amid 
shrubs  and  trees,  away  from  the  towns  and 
highways  subsisting  on  roots  and  underground 
bulbs.  According  to  him,  ablutions  at  a  sacred 
place  of  pilgrimage  brought  man  peace.  Guru 
Nanak  rejects  the  significance  of  outer  garb, 
renunciation  of  the  world  in  favour  of 
wandering  in  forests  away  from  human 
habitation  and  visits  to  places  of  pilgrimage  as 
the  ultimate  end  of  human  life.  He  on  the 
other  hand  recommends  man  to  control  his 
passions  and  fix  his  mind  on  Him  who 
pervades  throughout  the  universe  which  is  His 
creation.  What  follows  in  stanza  eleven  is  not 
Guru  Nanak's  discourse  with  any  particular 
Siddha,  but  his  recollection  of  some  of  the 
points  from  a  dialogue  he  might  have  had  with 
different  Siddhas  on  different  occassions. 
These  cover  a  wide  variety  of  subjects  such  as 
the  definition  of  a  true  yogi,  gurmukh  and 
manmukh;  the  origin  of  the  universe  and  of 
man  ;  and  the  significance  of  truthfulness  and 
of  constant  meditation  on  His  Name  in 
realizing  the  ultimate  end  of  human  life,  i.e. 
emancipation  from  the  process  of 
transmigration  and  being  one  with  the 
Supreme  Being.  According  to  Guru  Nanak,  a 
yogi  is  not  one  who  renouncing  the  world 
wanders  in  the  woods  and  mountains,  but  one 
who  effaces  his  self-conceit,  becomes  detached 
and  enshrines  the  True  Lord  in  his  heart.  As 
opposed  to  manmukh,  i.e.  the  self-willed  who 
assailed  by  doubt  wanders  in  wilderness  (26), 
the  gurmukh,  one  who  has  his  face  and  mind 
turned  towards  the  Guru,  remains  busy  in 
reflecting  On  the  gnosis  and  attains  the  invisible 
and  infinite  Lord  (27).  In  answering  the 
Siddhas'  questions  concerning  the  origin  of  the 


SIDH  GOSTI 


125 


SIHAN,  BHAI 


universe  and  man,  Guru  Nanak  refers  to  the 
concepts  of  sunya  (void)  and  sabda  (word)  also. 
Before  the  creation  of  man  and  the  universe, 
there  was  no  world,  no  firmament,  yet  it  was 
not  an  empty  void.  The  light  of  the  Nirarikar, 
i.e.  the  Formless  Lord,  pervaded  the  three 
worlds  (67).  Guru  Nanak's  sunya,  sunn  in  the 
text,  does  not  mean  nothing;  or  an  empty  void. 
It  is  not  a  negative  concept;  rather  it  is  a  positive 
cause  of  the  cosmos;  it  is  nothing  but  the 
Brahman  Himself.  His  sunya  is  the  empitiness 
of  the  vase,  the  essential  intrinsic  nature  and 
quality  of  the  pot.  The  word  has  also  been  used 
in  the  sense  of  Brahman,  both  with  maya  and 
as  pure  Brahman  wh  en  the  Guru  says  thai  sunya 
is  within  us  and  without  us  and  that  the  worlds 
are  also  imbued  with  sunya.  He  who  realizes 
the  fourth  state  of  sunya  remains  unaffected 
by  vice  and  virtue  (51).  Here  the  sunya  that 
envelops  the  three  worlds  is  nothing  but 
Brahman  with  mayii,  the  fourth  state  of  sunya 
being  pure  Brahman.  In  reply  to  a  Siddha's 
question  as  to  how  the  sunya,  i.e.  Brahman  is 
obtained  and  what  is  the  state  of  those  who 
are  with  the  sunya  (Lord)  imbued,  Guru  Nanak 
replies  that  it  is  through  the  Guru  and  by 
instructing  the  mind  that  the  Imperishable 
Lord  is  obtained  and  that  those  who  obtain 
Him  are  like  Him  from  whom  they  have 
emanated  and  that  they  suffer  not  in  the  cycle 
of  transmigration  (52).  A  person  knowing  the 
mystery  of  God,  who  pervades  all  the  hearts, 
himself  becomes  the  manifestation  of  the 
Primal,  Immaculate  and  Luminous  Lord;  one 
imbued  with  His  Name  is  himself  the  Lord 
Creator  (51).  The  sabda,  which  in  gurbani has 
been  described  more  in  terms  of  what  it  does 
than  what  it  actually  is,  provides  the  means 
whereby  man  can  know  both  God  and  the  path 
that  leads  to  Him,  the  means  whereby  man  may 
secure  release  from  bondage  and  attain  union 
with  Him.  In  Sidh  Gosti,  sabda  (sabad)  has 
been  enlightenment,  eternal  delight  and  true 
yoga  (32  and  33).  Sublime  understanding  and 
shedding  of  lust,  anger  and  ego  are  possible 
only  with  the  help  of  sabda  (10).  It  is  through 


sabda  that  man  is  able  to  counteract  the  poison 
of  ego  and  understand  the  true  meaning  of 
the  creation  and  of  the  Creator  (21 ) .  The  sabda 
is  competent  to  annul  man's  transmigration 
and  secure  him  liberation  (25).  All  the 
wanderings  of  yogi  and  sarinyasis  will  come  to 
naught  if  they  fail  to  drop  ego  from  their  hearts 
(34)  and  ego,  which  hinders  man's  progression 
towards  the  Supreme  Reality,  can  be  effaced 
only  through  the  sabda  (21).  In  reply  to  a 
Siddhas'  question  as  to  where  does  sabda 
which  helps  man  ferry  across  the  ocean  of  life 
abide  (58),  Guru  Nanak  says  that  it  pervades 
all  beings  and  that,  if  one  is  blessed  with  the 
Lord's  grace,  abides  it  in  the  human  heart, 
dispels  all  doubt  and  leads  one  to  union  with 
the  Supreme  Lord  (59). 

The  language  of  the  Sidh  Gosti  is  Sadh 
Bhakha  with  an  admixture  of  technical  terms 
from  the  disciplines  of  the  Yogis  and  the 
Siddhas.  Brevity  is  chief  characteristic  of  the 
style  of  expression.  Symbols  and  metaphors 
used  are  more  functional  than  decorative  and 
have  been  taken  from  everyday  life.  The 
classical  symbol  of  a  lotus  flower  growing  in 
water  drawing  its  sustenance  from  the  mud 
below  and  yet  remaining  untouched  by  it  has 
also  been  used  to  illustrate  the  point  that  man 
can  live  a  detached  life  in  this  world  and  realize 
the  Supreme  Lord  by  enshrining  His  Name  in 
his  heart.  So  has  been  the  symbol  of  the  duck 
swimming  in  water  without  wetting  its  wings. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar, 
1962 

2.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan.  Amritsar,  1962 

3.  Jodh  Singh,  The  Religious  Philosophy  of  Guru 
Nanak.  Delhi,  1983 

B.Jd.S. 

SIHAN,  BHAI,  a  washerman,  was  a  devoted 
Sikh  of  Guru  Nanak's.  He  along  with  Bhai 
Hassu  accompanied  the  Guru  during  his 
journey  to  Kashmir.  They  reduced  to  writing 
hymns  uttered  by  the  Guru  during  this  udasi. 


SlHAN,  BHAI 


126 


SlHARFlAN  HARl  SINGH  NALVA 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Vir  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Puritan  Janam  Sakhi. 

2.  Kirpal  Singh,  Janam  Sakhi  Parampara.  Patiala, 
1962 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors:  Oxford,  1909 

Gn.  S. 

SIHAN,  BHAI,  an  Uppal  Khatri,  and  his  cousin, 
Gajjan,  both  figure  in  Bhai  Gurdas'  roster 
( Varan,  XI.  14)  of  the  Sikhs  of  Guru  Nanak.  A 
sakhi  is  related  of  the  marriage  of  Sihan's 
daughter.  A  day  before  the  bridegroom  was  to 
arrive  with  the  wedding  party,  there  came  to 
his  house  a  large  contingent  of  Sikhs  on  their 
way  to  Kartarpur  to  see  the  Guru.  Both  cousins 
stinted  nothing  in  their  entertainment. 
Whatever  had  been  prepared  for  the  wedding 
guests  was  consumed.  Then  Sihan's  wife  began 
to  worry  and  said  to  her  husband,  "What  shall 
we  give  our  guests  to  eat  tomorrow?"  "Don't 
be  anxious,"  said  Sihari.  "  The  Guru  will  save 
our  honour."  Next  day  when  the  bridegroom's 
party  arrived,  Slhah  made  his  prayer  and 
opened  the  lock  of  the  store.  As  says  Bhai  Man! 
Singh,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala,  all  the  guests 
from  the  bridegroom's  side  as  well  as  the  bride's 
side  were  entertained  and  yet  neither  sweets 
nor  victuals  ran  short.  They  kept  the  wedding 
party  for  five  days  and  no  one  complained  of 
lack  of  attention  or  hospitality.  Sihah  and 
Gajjan  were  overwhelmed  with  gratefulness 
and  said,  "The  Guru  himself  saves  the  honour 
of  his  Sikhs." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,    Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

Gn.S. 

SIHAN,  BHAI,  an  Uppal  Khatri  of  Khadur  in 
present-day  Amritsar  district  of  the  Punjab, 
embraced  the  Sikh  faith  at  the  hands  of  Guru 
Ahgad.  He  lived  at  Goindval  in  the  time  of  Guru 


Amar  Das.  In  deference  to  the  Guru's  wish,  he 
gave  his  daughter,  Matho,  in  marriage  to  Bhai 
Prema,  the  leper  restored  to  health  and 
renamed  Murari  by  the  Guru. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Dis,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,   Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

B.S.D. 

SIHARFIAN  HARl  SINGH  NALVA,  by  Misr 
Hari  Chand  who  adopted  the  pen-name  of 
Qadar  Yar  celebrating  an  earlier  poet  of  this 
name,  is  a  poem  in  Punjabi,  Gurmukhl  script, 
describing  the  valorous  deeds  of  Hari  Singh 
Nalva  ( 1 793-1 837) ,  an  army  general  of  the  Sikh 
times.  Inspired  by  the  elder  Qadar  Yar's  Siharfi 
Sardar  Hari  Singh  Nalva,  the  poem  was  first 
published  in  1924  by  Lala  Manohar  Das  Dua 
at  Manohar  Press,  Sargodha,  under  the  title 
Hari  Singh  Nalva  va  Jang  Peshawar  Mabain 
Sikhan  va  Afghanan  ba'ahid  Maharaja  Ranjlt 
Singh  ji  Maharaja.  A  reprint  was  brought  out 
by  Punjabi  University,  Patiala,  in  1965,  the  text 
having  been  edited  by  Ganda  Singh,  noted 
Punjab  historian,  who  had  obtained  in  1931 
an  incomplete  copy  of  the  work  from  Sita  Ram 
Kohli  which  before  publication  he  compared 
with  and  corrected  against  a  copy  in  the 
possession  of  Baba  Prem  Singh  Hoti.  The 
Siharfiah  is  divided  into  six  parts  pertaining  to 
Maharaja  Ranjlt  Singh's  decision  to  attack  Dost 
Muhammad  Khan,  the  king  of  Kabul,  to  seize 
Peshawar ;  Hari  Singh  Nalva's  offer  to  lead  that 
expedition  ;  internal  strife  at  Kabul  which 
prompted  the  Maharaja  to  hasten  the 
expedition  ;  Nalva's  victory  over  the  Afghans 
who  fled  from  Peshawar  without  firing  a  shot; 
his  occupation  of  Peshawar  and  his 
appointment  as  governor  of  Peshawar;  Dost 
Muhammad  Khan's  attack  on  Peshawar  to 
recover  control  of  the  city  from  the  Sikhs  and 
the  fierce  batde  at  the  Fort  of  Jamrud  in  which 


SIHARFl  SARDAR  HARl  SINGH  NALVA 


127 


SIKANDARA 


Hari  Singh  was  killed  ;  Ranjit  Siiigh's  march 
towards  Peshawar  on  receipt  of  the  tragic  news; 
death  of  Akali  Phiila  Singh  in  the  battle  that 
ensued  between  the  Afghans  and  the  Sikhs; 
defeat  of  the  Afghans  at  the  hands  of  Ranjit 
Singh;  and  the  search  for  the  body  of  Phula 
Singh  and  its  cremation  by  Ranjit  Singh. 

A  typical  feature  of  the  work  composed 
in  siharfi  form,  borrowed  from  Persian,  in 
which  verses  are  arranged  acrpstically,  is  the 
poet's  power  of  picturization.  He  has  an 
inexhaustible  store  of  native  idiom  and 
imagery,  interspersed  with  Persian  vocabulary. 
The  dramatization  of  different  events, 
especially  of  those  which  cover  the  batde  of 
Jamrud  in  which  Hari  Singh  was  fatally 
wounded,  is  a  notable  quality  of  the  poem. 

Atj.S. 

SIHARFI  SARDAR  HARI  SINGH  NALVA,  sub- 
titled "Hari  Singh  Naive  di  Mahima ,"  by  Qadar 
Yar,  is  a  poem  in  Punjabi,  Gurmukni  script, 
celebrating  the  valour  of  Hari  Singh  Nalva,  a 
general  in  the  army  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh. 
The  poem  is  also  popularly  known  as  Var 
Sardar  Hari  Singh  Nalva.  Qadar  Yar  was  born 
around  1805  in  Machhike  village  in 
Sheikhupura  district  and  seems  to  have  lived 
all  his  life  in  his  village.  He  did  not  take  interest 
in  household  work  and  devoted  himself 
entirely  to  the  Muse.  The  text  of  the  Siharfi  is 
included  in  Qadar  Yar  published  in  1969  by 
the  Languages  Department,  Punjab,  Patiala. 
The  style  is  that  of  a  Siharfi,  a  poetical  form 
borrowed  from  Persian  in  which  verses  are 
arranged  acrostically  following  the  Persian 
alphabet  comprising  thirty  letters.  The  most 
commonly  used  metre  in  the  Siharfi  as 
adopted  in  Punjabi  is  baint,  the  usual  themes 
being  chivalry,  love  and  separation.  The  Siharfi 
has  a  number  of  versions,  with  couplets;  ranging 
from  23  to  30.  The  poem  centres  upon  the 
gallantry  and  feats  of  martial  prowess  displayed 
by  Hari  Singh  Nalva  in  defending  the  Fort  of 
Jamrud  (April  1837),  and  his  death  die  re. 

Atj.S. 


SIKANDARA  is  a  township  along  the  Grand 
Trunk  Road,  about  8  km  north  of  Agra  (27"- 
10'N,  78"'E).  Gurdwara  Sri  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
Dukh  Nivaran  Guru  Ka  Tal,  commonly  known 
as  Gurdwara  Guru  Ka  Tal,  is  about  2  km  from 
Sikandara  towards  Agra.  Sikh  chronicles  have 
preserved  the  tradition  tiiat  there  lived  a  poor 
old  shepherd  named  Hasan  'Ali,  in  the  village 
of  Kanakareta,  near  Sikandara.  He  had  two 
daughters  of  marriageable  age,  but  did  not 
possess  the  means  to  get  them  married.  This 
worried  him  constantly.  One  day  he  heard 
about  the  reward  proclaimed  under  the 
Emperor's  order  for  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's 
arrest  and  the  thought  flashed  across  his  mind 
that  if  he  could  claim  the  money  he  would  be 
enabled  to  arrange  for  his  daughters'  nuptials. 
He  knelt  down  in  prayer.  It  is  said  that  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  who  then  happened  to  be  in 
Agra.,  rode  on  to  Sikandara  and  alighted  where 
Hasan  'Ali  was  grazing  his  herd.  The  Guru  told 
Hasan  'Ali  that  he  was  hungry  and  gave  him  a 
bejewelled  ring  and  a  costly  shawl  and  asked 
him  to  buy  some  sweets  for  him  from  the  city 
in  exchange  for  the  ring.  When  Hasan  'Ali 
presented  the  ring  at  the  confectionary  and 
spre,ad  the  shawl  to  receive  the  ordered 
provisions,  the  owner,  noticing  the  contrast 
between  his  humble  dress  and  the  valuables  in 
his  possession,  got  suspicious  and  made  a 
report  to  the  city  police.  This  led  to  the  arrest 
of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur,  but,  before  parting 
from  Hasan  'All,  he  reminded  him  to  claim  his 
reward  and  spend  it  for  the  marriage  of  his 
daughters. 

A  memorial  platform  was  constructed  on 
the  spot,  where  the  Guru  was  arrested,  but  it 
remained  shrouded  in  obscurity  until 
rediscovered  in  1956  by  the  Sikhs  of  Agra  who 
raised  a  small  gurdwara.  In  1970  Sant  Sadhu 
Singh  Mauni  started  reconstructing  the 
building.  Since  then  an  entirely  new  and 
imposing  building  has  arisen.  A  square  hall 
has  a  conopied  marble  throne  in  the  centre 
on  which  two  volumes  of  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  are  placed  side  by  side.  Above  the  hall 


S 1  KAN D AR-BAI .Dl'.V  SINGH  PACT 


128 


SI  KAN  DAR-BAI  .0  KV  SINGH  PACT 


there  is  a  lotus  dome  in  the  centre  and  four 
smaller  domes,  one  at  each  corner,  also  with 
gold  finials. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur,  Delhi,  1994 

M.G.S. 

SIKANDAR-BALDEV  SINGH  PACT  is  the 
name  popularly  given  to  the  rapprochement 
arrived  at  in  1942  between  the  Akalis  and  the 
Muslim-dominated  Unionist  Party,  then  ruling 
the  pre-partition  province  of  the  Punjab,  as  a 
result  of  which  the  Akali  nominee,  Baldev 
Singh,  joined  the  Unionist  Cabinet  under  Sir 
Sikandar  Hayat  Khan.  The  Unionist 
government  had  taken  office  in  1937  following 
elections  held  under  the  Government  of  India 
Act  1935,  introducing  provincial  autonomy 
with  a  wholly  Indian  ministry  responsible  to  the 
legislative  assembly.  At  the  pools  the  Unionist 
Party  had  emerged  successful  with  a  large 
majority,  and  its  leader,  Sir  Sikandar,  had 
formed  the  government  winning  the  support 
of  some  Hindu  and  Sikh  members,  especially 
those  representing  landed  interests.  The  Sikhs 
who  had  31  seats  in  the  175-member  legislative 
assembly  were  divided  into  two  main  groups, 
one  representing  the  Khalsa  National  Party  and 
the  other  ShiromanI  Akali  Dal.  The  former 
joined  hands  with  the  Unionists,  its  leader  Sir 
Sundar  Singh  Majithia  joining  the  Cabinet,  and 
the  latter  with  the  Indian  National  Congress 
who,  with  the  support  of  17  Independents, 
formed  the  Opposition.  Outside  the  Assembly, 
the  Akalis  were  the  severest  critics  and 
opponents  of  the  Unionist  Government.  As 
World  War  II  broke  out  in  1939,  moves  were 
initiated  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation 
between  the  Akalis  and  the  government. 
Parleys  began  between  the  pro-British  Premier 
of  the  Punjab,  who  had  a  confortable  majority 


in  the  Assembly,  and  the  Akalis/leading  to  Sir 
Sikandar  Hayat  Khan  writing  a  letter  toSardar 
Baldev  Singh,  an  Akali  or  Panthic  member  of 
the  Legislative  Assembly,  conceding  some  of 
the  demands  the  Akali  leaders  had  been 
raising.  Explaining  the  terms  of  the  Pact  at  a 
press  conference  held  at  Lahore  on  15  June 
1942,  Sir  Sikandar  made  the  following  points  : 
(1)  Facilities  for  jhatka  meat  -one  of  the 
persistent  Sikh  demands-would  be  made 
available  in  government  institutions  where 
separate  kitchens  for  Muslims,  Hindus  and 
Sikhs  existed.  (2)  With  regard  to  legislation 
relating  to  religious  matters,  members 
belonging  to  a  community  will  take  decisions 
at  all  stages  of  legislation  affecting  that 
community  and  such  decisions  shall  have  his 
support.  (3)  About  the  Sikh  demand  for 
adopting  Punjabi,  in  Gurmukhi  script,  as  the 
second  language  in  the  Punjab,  he  said  that  it 
was  not  possible  immediately,  but  he  had  no 
objection  to  giving  effect  to  the  proposal.  (4) 
As  to  the  recruitment  of  Sikhs  to  government 
services,  he  clarified  that  the  proportion  for 
the  various  communities  had  already  been 
fixed  and  that  the  Sikhs  had  been  allotted  a 
20%  share  in  the  services.  (5)  Regarding  Sikhs' 
representation  at  the  Centre,  the  Punjab 
Premier  assured  Sardar  Baldev  Singh  that  if  and 
when  an  expansion  or  change  in  the  present 
Executive  Council  at  the  Centre  was 
contemplated,  the  Sikh  claim  would  have  his 
sympathy  and  support.  He  also  gave  the 
assurance  that  he  would  support  the  Sikh  claim 
for  a  due  share  in  the  Central  services. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  Pact,  Baldev 
Singh  joined  Sir  Sikandar's  Cabinet,  replacing 
Sardar  Dasaundha  Singh  who  had  become  a 
minister  as  a  representative  of  the  Khalsa 
National  Party  after  the  death  in  1941  of  Sir 
Sundar  Singh  Majithia.  It  was  clarified  that 
Baldev  Singh  had  made  the  pact  in  his 
"personal  capacity",  with  the  "moral  support" 
of  the  Akali  Dal.  Whereas  he  sat  with  the 
Government,  the  Akali  group  in  the  legislature 
continued  to  sit  with  the  Opposition.  The  Akali 


SIKH 


129 


SIKH 


Dal  was  left  free  to  pursue  its  own  political 
programme.  It,  in  fact,  proclaimed  publically 
its  disapproval  of  the  Pact  at  a  conference  held 
at  Gujrahwala  on  18  July  1942. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sarhadi,  Ajit  Singh,  Punjabi  Suba.  Delhi,  1970 

2.  Nayar,  Baldev  Raj,  Minority  Politics  in  the  Punjab. 
Princeton,  1966 

3.  Brass,  Paul  R.,  Language,  Religion  and  Politics 
in  North  India.  Delhi,  1975 

4.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol. 
II.  Princeton,  1966 

5.  Gopal  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikh  People  (1 469- 
1978).  Delhi,  1979 

6.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikh  s.  Delhi, 
1983 

7.  Dilgir,  Harjinder  Singh,  Shromani  Akali  Dal. 
Chandigarh,  1980 

K.C.G. 

SIKH.  The  word  sikh  goes  back  to  Sanskrit  sisya, 
meaning  a  learner  or  disciple.  In  Pali,  sisya 
became  sissa.  The  Pali  word  sekha  (also  sekkha) 
means  a  pupil  or  one  under  training  in  a 
religious  doctrine  (sikkha,  siksa).  The  Punjabi 
form  of  the  word  was  sikh.  The  term  Sikh  in 
the  Punjab  and  elsewhere  came  to  be  used  for 
the  disciples  of  Guru  Nanak  (1469-1539)  and 
his  nine  spiritual  successors.  NanakpaniJiis  (lit. 
followers  of  the  path  of  Nanak)  was  also  the 
term  employed,  especially  in  the  initial  stages. 
Mobid  Zulfiqar  Ardastani,  a  contemporary  of 
Guru  Hargobind  (1595-1664)  and  Guru  Har 
Rai  ( 1 630-61 ) ,  defines  Sikhs  in  his  Persian  work 
Dabistan-i-Mazahib  as  "Nanakpanthls  better 
known  as  Guru-Sikhs  (who)  do  not  believe  in 
idols  and  temples."  According  to  the  Sikh 
Gurdwaras  Act,  1925,  passed  by  the  Punjab 
legislature,  "Sikh  means  a  person  who  professes 
the  Sikh  religion."  The  Act  further  provides 
that  in  case  of  doubt  a  person  shall  b  e  deemed 
to  be  a  Sikh  if  he  subscribes  to  the  following 
declaradon  :  "I  solemnly  affirm  that  I  am  a  Sikh, 
that  I  believe  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  that  I 
believe  in  the  Ten  Gurus,  and  that  I  have  no 


other  religion."  The  Delhi  Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act, 
1971,  passed  by  Indian  Parliament,  lays  down 
a  stricter  difinidon  in  that  it  requires  keeping 
hair  unshorn  as  an  essendal  qualification  for  a 
Sikh  and  that,  besides  belief  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  and  the  Ten  Gurus,  it  requires  a 
Sikh  to  affirm  that  he  follows  their  teachings. 
The  latter  Act  thus  excludes  Sahajdharis 
(gradualists  who  profess  faith  in  Sikhism  but 
have  not  yet  complied  with  the  injunction 
about  unshorn  hair). 

The  Sikhs  believe  in  the  unicity  of  God, 
the  Creator  who  is  formless  and  eternal, 
transcendent  and  all-pervasive.  The  unicity  of 
God  implies,  on  the  one  hand,  non-belief  in 
gods  and  goddesses,  idols  and  idol-worship,  and 
on  the  other  rejection  of  divisions  among  men 
on  the  grounds  of  birth,  caste  or  country.  In 
the  Sikh  temple  called  gurdwara  no  images  are 
installed  or  worshipped.  The  sole  object  of 
reverence  therein  is  the  Holy  Book.  The  Sikhs, 
considering  God's  creation  to  be  real  and  not 
mere  illusion,  believe  in  the  dignity  of  worldly 
living  provided,  however,  that  it  be  regulated 
according  to  a  high  moral  standard.  The 
human  birth  is  a  valued  gift  earned  by  worthy 
actions,  and  must  be  utilized  to  do  prayer  and 
engage  in  devotion  and  perform  good  deeds. 
The  popular  Sikh  formula  for  an  upright  living 
is  nam  japna,  kirat  karni,  vand  chhakna 
(constant  remembrance  of  God's  Name, 
earning  one's  livelihood  through  honest 
labour,  and  sharing  one's  victuals  with  others) . 
Their  faith  requires  the  Sikhs  to  be  energetic 
and  courageous.  A  hymn  by  Guru  Ram  Das, 
Nanak  rv,  adjures  a  Sikh  to  rise  early  in  the 
morning,  make  his  ablutions,  recite  gurbkni, 
the  holy  hymns,  and  not  only  himself 
remember  God  while  performing  his  normal 
duties  but  also  assist  others  to  do  likewise.  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur,  Nanak  IX,  defines  the  ideal  man 
as  one  who  frightens  no  one,  nor  submits  to 
fear  himself.  Sikhs  are  generally  householders. 
There  is  no  priestly  class  among  them.  All  on 
condition  of  fitness  can  perform  the  priesdy 
function.  Women  among  them  enjoy  equal 


SIKH 


130 


SIKH 


rights. 

Although  a  person  born  and  brought  up 
in  a  Sikh  family  is  generally  accepted  as  a  Sikh, 
yet,  strictly  speaking,  initiation  through  a 
specified  ceremony  is  essential.  Up  to  the 
creation  of  the  Khalsa  by  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
in  1699,  initiation  through  charan  pah  ul  was 
in  vogue.  According  to  it,  the  novice  was 
required  to  drink  water  touched  by  or  poured 
over  the  Guru's  toe.  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
introduced  khande  da  amrit  or  rites  of  the 
double-edged  sword  and  prescribed  the 
wearing  of  five  symbols  including  kesa  or 
unshorn  hair,  which  form  is  obligatory  for  all 
Sikhs.  Exemption,  that  also  temporary,  is 
claimed  by  Sahajdhari  Sikhs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Trilochan  Singh,  "Theological  Concepts  of 
Sikhism",  in  Sikhism.  Patiala,  1969 

2.  Nripinder  Singh,  The  Sikh  Moral  Tradition. 
Delhi,  1990 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  tr.  "Nanak  Panthis"  (translation 
from  Dabistan-/-Mazahib  by  Zulfikar  Ardistani) 
in  The  Panjab  Past  and  Present.  Patiala,  April 
1967 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

5.  Teja  Singh,  Sikhism  :  Its  Ideals  and  Institutions. 
Bombay,  1937 

6.  Farquhar.J.N.,  Modern  Religious  Movements  in 
India.  London,  1924 

G.S. 

SIKH,  a  play  by  Bipinbihari  Nandi,  published 
in  Bengali  in  1909,  traces  the  consolidation  of 
the  Sikhs  as  Khalsa  under  Guru  Gobind  Singh. 
Written  in  long  patches  of  descriptive  dialogue, 
in  blank  verse,  often  running  to  over  15  to  20 
lines  at  a  stretch,  the  book  is  divided  into  six 
scenes  with  five  major  characters  of  historical 
significance,  including  Guru  Tegh.  Bahadur, 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  and  Emperor  Aurahgzib. 
It  opens  with  Aurahgzib  discussing  with  one  of 
his  trusted  generals  plans  of  operations  against 
the  Sikhs  charging,  in  absentia,  Guru  Tegh 


Bahadur  with  waging  war  against  the  State.  The 
second  scene  witnesses  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
brought  to  Delhi  under  custody.  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  appears  in  the  third  scene  vowed  to  end 
the  tyrannical  Mughal  rule.  The  creation  of  the 
Khalsa  is  interpreted  as  a  call  for  all  self- 
respecting  and  righteous  persons  to  come 
under  one  banner  to  fight  bigotry  and  injustice. 
Guru  Cobind  Singh's  resounding  victories  led 
Auraiigzib's  successor  Bahadur  Shah  to  make 
overtures  of  peace.  The  last  scene  presents  the 
Emperor  as  a  devotee  of  the  Guru.  He  is  on 
his  death-bed,  but  has  been  able  to  draft  a  plan 
of  long-term  settlement  with  the  Sikhs. 

The  book  projects  Guru  Gobind  Singh  as 
the  symbol  of  India's  unity  and  honour.  Those 
were  the  years  when  many  Bengali  intellectuals 
and  writers  were  trying  to  build  up  a  militant 
front  against  the  colonial  rule  of  the  British. 
They  drew  inspiration  from  the  life  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  The  book,  however,  suffers  from 
grave  inaccuracies  of  fact  and  interpretation. 

H.B. 

SIKH,  by  Rajanikanta  Gupta,  is  a  brief 
monograph  in  Bengali  on  the  history  of  the 
Sikhs  from  Guru  Nanak  (1469-1539)  to  the 
conquest  of  the  Punjab  by  the  British  in  1849. 
Gupta  had  earlier  published  in  one  of  his  books 
in  1880  a  life-sketch  of  Guru  Nanak.  In  March 
1 883,  he  gave  a  lecture  on  the  Sikhs  in  the  City 
College,  Calcutta,  which  was  published  as  a 
monograph  under  the  title  Sikh  (April  1883). 
For  his  source  materials,  the  author  depends 
mainly  on  Malcolm  and  Cunningham. 
Although  he  treats  of  the  Sikhs  as  part  of  the 
Hindu  complex,  his  description  of  events  such 
as  the  birth  of  the  Khalsa  (1699)  and  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  armed  resistance  to  the  Mughal 
rule  under  which  Hindus  and  Muslims  suffered 
alike  is  fairly  critical.  The  monograph  also 
alludes  briefly  to  the  18th-century  Sikh  struggle 
for  liberation  and  attributes  the  Sikhs'  triumph 
in  the  end  to  their  superior  military 
organization,  able  leadership  and  heroic  spirit 
of  self-sacrifice.  The  rise  of  Ranjit  Singh  is 


SIKHAN  DE  RAI  111  VITHIA 


131 


SIKH  ARCHITECTURE 


traced  in  the  background  of  the  declining 
authority  of  the  misls.  The  extinction  of  Sikh 
power  is  blamed  on  the  intrigues  of  the  British 
and  the  treacheries  of  courtiers  such  as  Lai 
Singh  and  Tej  Singh.  In  a  subsequent  edition, 
the  author  took  into  account  later 
developments  such  as  the  conversion  and 
migration  to  England  of  the  deposed  sovereign, 
Duleep  Singh,  his  eventual  disillusionment  with 
the  British  and  his  bid  to  return  to  the  Punjab 
to  receive  the  rites  of  the  Khalsa. 

H.B. 

SIKHAN  DE  RAJ  DI  VITHIA,  by  Shardha  Ram 
Philauri,  written  in  Punjabi  in  1922  Bk/AD  1866 
and  published  in  AD  1868  contains  an  accoxint 
of  the  Punjab  from  Guru  Nanak  (1469-1539), 
founder  of  the  Sikh  faith,  to  the  adven  t  of  the 
British  in  1849.  It  was  primarily  meant  for  the 
new  English  administrators  who  had  come  into 
the  Punjab  in  the  wake  of  annexation.  An 
English  translation  of  the  book  made  by  Henry 
Court  was  first  published  in  1888.  Bhai  Jawahir 
Singh  brought  out  another  English  translation 
of  the  book  in  1901,  with  a  len  gthy  in  traduction 
pointing  out  the  numerous  factual  errors  in 
the  work.  The  work  is  divided  into  three  parts, 
the  first  dealing  with  the  lives  of  the  ten  Gurus 
(pp.  1-82).  This  section  is  full  of  inaccuracies 
not  only  of  detail  but  also  of  basic  facts.  The 
second  section  (pp.  83-145)  touches  very  briefly 
on  the  twelve  misls  and  then  proceeds  to  sketch 
the  rise  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh,  ending  with 
the  occupation  of  the  Punjab  by  the  British. 
The  third  section  (pp.  146-200)  gives  a  short 
resume  of  the  customs,  rites,  folk-songs  and 
proverbs  of  the  Punjab.  It  also  contains  brief 
narratives  of  several  sects  of  the  region.  At  the 
end  of  the  book  are  given  twenty  anecdotes 
from  a  Janam  Sakhi  oi  biography  of  Guru 
Nanak.  Since  the  author  had  had  no  knowledge 
of  Sikh  history  or  religion  and  had  not 
apparently  read  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  or  any 
of  the  detailed  historical  works,  many  errors 
of  a  serious  nature  crept  into  the  text. 

K.S.T. 


SIKH  ARCHITECTURE,  style  and  design  of 
building  conspicuously  popular  among  the 
Sikhs,  is  owed  primarily  to  their  religious 
monuments.  Their  secular  edifices  such  as 
fortresses,  palaces,  samadhs  (mausoleums  built 
over  places  of  cremation),  haveJjs  (fortified 
houses),  bungas  (residential-cum-educational 
houses  ),  educational  institutions,  etc,  are  no 
different  from  the  contemporary  style  which 
is  generally  a  mixture  of  Mughal  and  Rajput 
architecture,  or  as  Percy  Browne,  an  art 
historian,  has  described,  a  late  form  of  the 
Mughal  style  of  architecture.  Prominent 
examples  of  this  type  are  the  Samadh  of 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  in  Lahore  and  the 
Khalsa  College  at  Amritsar.  Whereas  massive 
columns,  portals,  inner  structures,  bukharchas 
(3  or  4-panelled  projecung  windows  in  a  row) 
on  penda  or  gharvahj  (projecung  base)  in  the 
shape  of  bisected  open  lotus,  the  chhatris 
(kiosks)  on  the  parapet,  all  trace  back  their 
origin  to  Rajput  architecture,  the  dome, 
arches,  minarets  and  underground  cellars  bear 
the  stamp  of  Mughal  style. 

Religious  buildings  of  the  Sikhs,  the 
gurdwaras,  also  display  the  essentially  eclectic 
nature  of  their  architectural  design,  but  they 
at  the  same  time  possess  some  special  features, 
and  present  an  identifiable  picture  of  a  style 
which  can  doubtlessly  be  called  Sikh 
Architecture.  For  example,  compared  to  Hindu 
temples,  they  are  more  spacious  (with  the 
addition  of  adjoining  divan  asthan  or  assembly 
halls  where  necessary)  and  have,  more  often 
than  not,  entrance  from  all  four  sides,  and 
they  are  not  oriented  to  any  set  direction  as 
the  Muslim  mosques  are.  Guru  ka  Lahgar 
(common  kitchen  and  dining  hall)  is  a 
necessary  adjunct  to  a  gurdwara,  and  most 
gurdwaraV  have  sarovars  (bathing  tanks)  in 
close  proximity.  Every  gurdwara  is  recognizable 
from  afar  by  the  nishan  sahib,  the  Sikh  penant 
in  yellow  or  blue  flying  atop  a  high  flagpost. 
Gurdwaras,  unlike  Hindu  temples,  are  devoid 
of  any  sculptured  images  in  or  around  them. 

In  principle,  gurdwara  buildings  do  not 


SIKH  ARCHITECTURE 


132 


SIKH  ARCHITECTURE 


have  to  conform  to  any  set  architectural  design. 
The  only  established  requirement  is  the 
installation  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the  Holy 
Sikh  Scripture,  in  a  building  under  a  canopy 
or  in  a  canopied  seat,  usually  on  a  platform 
higher  than  the  floor  on  which  the  devotees 
sit.  But  in  time  more  and  more  gurdwaras  came 
to  have  buildings  of  a  particular  design 
imitating  more  or  less  the  pattern  of  the 
Harimandar,  the  most  sacred  shrine  of  the 
Sikhs  located  in  the  walled  city  of  Amritsar. 

When  classified  according  to  their  plan 
form,  buildings  of  the  Sikh  shrines  are  of  four 
basic  forms  :  the  square,  the  rectangular,  the 
octagonal  and  the  cruciform.  The  last,  however, 
is  rarely  used,  the  one  notable  example  is 
Gurdwara  Nanak  Jhira  at  Bidar  in  Karnataka. 
Among  the  octagonal,  the  best  known  is 
Gurdwara  Baba  Atal  in  Amritsar.  Many  a 
gurdwara  has  octagonal  sanctum  sanctorum 
within  its  square  or  rectangular  hall.  A  covered 
circumambulatory  passage  usually  runs  around 
the  sanctum.  In  elevation,  gurdwaras  have 
structures  varying  from  one  to  nine  storeys 
high,  usually  topped  by  a  dome.  Several 
gurdwaras  have  basements  below  the  ground 
floor.  A  recurrent  element  of  gurdwara  design 
is  the  preferred  use  of  two-storey  height  with 
an  all-around  gallery  at  mid-height,  leaving  the 
centre  of  the  ground  floor  covered  only  by  the 
top  roof  and/ or  the  dome. 

As  a  rule,  a  gumbad  (dome)  is  the 
crowning  feature  of  a  gurdwara.  Even  flat- 
roofed,  rectangular  gurdwara  buildings  have 
often  a  decorative  dome  over  the  spot  where 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  seated.  Sometimes,  a 
small  single-room  shrine  is  topped  by  pilaki,  a 
palanquin-like  roof,  derived  from  Bengal  style 
of  architecture.  More  often  than  not,  the  dome 
is  fluted  or  ribbed.  Several  different  dome 
shapes  mark  our  shrines  as  tarus, 
hemispherical,  oblong,  conical  or  three 
quarters  of  a  sphere,  the  last  mentioned  being 
the  more  frequently  used.  Usually  the  dome 
springs  from  a  floral  base  and  has  inverted 
lotus-sylnbol  top  from  which  rises  the  kalas  or 


ornate  finial.  The  dome  is  usually  painted  in 
white  or  sometimes  in  gold.  Domes  of  some 
important  gurdwaras  are  covered  with  gold- 
plaited  copper  sheets.  Some  domes  have  been 
lined  with  marble  slabs  or  white  or  coloured 
porcelain  pieces.  Apart  from  the  large  central 
dome  there  are  often  four  other  cupolas,  one 
at  each  corner  and  several  small  solid  domes 
embellishing  the  parapet. 

The  dome  is  invariably  topped  by  an 
ornate  finial,  the  kalas.  Based  on  the  Mount 
Kailash,  the  kalas  shoots  up  in  the  form  of  a 
cylinderical  construction,  often  with  some 
concentric  discs,  and  spheroids  culminating  in 
a  small  canopy  with  pendants  hanging  at  the 
outer  rim.  The  kalas  is  usually  made  of  brass 
or  gilded  copper.  Recently  the  use  of  steel  or 
gilded  khanda  (double-edged  sword)  as 
pinnacle  has  come  in  vogue. 

The  elevation  is  usually  treated  by  dividing 
the  facade  in  accordance  with  the  structural 
lines  of  columns,  piers  and  pilasters  with 
vertical  divisions  creating  areas  of  well- 
modelled  surfaces.  The  treatment  often  creates 
bas-reliefs  of  geometrical,  floral  and  other 
designs.  Where  magnificence  is  the  aim, 
repousse  work  in  brass  or  copper  gilt  sheeting 
is  introduced,  often  with  extravagance. 

The  interior  is  beautified  by  means  of 
gachch  or  stucco  work,  tukri  or  fixing  of  mirror 
pieces,  jaratkari  or  in-lay  work,  mohrakashi  or 
filigree,  pinjra  or  lattice  work  or  stone  grills, 
and  fresco  painting.  These  techniques  are  used 
to  produce  beautiful  designs  and  friezes  based 
on  vine,  plant,  flower,  bird  and  animal  motifs. 
These  techniques  besides  being  time- 
consuming  and  cosdy  need  highly  skilful  artists. 
They  are  therefore  used  in  very  important 
shrines.  Excellent  examples  of  such  work  can 
be  seen  in  the  Golden  Temple.  The  largest 
number  of  frescoes  have  been  painted  on  the 
first  floor  walls  of  Baba  Atal. 

A  very  special  aspect  of  Sikh  architecture 
as  far  as  it  is  concerned  with  the  raising  of 
gurdwara  buildings  is  the  contribution  and 
participation  of  the  common  man.  Barring  a 


SIKH  ARMY  PANCHAYATS 


133 


SIKH  ARMY  PANCHAYATS 


few  shrines  which  have  their  own  income  from 
endowments  made  by  past  rulers,  the  resources 
for  new  constructions  or  reconstructions  are 
raised  by  voluntary  contributions,  and  although 
masons  and  skilled  craftsmen  may  be  paid 
workers,  the  unskilled  labour  and  rations  for 
the  entire  labour  force  come  from  the  system 
of  kar-seva,  voluntary  free  service  by  the 
devotees. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Arshi,  P.S.,  Sikh  Architecture.  Delhi,  1985 

2.  Madanjit  Kaur,  The  Golden  Temple  :  Past  and 
Present,  Amritsar,  1983 

3.  Archer,  W.G.,  Paintings  of  the  Sikhs.  London, 
1966 

4.  Kang,  Kanwarjit  Singh,  Mural  Paintings  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century  Punjab  (Ph.D.  Thesis, 
Panjab  University).  Chandigarh,  1978 

5.  Datta,  V.N.,  Amritsar :  Past  and  Present.  Amritsar, 
1967 

6.  Edwardes,  Michael,  Indian  Temples  and  Palaces. 
London,  1969 

M.G.S. 

SIKH  ARMY  PANCHAYATS,  or  regimental 
committees,  were  a  singularly  characteristic 
phenomenon  of  the  post-Ranjit  Singh  period 
of  Sikh  rule  in  the  Punjab.  Based  on  the  Sikh 
principle  of  equality  as  well  as  of  the  su  premacy 
of  sarigat  or  the  sarbatt  khalsa,  they  wielded 
great  power  during  1841-45.  Like  the  rise  of 
Soviets  on  the  eve  of  the  Russian  revolution  of 
1917,  panchayats  in  the  Sikh  army  appeared 
spontaneously  at  a  time  of  instability  and 
declining  administrative  standards.  The 
struggle  of  power  between  Mai,  or  dowager, 
Chand  Kaur  and  Prince  Sher  Singh  after  the 
death  of  Maharaja  Kharak  Singh  and  his  son, 
Nau  Nihal  Singh,  ended  in  victory  for  the 
Prince,  but  at  the  expense  of  military  discipline. 
Sher  Singh  had  won  over  the  army  with 
promises  of  monetary  reward  which  he  was  not 
in  a  position  to  fulfil.  Charging  the  government 
with  bad  faith,  the  soldiers  whose  pay  had  been 
in  arrears  for  several  months,  went  on  the 


rampage  in  the  city  of  Lahore,  the  trouble 
spreading  also  to  the  provinces.  Unpopular 
senior  officers  and  corrupt  paymasters  and 
regimental  accountants  were  their  special 
targets.  Sher  Singh  and  his  prime  minister, 
Dhian  Singh  called  a  meeting  of  the  soldiers' 
representatives  called  panches  to  discuss  their 
demands  and  end  the  mutiny  which  continued 
intermittently  for  about  six  months.  The 
troops  had  tasted  power  while  the  court  had 
been  weakened  through  jealousy  and  intrigue 
among  sardars  some  of  whom  were  also 
suspected  of  having  links  with  the  British.  The 
soldiers,  anxious  to  have  their  own  voice  heard 
in  matters  of  state,  introduced  the  familiar 
institution  of  panchayat.  Each  battalian, 
regiment  and,  in  the  case  of  artillery,  dera  had 
its  own  elected  panchayat  or  committee  of 
elders.  Together  the  panchayats  formed  a 
council  which  called  itself  Sarbatt  Khalsa  or  the 
Khalsa.  A  contemporary  witness  of  court  events 
and  diarist,  Sohan  Lai  Suri, '  Umdat  ut-Twarikh, 
does  not  use  the  term  panchayat,  but  refers  to 
the  representatives  of  the  army  variously  as 
Singhs,  Khalsa,  panches,  officers  of  the  paltans 
or  collectively  as  the  Khalsa  ji. 

Army  panchayats  after  their  first  fit  of  fury 
in  1841  remained  dormant  for  the  rest  of  the 
rule  of  Maharaja  Sher  Singh.  They  reappeared, 
however,  with  redoubled  vigour  immediately 
after  the  assassination,  on  a  single  fateful  day 
(15  September  1843),  of  Maharaja  Sher  Singh, 
the  heir  apparent,  Kahvar  Partap  Singh,  and 
the  prime  minister,  Raja  Dhian  Singh.  Raja  Hira 
Singh,  son  of  Dhian  Singh,  who  emerged  as  a 
powerful  person  as  the  new  Wazir  had  to 
propitiate  the  panchayats  with  promises  of  a 
rise  in  pay  and  ad  hoc  rewards. 

Broadly  speaking,  the  panchayats 
performed  a  fourfold  role  :  they  pressurized 
the  government  for  more  pay,  helped  to 
maintain  discipline  and  morale  in  the  ranks, 
assured  sovereign  authority  in  matters  of  state 
in  the  name  of  the  people,  the  Sarbatt  Khalsa, 
and  they  provided  popular  leadership  to  meet 
the  British  threat  from  across  the  southern 


SIKH  CALENDAR 


134 


SIKH  CALENDAR 


borders.  However  sound  in  principle,  the 
system  could  not  have  lasted  for  long.  The 
pahchayats  lacked  unity  and  tended  towards 
contention  and  arbitrariness.  With  the  defeat 
of  the  Sikhs  in  the  first  Anglo-Sikh  war  (1845- 
46) ,  they  lapsed.  The  British  drastically  reduced 
the  strength  of  the  Khalsa  army  and  disbanded 
units  wherein  they  suspected  the  slightest  ill- 
discipline. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bajwa,  Fauja  Singh,  Military  System  of  the  Sikhs. 
Delhi,  1964 

2.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
London,  1966 

3-  Hasrat,  Bikramajit,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations,  1 799- 

1849.  Hoshiarpur,  1968 
4.  Chopra,  Barkat  Rai,  Kingdom  of  the  Punjab. 

Hoshiarpur,  1969 

F.S. 

SIKH  CALENDAR  or  system  of  reckoning 
chronology  or  dates  of  events  in  Sikh  history  is 
generally  based  on  the  Vikrami  Samvat 
(Bikrami Sammat,  in  Punjabi),  a  system  mosdy 
in  vogue  in  northern  India,  although  other 
systems-  the  Hijri  during  the  Muslim  period 
and  Christian  since  the  advent  of  the  British- 
have  also  been  used  by  some  (usually  non-Sikh) 
chroniclers  and  historians.  Nanakshahi  and 
Khalsa  eras  are  exclusively  Sikh  in  origin  and 
follow  the  Bikrami  system  except  in  reckoning 
the  years.  The  Shaka  calendar  adopted  by 
Government  of  India  for  official  purposes  has 
not  gained  common  currency. 

Etymologically,  calendar  is  from  Latin 
claends  or  kalends,  the  first  day  of  the  month 
in  the  ancient  Roman  calendar,  and 
caiendarium,  account  book  showing  when 
debts  were  due.  It  is  a  method  to  categorize 
time  into  periods  such  as  days,  weeks,  months, 
years,  etc.  Solar  day  determined  by  the  daily 
rotation  of  earth,  lunar  month  reckoned  by 
moon's  revolution  around  the  earth,  and  solar 
year  distinguished  by  earth's  revolution  around 
the  sun  are  called  natural  divisions  of  time, 


while  the  hour,  the  week  and  the  civil  months 
are  conventional  divisions.  The  Sikh  calendar 
is  luni-solar  in  that  the  year  is  reckoned  by  the 
time  taken  by  one  revolution  of  the  earth,  but 
in  the  case  of  month  both  lunar  and  solar 
divisions  are  in  use.  The  week  is  also 
conventional,  i.e.  of  seven  days.  Traditional 
divisions  below  a  day  are  jam  or  pahir  (1/8  of 
a  day),  ghari  (1/8  of  a  pahir)  and  pal  (l/60th 
of  aghari).  Nowadays,  however,  second-minute- 
hour  categories  are  more  commonly  used. 

The  origin  of  the  Bikrami  era  is  generally 
traced  to  Raja  Vikramaditya  (Bikramajit  to  most 
Punjabis)  of  Ujjain,  different  from  Emperor 
Chandragupta  II  Vikramaditya  (375-410).  It 
began  57,lyears  before  the  Christian  era.  It  has 
also  beefi  called  Malva  Samvat.  The  solar 
Bikrami  year  commences  on  the  first  day  of 
Baisakh,  whereas  the  lunar  year  begins  on  the 
day  following  no-moon  (amavas)  of  Chet. 
Names  of  successive  months  are  Chet,  Baisakh, 
Jeth,  Har,  Savan,  Bhadori,  Assu,  Kattak, 
Maghar,  Poh,  Magh  and  Phagun.  Dates  of  solar 
months  called  parvishte  run  consecutively 
throughout  the  month,  but  lunar  month  is 
divided  into  two  halves  (paksas),  the  dark 
(krishan)  and  light  (shukal).  A  lunar  month 
commences  on  the  day  following  the  full  moon 
(puranmashi) .  Dates  (tithi  or  also  thit  in 
Punjabi)  of  the  first  half  are  prefixed  by  the 
term  vadi  running  from  1  to  14  or  15  ;  those  of 
the  second  half  are  indicated  by  prefixing  sudi. 
Thus  the  first  day  of  the  lunar  month  of  Chet 
will  be  Chet  vadi,  while  the  twentieth  day  will 
be  Chet  sudi  5  or  6.  Solar  Bikrami  year 
comprises  365  days  (365  days  each  for  three 
years  of  a  cycle  of  four  years  and  366  for  the 
fourth  year),  whereas  a  lunar  year  is  11  days 
shorter  because  a  lunar  month  or  time  taken 
by  the  moon's  revolution  around  the  earth  is 
only  about  29-1/2  days.  To  adjust  this  gap  which 
runs  into  a  month  in  three  years,  one  of  the 
lunar  months  called  laund  or  adhik  (intercalary 
or  embolismal)  is  repeated  every  third  year  on 
the  average,  so  that  the  lunar  and  the  solar 
months  do  not  drift  much  apart.  Old  Sikh 


SIKH  CAl.KNDAR 


135 


SIKH  CALENDAR 


chroniclers  have  usually  used  lunar  dates  in 
recording  historical  events.  Most  Sikh  festivals 
such  as  birth,  installation  and  death  of  the 
Gurus  are  therefore  indicated  by  lunar  dates. 
However,  use  of  the  dates  of  solar  months, 
determined  by  the  movement  of  the  sun  into 
several  Zodiac  regions  or  signs  (12  in  number), 
is  not  uncommon.  For  example,  the  Sikhs 
observe  the  first  of  each  solar  month  as  sangrand 
(Sanskrit  sari&ranti)  festival.  Popular  festivals 
of  Baisakhi,  Lohri  and  Maghi  are  celebrated 
according  to  solar  dates.  Even  some  well-known 
anniversaries  as,  for  instance,  of  the  battles  of 
Chamkaur  and  Muktsar  and  of  the  ma  rtyrdom 
of  the  younger  sons  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh  are 
also  determined  by  solar  dates. 

Muslim  as  well  as  some  non-Muslim 
historians  have  used  Islamic  or  Hijri  calendar 
when  writing  of  events  connected  with  Sikh 
history.  This  calendar,  originating  from 
Prophet  Muhammad's  hi/rat  (migration)  from 
Mecca  to  Medina,  in  AO  622,  is  purely  lunar  in 
that  both  the  month  and  the  year  are  related 
to  the  moon's  revolution  around  the  earth. 
Time  taken  by  one  such  revolution  makes  a 
month  and  1 2  lunar  months;  make  a  year.  Even 
the  month  does  not  start  on  a  specific  day  but 
depends  upon  the  appearance  of  the  new 
moon  which  may  not  be  sighted  on  the  same 
day- in  different  countries.  A  day  in  this  system 
is  reckoned  from  sunset  to  sunset.  As  a  lunar 
month  has  only  29-1/2  days  on  an  average,  a 
Hijri  year  falls  short  of  a  solar  year  by  1 1  days, 
the  difference  increasing  to  a  whole  year  in  33 
years.  The  Hijri  year  commences  on  the  first 
of  Muharram.  The  subsequent  months  are 
Safar,  Rabi  ul-Awwal,  Rabi  us-Sani,  Jamadi  ul- 
Awwal,  Jamadl  us-Sani,  Rajab,  Shaban, 
Ramzan,  Shawwal,  Ziqadah,  Zi  ul-Ha[j. 

Fasli  (lit.  connected  with  fasal  or  harvest) 
calendar  sometimes  used  during  Sikh  times 
in  documents  like  revenue  grants  was 
introduced  by  the  Mughal  Emperor  Akbar  in 
980  AH/AH  1573  for  use  in  revenue  records  and 
offices,  because  the  Hijri  calendar,  commonly 
in  use  during  the  preceding  Muslim  rule  in 


India,  was,  for  lack  of  correspondence,  with 
harvesting  seasons,  not  suitable  for  this 
purpose.  Fasli  years  have  lunar  months  bearing 
names  of  the  Bikrami  calendar,  but  not  divided 
into  dark  and  light  fortnights  ;  and  to  make 
them  correspond  to  solar  year  a  mah  i-kabisah 
or  intercalary  month  is  added  every  third  year. 
The  numbering  of  Fasli  year,  however, 
corresponded,  to  start  with,  with  the  Hijri  era, 
that  is  ,  the  first  Assu  in  1630  Bikrami,  when 
this  calendar  was  introduced,  became  1  Assu 
980  Fasli  as  it  fell  during  980  AH.  But  this 
correspondence  did  not  continue  for  long 
because  the  Hijri  year  was  shorter  by  1 1  days 
than  the  Fasli  year. 

Nanakshahi  and  Khalsa  calendars  closely 
follow  the  Bikrami  calendar  except  that  their 
annual  sequence  starts  from  the  birth  of  Guru 
Nanak  (AD  1469)  and  the  Khalsa  (AD  1699), 
respectively.  Nanakshahi  sammat  commences 
on  the  puranmashJ  (full  moon)  of  Kattak 
(incorrectly  though,  because  according  to 
most  scholars  Guru  Nanak  was  born  in  Baisakh 
and  not  in  Kattak)  and  Khalsa  Sammat  from 
the  1st  of  Baisakh.  With  the  advent  of  the  British 
rule  in  the  Punjab  and  even  earlier  in  accounts 
of  the  Sikhs  from  the  pen  of  Western  writers, 
the  use  of  Christian  calendar  became  more  and 
more  common.  The  Christian  era  is  reckoned 
from  the  first  of  January  following  the  birth 
(or  the  fourth  birth  anniversary)  of  Jesus  Christ 
on  the  25th  of  the  preceding  December.  It 
followed  the  Julian  calendar  established  by 
Julius  Caesar  in  46  BC,  fixing  the  length  of  the 
year  at  365  days  and  at  366  days  every  fourth 
year,  until  the  reformed  Gregorian  calendar, 
named  after  Pope  Gregory  VIII  (d.  1187) 
replaced  it.  The  reform  introduced  the  new 
rule  according  to  which  every  year  divisible  by 
four  was  to  be  the  leap  year  of  366  days  except 
centenary  years  which  to  be  leap  years  must  be 
divisible  by  400.  The  British  adopted  the 
Gregorian  calendar  only  in  September  1 752  by 
which  time  difference  between  the  two 
calendars  had  increased  to  11  days.  To  offset 
this,  the  British  government  declared  the  day 


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136 


SIKH  COINS 


following  Wednesday,  the  2nd  September  1752 
as  Thursday,  the  14th  September  1752.  The 
change  also  affected  its  correspondence  with 
the  Sikh  (BikramI)  calendar.  For  instance,  while 
1  Baisakh  1752  fell  on  29  March  1752,  the 
following  Baisakh!  corresponded  to  9  April 
1 753.  A  slight  difference  in  the  length  of  a  solar 
year  in  the  two  systems,  the  Western  or 
Christian  and  the  Indian  or  Bikrami,  is  still 
there.  According  to  Gregorian  rules,  a  solar 
year  is  equal  to  365  days,  5  hours,  49  minutes 
and  46  seconds  whereas  the  Indian  solar  year 
based  on  the  calculation  of  the  ancient 
astronomer  Arya  Bhatt  (AD  476-520)  is  of  365 
days  6  hours  13  minutes  and  30  seconds.  This 
difference  of  23  minutes  and  44  seconds 
repeated  over  60.67  years  becomes  equal  to 
one  full  day.  The  Christian  year  being  shorter 
advances  by  one  day  over  the  dates  of  the 
BikramI  era  every  60  or  61  years.  This  is  the 
reason  why  Baisakh!  which  fell  on  9  April  in 
1753  fell  on  11  April  in  1853  and  14  April  in 
1987.  According  to  modern  astronomy,  the 
Gregorian  year  is  slightly  longer  than  the 
absolutely  correct  one  365.2422  days.  This 
difference  of  .0003  days  is  proposed  to  be 
adjusted  by  treating  millenary  year  AD  4000, 
8000,  12000,  etc  as  common  ones  of  365  days 
each  and  not  as  leap  years  as  they  should  be 
under  the  Gregorian  rules. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ganda  Singh,  Nanakshahi  Jantri  (Urdu). 
Amritsar,  1949 

2.  Saif  ud-Din,Janfn  Parija/i  Saia.  Hyderabad,  1307 
A.H 

3.  Muhammad  Khaldi  and  Muhammad  Ahmed 
Khan,  Taqwim  Hijri  vva  hvi.  Delhi,  1939 

4.  Naval  Kishore,  Taqwim  yak  sad  wa  du  Sa/a  (Urdu). 
Lucknow,  1881 

5.  Kannu  Pillai,  L.D.  Swami,  An  Indian  Ephemeris. 
Madras,  1922 

B.S. 

SIKH  COINS  or  NUMISMATICS.  Sikh  coins 
like  coins  anywhere  else  were  both  a 


commercial  necessity  and  a  symbol  of 
sovereignty.  Coin,  derived  from  the  Latin 
cuneus,  a  wedge,  through  Old  French  coing 
and  cuigne,  "is  properly  the  term  for  a  wedge- 
shaped  die  used  for  stamping  money,  and  so 
transferred  to  the  money  so  stamped  :  hence  a 
piece  of  money."  The  Punjabi  word  for  coin, 
sikka,  is  borrowed  from  Persian  where  it  means 
both  "a  die  for  coining"  and  "rule,  law, 
regulation"  (implying  sovereignty). 

Traditionally,  coins  struck  under  the 
orders  of  various  sovereigns  had  embossed  or 
inscribd  on  them  the  name  and/or  bust  of  the 
ruler  and  the  year  of  that  ruler's  reign.  Sikh 
coins,  however,  were  dedicated  to  their  Gurus 
and  the  year  of  issue  they  carried  was  of  the 
Bikrami  era,  although  the  script  and  language 
used  continued  to  be  Persian  as  was  the  vogue 
under  the  Mughal  rulers.  The  first  sovereign 
Sikh  state,  however  short-lived,  was  established 
by  Banda  Singh  Bahadur  with  the  conquest  of 
Sirhind  early  in  1710,  and  the  first  Sikh  coin 
issued  by  him  from  his  bastion,  Mukhlisgarh 
in  the  Sivalik  foothills,  carried  on  one  side  the 
following  inscription  :  sikka.  bar  har  do  'a/am 
tegh-i-nanak  wahab  ast  fatah  gobind  singh 
shah-i-shahan  fazal  sacheha  sahib  ast  (the  coin 
is  struck  in  the  two  worlds,  its  bestower  being 
the  sword  of  Nanak.  Victory  is  of  Gobind  Singh, 
the  king  of  kings,  by  the  grace  of  the  True 
Master);  on  the  other  side  were  the  words  : 
zarb  ba  araan  ud-dahr  musawarat  shahr  zinat 
al  takht  mubarak  bakht  (struck  for  the  security 
and  peace  of  the  world  and  the  walled  town  of 
the  elegant  throne  and  blessed  fortune). 

Half  a  century  later,  when  the  Dal  Khalsa, 
the  confederated  Sikh  force  under  the  overall 
leadership  of  Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia, 
whom  the  Sikhs  fondly  gave  the  epithet  Sultan 
ul—qaum  (the  nation's  king),  temporarily 
occupied  Lahore  in  November  1761,  a  coin  was 
issued  bearing  the  inscription,  sikka  zad  dar 
jahan  bafazl  i-akal,  mulki-  ahmad  shah  griftah 
jassa  ka\a\  ( the  coin  struck  in  the  world  (when) 
by  the  grace  of  God,  Jassa  Kalal  (Jassa  Singh 
Ahluvalia)  occupied  the  territory  of  Ahmad 


SIKH  COINS 


137 


SIKH  COINS 


Shah  (Durrani).  This  coin  was  soon  withdrawn 
because  it  bore  the  name  not  of  the  Guru  but 
of  a  Sikh  and  that  too  in  a  truncated  form.  It  is 
also  considered  that  this  coin  was  not  issued 
by  the  Sikhs  but  was  arranged  to  be  struck  by 
some  religious  leaders  of  Lahore  for 
despatching  it  to  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  with 
the  intention  of  rousing  his  ire  and  early 
suppression  of  the  Sikhs. 

Another  coin  struck  soon  after  the 
conquest  of  Sirhind  by  the  Sikhs  in  1 764  came 
to  be  known  as  Gobindshahi  sikka  (coin  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh).  It  was  a  silver  coin  and  it 
continued  to  be  issued  from  the  Lahore  mint 
up  to  1777.  Inscriptions  on  it  were  :  on  one 
side,  deg  tegh  fatah-o-nunrat  bedrang,  yah  az 
nanak  guru  gobind  siqgh  (kettle  [signifying 
munificence],  sword  [symbol  of  power], 
success  and  unhindered  victory  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  inherited  from  [Gura]  Nanak.  This  was 
the  couplet  earlier  used  by  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur  on  his  seal.  The  other  side  of  the 
Gobindshahi  coin  bore  zarb  dar  ul-saltanat 
lahaur  sammat  1822  maimnat  man  us  (struck 
at  the  capital  Lahore  in  the  year  1822  [ad  1765] 
of  intimate  prosperity) . 

Gold  and  silver  coins  i  ssued  from  Amritsar 
from  1777  onwards  were  called  Nanakshahl 
sikka.  They  had  on  one  s;ide  akal  sahai  guru 
nanak jl  in  Gurmukhi  letters,  and  sikka  zad  bar 
sim  o-zar  tegh  nanak  wahzib  ast  fatah-i-gobind 
shah-i-shahan  fazal  sacheha  sahib  ast  in 
,  Persian  (coin  struck  in  silver  and  gold ;  Nanak's 
sword  is  the  bestower  :  victory  by  the  grace  of 
the  True  Lord  is  of  Gobind  (Singh),  the  king 
of  kings) .  The  inscription  closely  resem  bles  that 
on  the  earliest  Sikh  coin  issued  by  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur.  The  coin  bore  on  the  other  side  the 
words  zarb  srl  amritsar jalus  akal  takht  sammat 
1837  (struck  at  Sri  Amritsar  (during )  the  reign 
of  Akal  Takht  (in)  the  year  1837  (AD  1780). 

The  Dal  Khalsa  had  during  the  eighteenth 
century  carried  the  Sikh  flag  far  into  the  heart 
of  India.  Therefore,  as  writes  Charles  J. 
Rodgers,  Coin  Collection  in  Northern  India 
(1894).  "It  is  not  astonishing  then  that  there 


are  coins  in  existence  on  one  side  of  which  is 
the  old  Sikh  coin  distich  and  on  the  other  the 
Najibabad  mint  name  and  mark.  One  coin  of 
this  kind  is  known  with  the  Jaipur  mint  name 
and  mark.... I  remember  seeing  years  ago  a  coin 
struck  at  Surat  with  the  Sikh  coin  couplet  on 
it..." 

Ranjit  Singh  occupied  Lahore  in  1 799  and 
proclaimed  himself  Maharaja  in  1801.  His  coins 
issued  from  Lahore  from  1801  onwards,  from 
Amritsar  since  1805-06,  from  Multan  since  1818 
and  from  Kashmir  (Srinagar)  since  1819  bore 
the  same  inscription  as  had  appeared  earlier 
on  the  Gobindshahi  coins,  but  Ranjit  Singh's 
coins  were  called  Nanakshahl.  Their 
distinguishing  mark  was  a  tree  leaf  and  later  a 
peacock's  feather.  Coins  were  also  struck  during 
his  reign  at  Pind  Dadan  Khan.  Jhahg  and 
Peshawar.  The  custom  was  that  coins  struck  at 
a  new  mint  on  the  first  day  were  sent  to 
Amritsar  as  an  offering  at  the  Akal  Takht.  In 
1 806-07,  Ranjit  Singh  issued  "Morarishahi"  or 
"ArsI  di  Mohar  Vale"  coin  in  honour  of  his 
favourite  dancing  girl  whom  he  took  as  one  of 
his  queens.  The  offering  made  of  these  coins 
was  not  accepted  at  the  Akal  Takht.  Similarly, 
the  coins  issued  by  Maharaja  Sher  Singh  (1841- 
43)  were  not  accepted  at  the  Takht  Kesgarh 
Sahib,  Anandpur,  as  offering  because  instead 
of  the  usual  legend  "Akal  Sahai  Guru  Nanak 
ji"  they  bore  "Akal  Sahai  Sher  Singh". 

From  1828  onwards  the  Lahore  mint 
issued  gold  mohars  popularly  called  butkis.  It 
contained  11-1/2  mashas  (approximately  10 
grams)  of  pure  gold,  and  had,  in  addition  to 
the  usual  distich  and  legend,  the  word  vahiguru 
(Sikh  name  for  God)  written  thrice  over  in 
Gurmukhi  letters.  The  rupee  coin  contained  a 
similar  quantity  of  silver  while  coins  of  lower 
denominations  (dhela  or  takaand  paisa)  were 
made  from  copper. 

Sardar  Hari  Singh  Nalva  was  permitted 
twice  to  issue  coins  in  his  name,  first  in  1831  in 
Kashmir  and  then  in  1834  at  Peshawar. 

In  honour  of  Nau  Nihal  Singh's  marriage, 
Ranjit  Siiigh  started  an  Order  of  Merit,  which 


SIKH  COINS 


138 


SIKH  COSMOLOGY 


was  known  as  Kaukab  i-Iqbal-i-Punjab,  Star  of 
the  Prosperity  of  the  Punjab.  The  order  had 
three  grades,  each  having  its  own  medal.  The 
medals  bore  the  effigy  of  Ranjit  Singh  on  one 
side  and  had  silk  ribands  of  gold  and  scarlet 
colour.  Shaped  like  a  star  they  were  meant  to 
be  worn  round  the  neck.  The  first-grade  medal 
carried  one  diamond.  It  was  meant  for  the 
members  of  the  royal  family  and  those  chiefs 
who  had  shown  exceptional  devotion  to  the 
person  of  the  Maharaja  and  his  family.  The 
second-grade  medal  had  a  diamond  and  an 
emerald  set  in  it.  It  was  bestowed  on  loyal 
courtiers  and  sardars.  The  third  contained  a 
single  emerald  and  was  open  to  the  civil  and 
military  officers  who  had  rendered  some 
special  service  to  the  country. 

The  principality  of  Patiala  founded  by 
Sardar  Ala  Singh  received  recognition  as  state 
in  1761  from  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  who  also 
conferred  on  Ala  Singh  the  title  of  Raja  in  1765. 
Raja  Ala  Singh  died  in  August  of  the  same  year. 
His  grandson  and  successor,  Amar  Singh,  was 
given  by  Ahmad  Shah  the  title  of  Rajah-i- 
Rajgan  and  permission  to  strike  his  own  coins 
in  March  1767.  The  Patiala  coins,  gold  mohar 
and  silver  rupee,  were  called  Rajeshahi.  They 
weighed  11-1/4  mashas  (approximately  10 
grams)  each  and  bore  a  Persian  distich 
commemorating  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani 
(ordained  by  the  Incomparable  Almighty 
through  Ahmad  Shah  to  strike  coins  of  silver 
and  gold  from  the  zenith  of  one  moon  or 
month  to  another).  As  Charles  J.  Rodgers, 
Honorary  Numismadst  to  the  Government  of 
India,  observed  in  1894,  "All  the  Maharajas  of 
Patiala  have  used  the  same  couplet  in  their  gold 
and  silver  coins.  Different  Maharajas  have  used 
different  signs,  and  it  is  by  these  that  the  coins 
are  assigned  to  those  who  struck  them.. ..One 
strange  thing  is  noteworthy.  The  mint  is  in 
Patiala  city,  but  the  name  of  the  mint  coming 
on  the  coin  is  Sarhind  or  Sahrind.  When  we 
consider  that  the  Maharaja  is  a  Sikh  and  the 
Sikhs  account  Sarhind  accursed...  the  retention 
of  the  name  seems  stranger  still.  Ahmad  Shah 


Durrani  coined  in  this  town,  and  that  is  perhaps 
the  reason  its  name  is  retained  on  Patiala 
coins." 

Coins  of  Jind  state  (silver  rupee  only), 
similar  to  those  of  Patiala  in  weight  and  the 
couplet  used,  were  known  as  Jindia,  Nabha 
coins  (gold  mohur  and  silver  rupee),  popularly 
called  Nabhashahi,  however,  bore  the  couplet 
"deg  tegh  fatah...."  as  it  appeared  on  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh's  Nanakshahi  or,  earlier,  on 
Gobindshahi  coins.  Kapurthala  rulers  did  not 
strike  their  own  coins.  Nanakshahi,  and,  later, 
British  coins  were  current  there.  Coins  minted 
in  different  states  were  legal  tender  only  within 
their  territories  although  they  were  sometimes 
accepted  in  neighbouring  markets  close  to  the 
state  boundaries. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Rodgers,  CharlesJ.,  Coin  Collection  in  Northern 
Indin.  1894 

2.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  Um dkt-u t-Twarikh .  Lahore, 
1885-89 

M.S.M. 

SIKH  COSMOLOGY.  From  the  very  beginning 
man  has  been  curious  to  know  about  the 
structure  and  constitution  of  the  Universe  and 
its  origin.  To  locate  the  stable  base  of  this 
universe  and  to  fix  his  own  place  in  it  have  been 
the  subjects  of  his  constant  search  and 
speculation  for  him.  The  Gurus  brought  their 
own  mystical  and  philosophical  powers  to 
solving  the  riddle.  In  their  poetry  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib,  they  have  expressed  their  sense 
of  wonder  and  sung  paeans  of  praise  for  the 
Almighty.  A  minute  observation  of  the 
phenomenon  of  nature  forms  an  important 
part  of  the  Sikh  metaphysical  insight.  It  brings 
into  view  a  palpable  vision  of  the  Creator  and 
His  creation.  The  medium  used  is  poetry  of 
far-reaching  import.  It  is  at  the  same  time 
poetry  of  elemental  beauty  as  well  as  of 
grandeur. 

The  Gurus  have  unequivocally  and 
forcefully  stressed  the  unicity  of  the  Godhead. 


SIKH  COSMOLOGY 


139 


SIKH  COSMOLOGY 


There  is  no  room  in  it  for  any  dualisitic  or 
polytheistic  doctrines.  The  deities  of  the  Hindu 
mythology,  for  instance,  have  no  place  in  their 
belief  as  the  objects  of  worship  ;  nor  was  anyone 
of  them  regarded  co-eternal  with  God.  The 
matter  out  of  which  forms  are  shaped  and  the 
selves  that  inhabit  them  are  eternal  in  Him  but 
not  with  Him.  Again,  the  God  of  Sikh  teaching 
is  not  a  mere  concept  or  principle  ;  He  is  the 
Ultimate  Reality.  True  and  eternal,  He  is  the 
Power  that  has  existed  for  ever  and  will 
continue  to  exist  when  everything  else  has 
ceased.  This  power  is  endowed  with  will  and 
supported  by  a  conscious  intelligence,  which 
serves  as  the  chief  instrument  for  the  fulfilment 
of  His  designs  and  purposes.  With  this  will  He 
comes  out  of  His  transcendental  state  of 
absorption  in  the  Self  and  becomes;  the  all- 
powerful  immanent  Creator  (/carta  purakh). 
When  He  so  wills,  He  draws  it  back,  which  is  its 
dissolution. 

The  world  for  the  Gurus  is  a  creation,  and 
owes  its  existence  to  the  will  of  the  Divine.  It  is 
the  Creator's  sporting  gesture,  Ilia.  He  Himself 
is  its  material  as  well  as  efficient  cause.  Says 
Guru  Nanak,  "tun  karta  purakhu  agammu  hai 
ape  sristi  upati-  You  are  the  creator, 
unknowable  ;  you  have  yourself  created  the 
world"  (GG,  138).  There  was  a  time  v/hen  the 
world  had  not  yet  appeared  and  there  will  be  a 
time  when  the  world  will  again  disappear.  Says 
Guru  Arjan,  "kai  bar pasario  pasarsada  sada  ik 
akahkar-  Many  a  time  you  have  projected  this 
creation,  yet  you  always  remained  the  only 
formless  One"  (GG,  276). 

The  Gurus  have  called  the  pre-creation 
state  sunya,  meaning  'empty  void',  negative 
abyss,'  'nothingness.'  Describing  this  stage, 
Guru  Nanak  says  : 

For  countless  ages  utter  darkness 
prevailed 

There  was  neither  earth  nor  heaven, 

The  will  of  the  Infinite  Lord  reigned 
everywhere. 

There  was  neither  day  nor  night, 

Nor  sun  nor  moon, 


Only  Sunya  (the  Absolute  self)  stayed 
in  solitary  meditation. 

(GG,  1035) 

Again, 

For  a  good  many  ages 

Utter  darkness  filled  everywhere. 

The  Creator  was  wholly  absorbed 

in  deep  meditation. 
There  existed  only  His  true  nam,  His 

glory, 

And  the  lustre  of  His  eternal  throne. 

(GG,  1023) 

Many  schools  of  thought  have  put  forth 
the  view  that  the  world  was  born  out  of 
nothingness.  However,  the  Sunya  of  the  Gurus 
does  not  correspond  to  the  Buddhistic  concept, 
nor  the  absolute  nothingness,  the  'ex-nihilo' 
of  other  schools.  The  "nothingness"  of  the 
Gurus  refers  to  absence  of  creation,  and  not 
to  the  absence  of  the  Creator  or  His  essence 
or  potency.  The  Gurus  have  used  "Sunya"  in 
conjunction  with  terms  like  samadhi,  tap" 
(trance,  meditation)  or  sahaj  (equipoise, 
balance)  or  sach  (holy  truth).  These  terms 
describe  the  state  of  complete  tranquillity  and 
oneness  of  the  Absolute  Self,  and  refer  to  that 
latent  form  in  which  every  aspect  of  creation 
lies  dormant  in  Him,  waiting  for  the  operation 
of  the  Divine  urge  for  its  unfoldment.  With  this 
urge,  from  apparent  nothingness,  the  Formless 
assumes  form,  "The  unattributed  becomes  the 
Attributed  -"nirgun  te  sargunu  thia"  (GG,  940) 
and  thus  this  world  of  a  myriad  colours  takes  shape. 

The  Gurus  do  not  subscribe  to  the  view 
diat  the  world  suddenly  appeared  in  its  finished 
form.  It  has  passed  through  a  gradual  process 
of  evolution.  They  also  reject  the  view  that  it 
has  been  'produced'  or  'manufactured' 
mechanically  as  an  artisan  might  produce  an 
article  out  of  a  given  substance.  God  and  His 
creation  are  one —  the  creation  was  merged 
in  Him.  God  raised  the  creation  out  of  Himself. 
It  is  a  gradual  unfoldment  of  what  lay  folded 
within  the  Ultimate  cause —  the  Absolute  Self. 

From  the  state  of  Sunya, 


SIKH  COSMOLOGY 


140 


SIKH  COSMOLOGY 


The  latent  form  became  active. 
The  elements  of  air  and  water 
Were  evolved  out  of  Sunya... 
Within  the  fire 

Water  and  living  beings  is  His  Light, 
And  the  power  of  Creation  lies  within 

Sunya  

From  Sunya  came  out  the  moon 

The  sun  and  the  firmament  

The  earth  and  heaven  have  been  evolved 

out  of  Sunya. 

(GG,  1037-38) 

Guru  Nanak  mentions  three  stages  in  the 
process  of  cosmic  evolution.  The  first  is  the 
atmosphere  when  there  was  only  all-pervasive 
air.  The  second  stage  was  that  of  water  ;  the 
third  was  lithosphere  when  the  crust  of  the 
earth  took  form.  Situated  in  the  midst  of  the 
elements,  the  self  has  to  evolve  its  potentialities 
to  merge  into  the  Absolute,  which  is  the  state 
of  liberation.  Thus,  a  theory  of  spiritual 
evolution  is  implicit  in  this  process. 

The  source  and  origin  of  Creation  is 
shabad,  sabda,  (sound),  nam,  nad,  bani  or 
anahad  sabad.  The  will  of  God  (hukam) 
becomes  synonymous  with  the  word  of  God. 
Guru  Nanak  says,  "kka  pasau  eko  kavau  tis  te 
hoe  lakh  dariau-  With  his  Primal  Word  (Jcavao) 
originated  creation  and  millions  of  rivers  were 
setflowing"  (GG,3).  Guru  Amar  Das  says"  utpati 
paralu  sabade  havai  sabade  hi phirl  opati  hovai- 
Through  sabad  (word)  creation  and 
dissolution  take  place  and  through  sabad 
creation  takes  rebirth"  (GG,  117). 

The  creative  power  of  sabad  (Word)  is  a 
concept  common  to  most  religious  traditions, 
Sabad  has  been  referred  to  as  nad,  vani  or  vak 
in  Vedic  and  Upanisadic  literature.  There  are 
clear  references  to  it  in  the  Zoroastrian  sroasha, 
the  Word  or  Logos  of  the  Christians,  and  Kun 
or  Kalima  of  the  Muslims.  To  quote  the  Bible, 
"In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word 
was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God...  All 
things  were  made  by  Him  ;  and  without  Him 
was  not  made  anything"  (John,  1,1,).  The  poets 


of  the  nirguna  school  like  Kabir  and  Dadu  also 
equate  the  sabad  (Word)  with  the  Creator. 

Sabad  (sound  manifested)  produces  the 
subtle  element  akash  (ether),  from  which  the 
other  four  subtle  elements  emerge,  which  in 
turn  give  rise  to  the  five  gross  elements.  Air 
evolves  from  ether,  fire  from  air,  water  from 
fire,  and  earth  from  water.  The  Gurus  regard 
these  five  elements  as  the  basic  constituents  of 
the  whole  creation,  Guru  Nanak  says,  "pahch 
tatu  sunnahu  pargasa-  From  sunya  the  five 
elements  manifested  themselves"  (GG,  1038). 
"Pahch  tatu  mili  ihu  tanu  kia-  The  human 
frame  is  also  constituted  of  (these)  five 
elements"  (GG,  1039). 

The  evolution  of  the  world  from  sabad 
(Word)  indicates  that  the  Gurus  do  not  accept 
the  traditional  division  of  the  world  into  matter 
and  spirit.  Since  the  light  of  the  Lord  (sabad) 
pervades  the  entire  universe,  what  has  sprung 
from  Him  cannot  be  lifeless  or  inert.  Guru 
Nanak  says  "sache  te  pavana  bhaia  pavane  te 
jalu  hoi-  From  the  eternal  being  air  evolved 
and  from  air  water"  (GG,  19).  Lifeless  matter  can 
neither  respond  to  outer  and  inner  influences, 
nor  can  it  be  translated  into  an  evolutionary 
process.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  pure  matter 
in  the  entire  universe. 

Forms  may  be  with  or  without  a  self  or 
soul.  The  ensouled  forms  have  been  called 
jlvas.  In  and  through  them  the  conscious 
luminous  spirit,  a  spark  of  the  Divine  Flame, 
gains  vital  expression.  While  jivas  have  been 
divided  into  four  broad  categories  (khanis)— 
egg-born,  womb-born,  earth-born  and  sweat- 
born—  references  are  also  made  to  the  gods, 
ghosts  and  the  like.  Guru  Nanak  says, 
"Innumerable  are  the  categories  of  creation  in 
various  colours  and  forms."  Creation  cannot 
be  limited  to  any  fixed  number  of  categories. 

The  Gurus  have  given  vivid  accounts  of 
the  visible  and  invisible  worlds.  They  refer  to 
countless  kinds  of  creation.  They  speak  of 
innumerable  mountains,  oceans,  countries, 
continents,  galaxies  and  universes.  Guru 
Nanak's  composition   "Japu"   which  is 


SIKH  COSMOI.OCiY 


141 


SIKH  COSMOLOGY 


considered  to  be  the  epitome  of  the  entire  Sikh 
philosophy,  gives  a  highly  imaginative  account 
of  the  gross  and  subtle  worlds  in  the  stanzas 
known  as  "khands"  (regions).  Metaphorical 
references  to  the  three  worlds  (tribhavan) ,  the 
nine  divisions  (nav  khand),  the  fourteen 
regions  {chaudah  bhavan  or  lok)  of  Hindu  and 
Muslim  belief  are  also  referred  to,  but  the 
Gurus  repeatedly  say  that  like  the  Lord,  His 
creation  is  also  limitless.  Says  the  Guru, 
"Without  limit  is  creation,  without  measure. 
Millions  long  to  find  the  limit,  but  limitless  is 
creation."  Again,  "Countless  are  the 
atmospheres,  waters  and  fires  ;  countless  the 
clouds,  the  moons  and  the  suns,  infinite  are 
the  spheres,  infinite  the  space."  The  Gurus 
believe  that  there  are  many  solar  systems  like 
that  of  ours  and  each  solar  system  has  i  ts  own 
Brahma,  Visnu  and  Mahesa  (gods  of  creation, 
sustenance  and  dissolution) .  So  great  is  the  lord 
and  so  boundless  in  His  creation  that  countless 
planets  and  worlds  are  being  created  and 
dissolved  in  it  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 

Time  and  space  are  two  very  significant 
factors  in  the  process  of  creation.  The  whole 
creation  is  under  their  influence  and  sway.  It 
is,  therefore,  subject  to  growth  and  decay.  Only 
the  Creator,  the  Transcendental  One,  is  beyond 
the  influence  of  rime  and  space.  Guru  Nanak 
calls  Him  aka\  murati,  "you  transcend  time, 
time  has  no  effect  on  you  -  tu  aicai  purakhu 
nahi  siri  kala"  (GO,  1038).  In  fact  time  and  space 
exist  only  as  part  of  the  creatiorK  Not  only  is 
creation  in  time  and  space,  it  can  only  be 
understood  in  relation  to  them.  When  creation 
itself  dissolves  at  the  time  of  pralaya 
(dissolution), time  and  space  also  merge  into 
Eternity.  Therefore,  the-Gtn=us-do  «ot- accept 
the  independent  existence  of  time  and  space. 

Time  has  been  dealt  with  in  Sikh  teaching 
in  detail.  While  the  Creator  has  been  called 
Akal  (Timeless),  which  is  a  central  concept  in 
the  Sikh  philosophical  thought,  the  universe 
is  governed  by  the  element  of  time.  There  is  a 
continuing  process  of  creation  anil  dissolution. 
Says  Guru  Arjan  in  Suklunani :  Kai  bar  pasario 


pasar,  sada  sada  iku  ekankar- 

Numerous  times  has  the  visible  Universal 

expanse  been  manifested  ; 
Only  the  Supreme  Being  is  eternal, 

(GG,  276) 

In  Gurbani,  temporality  and  eternity  are 
constant  opposites.  Time  itself  is 
immeasurable,  beyond  human  conception. 
During  it  the  universe  has  appeared  and 
disappeared  through  endless  ages.  In  Raga 
Maru  Solahe,  by  Guru  Nanak  (GG,  1035),  occurs 
a  long  disquisition  on  the  process  of  creation. 
"Through  millions  of  years  was  there  utter 
darkness  enveloping  the  space;  everything  was 
at  standstill.  Then  He  by  His  will  created  the 
universe,  the  continents,  regions,  and  the 
nether  worlds.  And  the  unmanifest  made 
himself  manifest." 

Sikh  cosmology  maintains  the  fourfold 
division  of  time.  Time  is  divisible  into  four 
yugas.  The  computation  of  time  is  in 
accordance  with  the  BikramI  era,  which 
precedes  the  Christian  era  by  57  years. 
Occasionally  the  kaliyiiga  era  too  is  mentioned. 
In  the  sum,  for  most  practical  purposes  the 
prevalent  Indian  computation  of  time  has  been 
adopted. 

The  Gurus  regard  man  as  the  crown  of 
creation.  Unique  is  the  structure  of  his  body 
which  is  "the  temple  of  the  living  God-  hari 
mandarti  ehu  sariru  hai...."  (GG,  1346).  It  is  in 
this  worthy  temple  that  the  Creator  is  to  be 
realized  and  worshipped.  Guru  Amar  Das  says: 

In  the  body  are  contained, 

Pearls  and  treasures, 

The  storehouse  of  devotion. 

The  nine  regions  of  the  earth, 

Shops  and  markets 

And  the  nine  treasures  of  nam,  the  divine 
Are  contained  in  this  frame. 

(GG,  754) 

The  human  body  is  the  model  of  the  whole 

creation,  We,  each  one  of  us,  are  the  complete 
universe.  Man  is  the  microcosm  of  the  cosmos 


SIKH  COSMOIXXJY 


142 


SIKH  Eli  HATHA 


which  is  the  macrocosm.  The  study  of  this 
macrocosm  can  reveal  all  the  secrets  contained 
in  the  macrocosm.  Our  body  is  the  epitome  of 
all  creation  and  we  have  only  to  turn  within  lo 
seek  the  truth.  There  is  a  complete  parallel 
system  between  the  physical  processes  of  the 
universe  and  the  biological  processes  in  the 
body  of  man,  Above  and  beyond  the  nine 
visible  "gates"  (eyes,  ears,  nostrils,  mouth  and 
the  two  lower  apertures)  of  the  body  there  lies 
the  invisible  "tenth  door"(dasam  duar)  where 
the  true  sabda,  in  all  its  resplendent  glory  and 
bliss,  keeps  ceaselessly  resounding.  This 
unstruck  music  (akhand  sabad),  the  stream  of 
perennial  life,  the  true  Nectar  is  incessantly  in 
operation  in  the  "tenth  door"  from  where  man 
can  travel  back  to  his  true  Home  (sach  khand) 
on  the  ship  of  the  Word  (sabda).  He  can  then 
merge  his  individual  self  in  the  universal  self 
to  obtain  lasting  release  from  the  cycle  of  birth 
and  death.  In  fact,  the  human  body  is  a 
precious  gift,  the  golden  opportunity  which  the 
great  Lord  mercifully  grants  to  creation  so  that 
it  may  realize  its  true  self  and  become  one  with 
the  transcendent.  To  utilize  the  body  for  this 
purpose  is  the  real  goal  and  end  of  life,  and 
the  onlyjustification  for  man's  sojourn  in  this 
world. 

The  concept  of  cosmology  advanced  by 
the  Gurus  is  not  merely  theological  or 
speculative.  It  is  the  outcome  of  their  own 
spiritual  and  mystical  experience.  The  Gurus 
were  unmatched  spiritual  teachers  who  in  their 
own  spiritual  ascent  beheld  the  splendid  vision 
of  the  entire  creation.  They  described  what 
they  themselves  saw  vividly  revealed  within  (C.ti, 
H9-1).  Their  personal  mystical  experience  is  the 
real  base  and  authority  of  their  revelation.  They 
established  a  living  communion  with  God  and 
possessed  first-hand  experience  of  all  the 
secrets  of  creation.  However,  in  their  humility 
the  Gurus  time  and  again  have  proclaimed  that 
the  mystery  of  creation  is  known  to  the  Creator 
alone.  Unlike  those  creeds  which  have  set  dates 
for  the  origin  of  creation,  the  Gurus  have 
visioned  it  as  wrapped  in  the  mystery  and 


infinity  of  the  Creator.  As  stated  in  the  Japu, 
none  can  claim  knowledge  of  this  mystery 
which  the  Creator  alone  beholds. 

BIBLIGORAPHY 

1.  Mackenzie,  D.A.,  Indian  Myth  and  Legend. 
London,  1914 

2.  Nivedita,  Sister,  and  A.  Coomaraswamy.  Myths  of 
the  Hindus  and  Buddhists.  New  York,  1914 

3.  Mehta,  D.D.,  Some  Positive  Sciences  in  the  Vedas. 
Delhi,  1961 

4.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  [Reprint]. 
Ainrilsai,  1986 

5.  Jodli  Singh,  Bhai,    Gurmati  Nirnai  [Reprint], 
Patiala,  1990 

6.  Jodh  Singh,  The  Religious  Philosophy  of  Guru 
Nanak.  Delhi,  1983 

G.S.B. 

SIKJIER  BALlDAN,  by  Kumudin  Mitra,  first 
published  in  1904,  is  a  small  tract,  in  Bengali 
language,  of  forty-one  pages,  dealing  with  the 
heroic  sacrifices  of  seven  Sikh  martyrs.  Perhaps 
inspired  by  Rabindranath  Tagore's  poems  on 
Banda  Singh  Bahadur  and  Bhai  Taru  Singh, 
she  introduced  five  more  martyrs  to  the  Bengali 
readership.  These  five  included  Guru  Gobind 
Singh's  younger  sons,  Fateh  Singh  and  Zorawar 
Singh,  Bhai  Man!  Singh,  Haqiqat  Rai  and 
Subeg  Singh.  Preceding  them  all  was  the 
martyrdom  of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur,  the  ninth 
spiritual  mentor  of  the  Sikhs.  Published  on  the 
eve  of  the  anti-Partition  agitations  in  Bengal, 
the  tract  fell  into  receptive  hands  resulting  in 
a  rapid  sale  of  three  successive  editions.  It  was 
translated  into  a  few  regional  languages  as  well. 
The  author  added  an  introductory  note  to  the 
fourth  edition  explaining  the  birth  of  Sikhism 
in  the  Punjab  as  a  movement  of  social  protest. 
The  style  of  writing  is  simple  and  clear  and  the 
presentation  of  historical  facts  logical  and 
systematic. 

H.B. 

SIKtlER  KATHA  [katha,  i.e.  story,  of  the  Sikhs) 
byjatinderanath  Samaddar,  published  in  1912, 


SIKH  GURDWARAS  ACT,  1925 


143 


SIKH  GURDWARAS  ACT,  1925 


is  a  five-act  drama,  in  Bengali  language,  dealing 
primarily  with  the  life  and  work  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh.  It  has,  in  all,  about  thirty  characters 
including  a  few  historical  personalities  such  as 
Emperor  Aurahgzib,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  Guru 
Gobind  Singh,  Sahibzada  Ajit  Singh  and  Ram 
Rai.  The  play  begins  with  the  martyrdom  of 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  who  laid  down  his  life 
espousing  the  cause  of  the  freedom  of  belief. 
Sudev,  a  youth  of  Magadha,  who  had 
undergone  the  rites  in  response  to  the  call  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  at  Anandpur  on  the 
Baisakhi  day  of  1699,  acts  as  a  mouthpiece  of 
the  playwright  several  of  whose  enunciations, 
such  as  the  one  about  Guru  Gobind  Singh's 
resort  to  arms  being  a  departure  from  Guru 
Nanak's  teaching,  are  contrary  to  Sikh 
understanding. 

H.B. 

SIKH  GURDWARAS  ACT,  1925,  legislation 
passed  by  the  Punjab  Legislative  Council  which 
marked  the  culmination  of  the  struggle  of  the 
Sikh  people  from  1920-1925  to  wrest  control 
of  their  places  of  worship  from  the  mahants  or 
priests  into  whose  hands  they  had  passed 
during  the  eighteenth  century  when  the  Khalsa 
were  driven  from  their  homes  to  seek  safety  in 
remote  hills  and  deserts.  When  they  later 
established  their  sway  in  Punjab,  the  Sikhs 
rebuilt  their  shrines  endowing  them  with  large 
jagirs  and  estates.  The  management,  however, 
remained  with  the  priests,  belonging  mainly 
to  the  Udasi  sect,  who,  after  the  advent  of  the 
British  in  1849,  began  to  consider  the  shrines 
and  lands  attached  to  them  as  their  personal 
properties  and  to  appropriciting  the  income 
accruing  from  them  to  their  private  use.  Some 
of  them  alienated  or  sold  gurdwara  properties 
at  will.  They  had  introduced  ceremonial  which 
was  anathema  to  orthodox  Sikhs.  Besides,  there 
were  complaints  of  immorality  against  them. 
All  these  factors  gave  rise  to  what  is  known  as 
the  Gurdwara  Reform  movement  during  which 
Sikhs  had  to  court  jail  on  a  large  scale  and  suffer 
atrocity  and  death. 


The  British  government,  who  took  the 
part  of  the  priests,  eventually  relented  under 
popular  pressure  and  passed,  in  the  first 
instance,  Sikh  Gurdwaras  and  Shrines  Act, 
1922,  which  envisaged  a  committee  nominated 
by  the  government  to  take  over  control  of  the 
gurdwaras.  This,  however,  was  not  acceptable 
to  the  Akali  leaders  and  remained  for  this 
reason  a  dead  letter.  The  agitation  continued 
and  the  government  had  another  draft  worked 
out.  Akali  counsel  was  sought  this  time  and  the 
principal  demand  about  the  shrines  being 
handed  over  for  management  to  a 
representative  body  of  the  Sikhs  was  conceded. 
The  bill  was  moved  in  the  Punjab  Legislative 
Council  by  Sardar  Tara  Singh  of  Moga  on  7 
May  1925  and  piloted  by  another  Sikh  member, 
Bhai  Jodh  Singh,  eminent  educationist  and 
theologian.  The  bill  was,  in  the  first  instance, 
referred  to  a  select  committee  which  presented 
its  report  on  20  June.  The  Council  passed  the 
bill  on  7  July.  It  was  published  in  the  Punjab 
Government  Gazette  on  7  August  and  it 
became  operative  on  1  November  1925  as  The 
Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act,  1925  (  Punjab  Act  VIII  of 
1925). 

The  act,  as  its  preamble  declares,  aimed 
at  providing  "for  the  better  administration  of 
certain  Sikh  gurdwaras  and  for  enquiries  into 
matters  and  settlement  of  disputes  connected 
therewith...."  The  Act  has  three  parts.  Part  I 
contains,  besides  preliminary  matters  such  as 
title,  extent  and  definitions,  reference  to 
gurdwaras  covered  by  the  Act,  procedure  for 
bringing  other  gurdwaras  under  its  purview, 
and  appointment  of  and  procedures  for  a 
Gurdwara  Tribunal.  Interestingly,  the 
definition  clause  does  not  define  a  "Sikh 
gurdwara,"  but  a  subsequent  clause,  Section 
2.10,  lays  down  a  "notified  Sikh  gurdwara"  as 
any  gurdwara  "declared  by  notification  of  the 
local  government  under  the  provision  of  this 
Act  to  be  a  Sikh  gurdwara."  Chapter  I  of  this 
part  (  Sections  3  to  11)  and  the  schedules 
referred  to  therein  are  the  vital  part  of  the  Act. 
Two  categories  of  Sikh     gurdwaras  arc 


SIKH  GURDWARAS  ACT,  1925 


144 


SIKH  GURDWARAS  ACT,  1925 


envisaged,  scheduled  and  unscheduled. 
Important  historical  shrines  where  there  could 
be  no  doubt  about  their  being  Sikh  gurdwaras 
indisputably  owned  by  Sikhs  are  listed  in 
Schedule  I  of  the  Act.  Originally  241  gurdwaras 
were  entered  in  this  Schedule,  out  of  which  65 
remained  in  Pakistan  after  the  partition  of  the 
Punjab.  However,  173  more  gurdwaras  within 
the.  state  of  Patiala  and  East  Punjab  States 
Union  were  added  to  it  by  the  Amending  Act 
of  1959.  Schedule  II  contains  the  details  of 
institutions  which  were  not  "Sikh"  gurdwaras 
about  the  control  of  which  no  dispute  could 
be  raised.  In  respect  of  gurdwaras  listed  in  these 
two  schedules  or  the  scheduled  gurdivaras  as 
they  are  called,  the  State  Government  issued  a 
notification  in  the  official  Gazette,  declaring 
them  to  be  Sikh  gurdwaras.  The  notification 
also  detailed  the  property  claimed  by  each 
gurdwara. 

In  respect  of  the  second  category,  i.e. 
gurdwaras  other  than  the  Scheduled 
Gurdwaras  listed  in  Schedule  I,  Section  7  of 
the  Act  prescribes  that  fifty  or  more 
worshippers,  being  21  years  of  age  and  residing 
in  the  area  of  the  police  station  in  which  a 
gurdwara  is  situated,  may  forward  an 
application  to  the  State  Government,  within 
the  prescribed  time,  giving  details  of  the 
property  claimed  to  be  of  such  a  gurdwara.  The 
State  Government  by  notification  publishes  this 
application  and  invites  objections,  if  any,  from 
either  an  hereditary  office-holder  of  that 
institution  or  at  least  twenty  worshippers 
thereof  to  be  filed  within  ninety  days  of  the 
date  of  the  notification.  If  no  such  petition  is 
made,  the  Government  issues  a  notification 
declaring  that  gurdwara  to  be  a  Sikh  gurdwara. 

If  however,  an  objection  petition  is  put 
in,  the  case  is  referred  to  the  Sikh  Gurdwaras 
Tribunal  for  adjudication.  Provision  for  the 
Sikh  Gurdwaras  Tribunal,  a  high-powered 
tribunal  of  three  members  presided  over  by  a 
sitting  or  a  retired  judge  of  the  High  Court,  is 
contained  in  Chapter  III  of  Part  I  of  the  Act 
(Section  12-37).  An  appeal  against  a  finding  of 


the  Tribunal  lies  only  to  the  High  Court  and 
has  to  be  heard  by  a  bench  of  twojudges.  The 
criterion  for  determining  if  the  disputed 
institution  is  a  Sikh  gurdwara  or  not  is  whether 
the  gurdwara  was  being  used  for  "public 
worship  by  Sikhs"  before  and  at  the  time  of 
the  presentation  of  the  petition  and  if,  in 
addition,  the  Tribunal  finds  that  the  gurdwara 
established  (i)  by  or  in  memory  of  any  of  the 
Ten  Gurus  of  the  Sikhs  ;  or  (ii)  owing  to  some 
tradition  connected  with  one  of  the  Ten  Gurus; 
or  (iii)  owing  to  some  incident  connected  with 
the  life  of  any  of  the  Ten  Gurus;  or  (iv)  in 
memory  of  a  Sikh  martyr,  saint  or  historical 
person  ;  or  (v)  for  use  by  Sikhs  for  the  purpose 
of  public  worship  by  the  Sikhs. 

The  solitary  section  38  of  Part  II  of  the 
Act  provides  that  if  advantage  of  the  procedure 
of  Part  I  was  not  taken,  recourse  could  be  had 
to  ordinary  civil  courts  for  obtaining  a 
declaration  that  a  particular  institution  was  a 
Sikh  gurdwara.  It  being  finally  decided  that  the 
gurdwara  is  a  Sikh  gurdwara,  the  State 
Government  issues  the  necessary  notification 
and  provisions  of  Part  III  of  the  Act  relating  to 
management  of  gurdwaras  then  become 
applicable  to  it.  The  Act  also  contains  provision 
regarding  settlement  of  disputes  related  to 
gurdwara  properties. 

Part  III  of  the  Act  provided  for  a  central 
body  for  the  management  of  Sikh  Gurdwaras 
called  the  Gurdwara  Central  Board,  which  at 
its  first  meeting,  adopted  for  itself  the  name  of 
ShiromanI  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
(S.G.P.C.  for  short).  The  change  of  name  was 
accepted  by  government  and  published 
through  a  notification  dated  17 January  1927. 
The  Committee  directly  manages  certain 
important  Sikh  gurdwaras  and  supervises  the 
working  of  committees  of  other  gurdwaras, 
which  are  partly  nominated  by  the  Committee 
and  partly  elected  by  the  electors  of  the  district 
in  which  the  gurdwara  is  situated.  Under  an 
amendment  made  to  the  Act  in  1987,  all 
gurdwaras  with  an  annual  income  of  over 
25,000  rupees  are  administered  directly  by  the 


SIKH  GURDWARAS  ACT,  1925 


145 


SIKH  GURDWARAS  ACT,  1925 


Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee. 

The  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  consists  of  140  members,  including 
15  belonging  to  Scheduled  Castes,  elected  by 
Sikhs,  which  term  includes  Sahajdhari  Sikhs, 
not  fewer  than  21  years  of  age,  who  get  their 
names  entered  in  the  electoral  rolls  by 
preferring  declaration  of  being  qualified  to  be 
voters  under  the  Act.  The  head  priest  of  Sri 
Darbar  Sahib,  and  of  the  Takhts  are  ex-officio 
members. 

The  aforesaid  members  then  co-opt 
fifteen  members  of  whom  not  more  than  five 
should  be  the  residents  of  the  Punjab.  An 
elected  or  co-opted  member  must  be  a  Sikh, 
not  less  than  25  year  of  age.  A  person  who  trims 
or  shaves  his  beard  or  head,  except  in  case  of 
Sahajdhari  Sikhs,  smokes  or  takes  alcoholic 
drinks,  is  disqualified  to  be  member  or  voter. 
A  Kesadhari  member  has  to  be  an  Amritdhari. 
Other  ministers  and  paid  servants  of  the  Sikh 
Gurdwaras  or  of  the  Board  (now  S.G.P.C.)  are 
ineligible  for  election  as  members  of  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee. 

Normal  term  of  the  S.G.P.C.  is  five  years 
but  it  continues  in  office  till  a  new  Committee 
is  elected.  Detailed  provisions  exist  regarding 
such  matters  as  the  disqualification  of 
members,  meetings  of  the  Committee, 
elections  of  the  executive  committee  and  other 
office-bearers  and  their  respective  powers.  For 
the  settlement  of  disputes  relating  to  any  act 
of  the  present  or  past  members  and  the 
working  of  the  Committee  and  for  settling  any 
compaint  of  malfeasance  or  misfeasance,  a 
judicial  commission  of  three  members  is 
appointed  by  the  State  Government. 

The  Act  contains  detailed  provisions 
regarding  the  finances  of  the  S.P.G.C.,  and  its 
committees.  The  General  Fund  not  exceeding 
ten  per  cent  of  the  total  annual  income  is  for 
the  maintenance  of  historical  gurdwaras  with 
insufficient  income.  The  surplus,  if  any,  may 
be  utilized  for  religious  or  charitable  purposes 
or  for  social  or  general  welfare  of  the  Panth. 
Religious  Fund  is  for  the  propagation  of  Sikh 


religion  and  connected  matters.  Research 
Fund  to  which  a  minimum  annual  contribution 
of  Rs  20,000  is  to  be  made  by  the  S.P.G.C.  is  for 
carrying  out  research  in  Sikh  history  and  for 
publication  of  books.  The  Committee  can  also 
create  and  administer  funds  for  specific 
purposes  such  as  industrial  or  educational 
advancement  of  the  community. 

In  the  working  of  the  Act,  for  over  half  a 
century,  some  defects  found  were  corrected  by 
successive  Amending  Acts.  The  most  exhaustive 
revision  was  the  one  made  by  an  amendment 
under  Act  XI  of  1944.  The  mover  of  this 
amendment  was  GianI  Kartar  Singh,  then  a 
member  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the 
Punjab.  Some  of  the  more  important 
provisions  under  it  were  :  12  seats  in  the 
S.G.P.C.  were  reserved  for  Mazhabi  and 
Ramdasla  Sikhs  ;  tenure  of  the  S.G.P.C.  was 
increased  from  3  to  5  years;  employees  of  the 
S.G.P.C.  were  also  made  liable  to  legal  action 
for  misuse  of  official  authority  (formerly  only 
members  of  the  committee  were  so  liable); 
plural  constituencies  for  election  to  S.G.P.C. 
were  abolished  and  replaced  by  single-member 
constituencies  ;  S.G.P.C.  only  was  entided  to 
change  the  percentage  of  dasvandh  or  share 
in  the  income  of  gurdwaras  under  its  control ; 
government  was  to  have  no  authority  to 
interfere  ;  the  S.G.P.C.  was  to  be  independent 
in  apportioning  the  budget  for  religious 
preaching,  charities,  education,  industry,  etc. 

Notwithstanding  the  criticism  of  some  of 
its  provisions  and  defects  in  its  actual  working, 
the  Act  is  a  landmark,  specifically  excluding 
interference  by  the  government  and 
recognizing  the  right  of  the  Sikhs  to  manage 
their  gurdwaras  through  their  elected 
representatives.  Rituals  and  practices  which 
were  opposed  to  Sikh  tenets  and  which  were 
in  vogue  before  the  Act  was  passed  in  1 925  have 
been  set  aside.  A  demand  for  a  comprehensive 
Act  applicable  to  gurdwaras  all  over  India  has 
persistendy  been  voiced  by  the  Sikhs.  An  All 
India  Sikh  Gurdwaras  Bill  for  the  management 
of  the  Sikh  gurdwaras  was  drafted  after 


SIKH  GURU  U  SIKHJATI 


146 


SIKH  HANDmi.l.  COMMITTEE 


consultation  with  Sikh  representatives  all  over 
India  by  an  Advisory  Committee  headed  by 
Sardar  Harbaiis  Singh,  retired  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Punjab,  and  forwarded  to  the  Central 
Government  in  1979. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kashmir  Singh,  Law  of  Religious  Institutions  : 
Sikh  Gurdwaras.  Amritsar,  1989 

2.  Gurmit  Singh,  History  of  Sikh  Struggles,  IV  vols. 
Delhi  1989-92 

3.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Shromani  Gurdwara 
Prabandhak  Committee  da  Panjah  Sa/a  Itihus. 
Amritsar,  1982 

A.S.S. 

SIKH  GURUO  SIKHJATI,  by  Sarat  Kumar  Roy, 
is  a  brief  history  in  Bengali  of  the  Sikhs  from 
the  birth  of  Guru  Nanak  (1469-1539),  founder 
of  the  faith,  to  the  fall  of  the  Sikh  kingdom  in 
1849.  The-book  was  first  published  in  1909,  and 
reprinted  in  1921.  The  author,  Sarat  Kumar 
Roy  (1878-1935),  was  teacher  at  Tagore's 
Brahmacharyashram  at  Santiniketan  and  wrote 
the  book  primarily  for  students,  depending  for 
information  on  authorities  such  as  General 
Gordon,  Major  Court,  Sir  Lepel  Griffin,  J.D. 
Cunningham  and  M.A.  Macauliffe,  besides 
articles  published  in  some  Bengali  journals  of 
his  time. 

The  book,  comprising  19  chapters,  begins 
with  a  description  of  the  political  and  social 
milieu  into  which  was  born  Guru  Nanak  who, 
according  to  the  author,  preached  the  message 
of  Hindu-Muslim  unity.  The  second  chapter 
is  devoted  to  the  development  of  Sikhism 
under  the  succeeding  eight  Gurus,  followed  by 
a  chapter  on  the  life  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
the  last  in  the  line  of  Ten  Gurus  or  prophet- 
teachers.  The  next  two  chapters  describe  the 
birth  of  the  Khalsa  and  the  struggle  it  waged 
against  religious  intolerance  and  persecution. 
The  author  especially  notices  how  among  the 
Khalsa  caste  differentiations  were  eliminated 
and  how  no  distinctions  existed  of  high  and 
low.  Referring  briefly  to  events  in  the  18th 


century  and  the  rise  of  Sikh  misls,  the  narrative 
moves  on  to  the  career  of  the  Sikh  sovereign 
Ranjlt  Singh,  which  is  described  in  considerably 
greater  detail.  A  chapter  deals  with  the 
Maharaja's  relations  with  the  East  India 
Company.  The  book  concludes  with  an  analysis 
of  the  factors  leading  to  the  commencement 
of  hostilities  between  the  Sikhs  and  the  English, 
resulting  in  the  annexation  of  the  Punjab  by 
the  latter.  The  introductory  note  is  from  the 
pen  of  Rabindranath  Tagore. 

H.B. 

SIKH  HANDBILL  COMMITTEE,  a  small  body 
consisting  of  11  members  formed  under  the 
Chief  Khalsa  Diwan  to  further  social  and 
religious  reform  among  the  Sikli.s,  was  set  up 
at  Lahore  on  22  December  1907.  Its  task  was 
to  bring  out  leaflets  to  propagate  Sikh 
principles,  and  to  influence  the  Sikh  masses  to 
live  up  to  the  precepts  and  practices  enjoined 
by  the  Gurus.  The  handbills  printed  in  Punjabi, 
Urdu  and  Hindi  and  freely  distributed, 
especially  in  the  countryside,  would,  it  was  felt, 
be  a  cheaper  and  more  effective  substitute  for 
newspapers  and  pulpit  preaching. 

The  committee  elected  Professor  Bhai 
Jodh  Singh  of  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar,  as  its 
president  and  Bhai  (later  known  as  Master) 
Tara  Singh,  then  a  student  at  the  Central 
Training  College,  Lahore,  as  secretary. 
Subsequently  the  latter  having  left  Lahore  on 
completion  of  his  training,  the  secretaryship 
was  taken  over  by  Dr  Sohan  Singh,  a  lecturer 
at  the  Medical  College,  Lahore.  Bhai  Mohan 
Singh  Vaid  of  Tarn  Taran  was  entrusted  with 
the  writing  of  the  handbills.  It  was  decided  to 
issue  one  handbill  every  month.  The  first  one, 
brought  out  on  1 1  January  1908,  explained  the 
aims  and  objects  of  the  committee.  Between 
April  1908  and  March  1910,  24  handbills  in 
4,18,000  copies,  including  10,000  each  in  Hindi 
and  Urdu  and  the  remaining  in  Punjabi  in 
Gurmukhi  script,  had  been  issued.  These  were 
followed  by  another  18  by  the  end  of  1911. 

The  handbills  dealt  with  a  variety  of  topics 


SIKH  INSIGNIA 


147 


SIKH  INSIGNIA 


such  as  evils  of  drinking,  gambling,  ill-matched 
marriages,  caste  system  and  untouchability, 
beggary  and  the  imitation  of  western  fashions. 
They  inculcated  positive  virtues  of  faith, 
equality  and  brotherhood,  and  enlightenment 
through  education.  The  style  was  anecdotal 
and  narrative,  spiced  with  a  judicious  mixture 
of  wit  and  humour. 

The  Committee  ceased  functioning  with 
the  dawn  of  1913  mainly,  it  appears,  for 
financial  reasons.  Already,  while  republishsing 
in  book  form  the  handbills  issued  during  the 
period  April  1908  to  March  1910,  the  secretary 
had  complained  about  the  lack  of  funds. 
According  to  him,  donations  during  the  first 
year  which  amounted  barely  to  Rs.  321 
dwindled  to  the  insignificant  figure  of  Rs  7.50 
during  the  second  year. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Jagjit  Singh,  Singh  Sabha  Lahir.  Ludhiana,  1974 

JR-S- 

SIKH  INSIGNIA,  usually  called  Chakkar  ate 
Khanda  and  most  commonly  used  as  a 
distinguishing  symbol  of  faith,  consists-  of  a 
composite  figure  of  a  Ichanda  (double-edged 
sword),  a  chakra  (steel  quoit)  and  a  pair  of 
kirpans  (curved  sabres).  Khanda  stands 
upright  in  the  centre  ;  the  chakra  encircles  it 
with  the  hilt  and  tip  of  the  khanda  jutting  out : 
and  the  swords  flanking  the  chaJcra,  one  on 
either  side,  blades  outwards  and  their  hilts 
crossing  one  another  over  the  hilt  of  the 
khanda  at  the  base.  This  figure  is  used  as  a 
crest  superimposed  on  the  Sikh  flag,  printed 
on  letter-heads,  book  titles,  posters,  etc.,  and 
as  a  badge  on  turbans. 

Precisely  when  the  chakkar  ate  khanda 
symbol  first  came  to  be  used  is  not  known.  It 
is  usually  linked  with  the  establishment  of  Akal 
Takht  by  Guru  Hargobind  (1595*-1644),  who 
is  known  to  have  standardized  the  Sikh  flag 
and  who  wore  two  swords  one  on  either  side 
representing  miri  (temporal  sovereignty)  and 
piri  (spiritual  pre-eminence)  respectively,  or 


with  the  time  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh  (1666- 
1708),  who  invented  the  term  sarab-ioh  (all- 
steel)  for  the  Omnipotent  God,  and  who 
introduced  kha'nde  di  pahul  as  the  initiatory 
rite  for  admission  into  the  Khalsa 
Brotherhood. 

The  components  of  the  Sikh  insignia  have 
a  dual  significance.  Superficially,  they  represent 
weapons  commonly  used  during  the 
seventeenth  century.  Khanda  was  a  long, 
straight,  heavy,  flat  sword,  sharpened  at  both 
edges  of  the  blade,  comparatively  slender  at 
the  middle  with  a  tapering  tip.  The  one-foot 
long  replica  of  it  used  in  the  gurdwaras  for 
preparing  amrit  or  pahul  does  not  give  a 
correct  idea  of  the  size  of  the  original  weapon 
which  was  three  or  four  feet  in  length  and 
could  be  in  some  instances  so  heavy  as  to  be 
wielded  with  both  hands.  Kirpan  was,  as  it  still 
is  ,  a  slightly  shorter  and  lighter  sabre.  The 
chakkar  (chakra)  was  a  quoit  with  a  sharp  and 
lethal  edge  when  thrown  by  skilled  warriors. 
Khanda  is  now  usually  seen  as  a  finial  on  top 
of  flagstaffs  or  of  domes  of  gurdwara  buildings, 
while  kirpans  and  chakkars  are  still  worn  and 
practised  by  amritdhari  or  Nihahg  Sihghs. 

For  the  Sikhs  the  weapons  of  the  chakkar 
ate  khanda  insignia  have  historical  significance 
and  symbolic  meaning.  Sikhism  is  a 
monotheistic  faith.  The  khanda  standing 
upright  and  alone  in  the  middle  symbolizes 
oneness  as  well  as  omnipotence  of  God,  the 
ultimate  goal  of  sainthood,  and  its  two  sharp 
edges  represent  spiritual  and  worldly  aspects 
of  the  lives  of  the  soldiers  of  God-their 
keenness  to  live  and  readiness  to  die  in  the 
service  of  dharma.  Similarly,  the  pair  of  kirpans 
is  for  the  Sikhs  reminiscent  of  the  two  swords 
worn  by  Guru  Hargobind,  one  representing 
miri,  tegh  or  shakti-  temporal  power,  and  the 
other  piri,  deg  or  bhakti-  spiritual  power, 
charity  and  devotion.  The  chakkar  (chakra)  is 
one  of  the  oldest  Indian  symbols  representing 
dharma,  a  comprehensive  term  variously 
interpreted  as  relgion,  righteousness,  devotion, 
duty,  a  system  of  thought  and  practice,  etc. 


SIKHISM 


148 


SIKHISM 


Chakra  is  also  associated  with  the  cycle  of  birth, 
death  and  rebirth.  Even  Time  is  conceived  in 
traditional  Indian  thought  as  kalchakra  and 
space  is  visualized  as  successive  spheres.  Taken 
together,  the  insignia  of  chakkar  ate  khanda 
may  be  taken  to  signify  "One  Omnipotent 
Being  (khanda)  extending  beyond  the  circle 
(chakra)  of  Time  and  Space  and  flanked  by 
two  powers  (kirpans),  temporal  and  spiritual, 
coalescing^  bottom  around  the  feet  of  the 
One.  Sikhism,  though  deeply  spiritual  and 
devotional,  has  never  been  an  other-worldly 
religion.  For  it,  the  social  involvement  is  as 
crucial  as. the  mystical  experience.  The  Sikh 
insignia  symbolizes  most  appropriately  the 
fusion  of  miri  and  pirl,  shakti  and  bhakti,  deg 
and  tegh.  saintliness  and  soldierly  valour 
inherent  in  the  philosophy  of  the  Gurus. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Koh'li,  Surindar  Singh,  Sword  and  the  Spirit. 
Delhi,  1990 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Sword  of  the  Khalsa.  Jammu,  1991 

3.  Kapur  Singh,  Parasaraprasna.  Amritsar,  1989 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  Deg  Tegh  Fateh.  Chandigarh, 
1986 

M.G.S. 

SIKHISM,  the  youngest  of  the  major  world 
religions,  strictly  monothjeistic  in  its 
fundamental  belief,  was  born  in  the  Punjab  in 
the  revelation  of  Guru  Nanak  (1469-1539). 
Although  it  bears  close  affinities  in  its 
terminology  and  in  some  of  its  philosophical 
assumptions  with  other  India-born  religions 
and  with  Islam,  yet  in  its  orientation  it  is  a 
separate,  independent  faith.  The  distinctive 
nature  of  Sikhism  has  been  asserted  right  from 
its  origin  in  the  pronouncements  of  Guru 
Nanak,  not  set  down  as  a  systematic  treatise  but 
scattered  throughout  his  numerous  hymns 
included  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  amplified 
by  the  lives  and  works  of  his  nine  successors 
and  explained  in  the  exegetical  writings  of  Sikh 
scholars  dating  back  to  the  late  sixteenth  and 
early  seventeeth  centuries.  Again,  Sikhism  is 


not  only  a  philosophical  system  but  is  also  a 
distinct  cultural  pattern,  a  way  of  life  signified 
by  the  term  Sikh  Panth. 

Etymologically,  the  word  sikh  goes  back 
to  Sanskrit  sisya,  itself  derived  from  the  root 
sis  or  sas  meaning  to  correct,  chastise,  punish  ; 
to  teach,  instruct,  inform.  In  Pali  sisya,  (  a  pupil, 
scholar,  disciple)  became  sissa  and  later,  sekh 
or  sekkha  which  means  a  pupil  or  one  under 
training  in  a  religious  doctrine  (Sanskrit  siksha 
and  Pali  sikkha).  In  Punjabi  the  term  is  sikkh 
usually  transliterated  sikh.  "Sikh"  now  almost 
universally  denotes  a  follower  of  Guru  Nanak, 
his  nine  successors  and  their  teachings 
embodied  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the 
Scripture.  "Sikhism"  denominates  the  faith  they 
profess.  Scattered  all  over  the  globe,  the  Sikhs 
are  mostly  concentrated  in  the  northwestern 
pari  ol  India.  According  to  1991  census,  of  the 
17  million  Sikhs  in  India  over  85  per  cent  live 
in  Punjab,  Haryana  and  Chandigarh  which  till 
1966  comprised  a  single  state  called  Punjab. 
In  the  present  state  of  Punjab  where  they 
number  10.2.  million,  they  form  62.95  percent 
of  the  population. 

The  first  date  in  Sikhism  is  1469,  the  year 
in  which  the  founder  of  the  faith,  Guru  Nanak, 
was  born.  According  to  Janam  Sakhis, 
traditional  accounts  of  his  life,  he  from  early 
childhood  possessed  a  reflective  mind  and  liked 
the  company  of  holy  men  of  different 
denominations.  He  was  already  a  married  man 
and  a  father  of  two  sons,  when,  towards  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  he  had  a  direct 
mystic  encounter  with  the  Supreme  Reality, 
which  he  called  Nirahkar,  the  Formless  One. 
He  then  set  out  to  preach  the  Word,  Sabda, 
revealed  to  him. 

According  to  Guru  Nanak,  God  is  One,  a 
single  Supreme  Reality.  He  is  the  creator, 
preserver,  destroyer  and  recreator  of  material 
existence,  but  He  Himself  is  uncreated,  unborn 
and  self-existent.  In  fact  the  Creator  is  not 
different  from  His  creation  but  is  one  with  it. 
All  material  existence  emanates  from  Him  and 
is  the  manifestation  of  His  Self.  Its  apparent 


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diversity  does  not  alter  the  unicity  of  the  All- 
embraching  whole.  God  as  the  supreme  spirit 
permeates  throughout  His  creation  but  is  not 
limited  by  it :  He  transcends  it.  He,  the  timeless 
and  the  boundless  One,  transcends  even  time 
and  space. 

In  the  Sikh  Scripture,  the  concept  of  the 
supreme  reality  is  not  only  dynamic  and 
reverberating  but  many  pluralities  such  as 
nirguna-saguna  and  transcendent  immanent 
are  subsumed  in  it.  He  is  nirguna  or  without 
attributes.  Yet  He  is  saguna  or  with  attributes, 
too,  because  in  the  manifested  state  all 
attributes  are  His.  At  die  same  time  the  ultimate 
reality  of  God  never  binds  Himself  to  any 
specific  forms  of  image.  Sikhism  clearly  rejects 
avatarvad  or  belief  in  divine  incarnation  and 
idol-worship. 

God  was  a  palpable  reality  for  the  Gurus. 
They  were  so  imbued  with  divine  love  that  they 
never  imagined  there  could  be  any  doubt;  about 
His  existence.  It  is  true,  though  that  as  an 
infinitesimal  part  man  can  never  know  the 
Whole.  The  supreme  reality  in  its  totality  is 
unknowable.  Guru  Nanak  in  his  long  hyjnn, 
Japu,  which  forms  early  morning  prayer  for  the 
Sikhs,  says  :  "je  hau  jana  akha  nahi  kabana 
kathanu  na  jai-  Even  if  I  knew,  I  could  not 
describe  (because  He)  is  indescribable"(GG,2). 
Elsewhere  using  a  poetic  image  he  elaborates  : 
'You  are  the  All-knowing,  All-seeing  Ocean  ; 
how  can  I,  a  (humble)  fish  measure  (your) 
immenseness  ?  -  (tu  dariau  dana  bina  mai 
machhuli  kaise  antu  laha"  (GG,  25).  Yet  the 
individual  self,  being  a  tiny  ray  of  the  illimitable 
source  of  light  that  God  is,  is  ever  connected 
to  that  source  and  may  feel  and  even 
comprehend  its  existence,  however  vaguely. 
The  Gurus  have  often  used  the  image  of  the 
sun  and  the  ray  to  define  the  relation  of  God 
and  individual  self.  They  accepted  the  universal 
term  atma  or  soul  as  the  spark  or  ray  through 
which  the  paramatma  or  the  Ultimate  Spirit 
permeates  individual  selves.  To  comprehend 
the  latter,  the  former  is  to  be  awakened  and 
ignited.  This  is  to  be  done  through  self-effort 


under  the  guidance  of  the  Guru  but,  above  all, 
with  God's  grace,  nadar,  mihar  or  karam. 
Knowing  God  is  meeting  God,  becoming  one 
with  Him,  merging  of  the  individual  soul  atma 
in  the  supreme  spirit,  paramatma,  realizadon 
of  God  is  a  spiritual  experience.  It  is  a  revelation 
which  comes  through  intuition  and  divine 
grace.  Logic  or  any  other  kind  of  reasoning  is 
of  no  avail  here,  for  against  one  kind  of 
reasoning  another  can  be  advanced.  Hence  for 
the  seeker  is  to  try  in  a  spirit  of  humility  in 
prayer,  and  devotion,  and  in  meditating  upon 
nam,  the  divine  name,  or  sabda,  the  Divine 
Word.  For  such  effort,  Sikhism  does  not  favour 
asceticism  or  renunciation.  It  preaches 
humility,  prayer,  devotion  and  meditation  to 
be  cultivated  and  practised  within  the  worldly 
life  of  a  householder.  Renunciation  or  rejection 
of  the  world  as  false  would  be  to  falsify  God's 
handiwork. 

The  material  world  of  time  and  space  is 
God's  creation.  It  is  as  real  as  the  creator 
Himself.  As  says  Guru  Arjan,  Nanak  V  :  "True 
is  He  and  true  is  His  creation  (because)  all  has 
emanated  from  God  Himself-api  sati  kia  sabhu 
sad  ;  tisu  prabh  te  sagall  utpati"  (GG,  294).  In 
Sikhism,  why,  when  and  how  of  universe  is  not 
considered  a  matter  for  logic  and  reasoning 
nor  of  historical  and  scientific  research.  God 
creates  it  when  he  pleases  and  he  destroys  when 
he  so  wills.  To  quote  Guru  Arjan  again  "karate 
ki  miti  na  j'anai  kia,  nanak  jo  tisu  bhavai  so 
vartia-  The  created  cannot  have  a  measure  of 
the  creator ;  What  He  wills,  O  Nanak,  happens" 
(GG,  285).  Again  "apan  kbelu  api  kari  dekhai, 
khelu  sankochai  tau  nanak  ekal-  He  watches 
His  own  sport ;  when,  O  Nanak,  He  winds  up 
His  sport,  He  the  one,  alone  remains"  (GG.292). 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  calls  this  process  of 
expansion  and  reversion  or  dissolution  as 
udkarkh  (Sanskrit  utkarsana)  and  akarkh 
(Sanskrit  akarsana),  respectively.  "When  you, 
O  Creator,  caused  utkarkh"  he  says,  "the 
creation  assumed  the  boundless  body  ; 
whenever  you  effect  akarkh,  all  corporeal 
existence  merges  in  you  ("Benati  Chaupai"). 


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.SIKHISM 


As  to  the  time  of  the  creation  of  the  Universe, 
Guru  "thiti  vara  na  jogijanai  ruti  mahu  na  koi 
ja  karta  sirathi  kau  saje  ape  janai  soi-  (of 
creation)  no  yogi  knows  the  date  or  day,  none 
knows  the  season  or  month  ;  the  Creator  alone 
who  made  the  Universe  knows"  (GG,  4). 
Elsewhere,  Guru  Nanak  in  a  16-stanza  verse 
describes  his  vision  of  the  Pre-Creadon  state 
thus  :  "For  coundess  eons  there  was  a  state  of 
semi-darkness.  There  was  no  earth  or  sky  but 
only  the  boundless  hukam.  There  was  neither 
day  nor  night,  no  moon  nor  sun.  He  was  in  a 
sunn  samadhi  (Sanskrit  sunya  samadhi)  or 
trance  in  nothingness.  There  were  neither  any 
sources  of  producdon,  nor  language,  air,  nor 
water.  Neither  were  the  processes  of  creation 
and  dissolation,  nor  transmigration  of  souls. 
There  were  no  upper  or  nether  regions,  nor 
the  seven  oceans,  or  rivers,  nor  water  flowing 
in  them... (and  so  on).  He  was  all  by  Himself 
(until)  when  it  pleased  Him,  He  created  the 
Universe  which  he  sustains  without  any  prop..." 
And  he  concludes,  "  The  perfect  Guru  makes 
one  understand.  None  knows  His  bounds. 
Those  blessed  ones,  O  Nanak,  who  are  imbued 
with  the  love  of  the  true  one  enjoy  the  bliss 
and  sing  his  praises"  (GG,  1035). 

The  created  world  is  not  maya  or  illusion. 
It  is  not  only  real,  it  is  sacred  because  in  Guru 
Arigad's  words,  "ih  jag  sachai  ki  hai  kothari 
sache  ka  vichi  vasu-This  world-is  the  abode  of 
true  one  who  is  present  in  it"  (GG,  463), 

Guru  Amar  Das,  Nanak  III,  identifies  it 
with  God  Himself.  "This  (so-called)  poisonous 
world  that  you  see,"  says  he,  "is  (the  manifest) 
form  of  God  ;  it  is  his  form  that  you  see"  (GG, 
922).  Elsewhere,  however,  the  world  is  described 
as  false  and  likened  to  an  illusion,  dream  or 
bubble.  The  seeming  contradiction  is  resolved 
by  considering  the  word  sat  (Sanskrit  satya)  or 
true  in  its  double  nuance.  Sat  means  true,  real, 
actual,  verifiable,  genuine  :  not  counterfeit, 
spurious  or  imaginary  ;  it  also  means  constant, 
sure,  secure,  steadfast,  not  subject  to  variation. 
The  material  or  created  world  meets  the 
former  set  of  characteristics,  but  not  the  latter. 


It  is  true  in  so  far  as  it  is  not  imaginary  or 
illusory,  and  is  in  fact  a  reflection  of  the 
supreme  spirit.  So  are  the  souls  which  are 
nothing  but  the  microcosmic  bits  of  the 
Macrocosmic  Spirit  transcending  even  the 
macrocosm.  But  the  bodies,  the  abodes  of  these 
bits  of  the  True  One,  are  transitory,  changeable 
and  ever-changing.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  Guru 
Nanak,  in  a  hymn  declaring  the  world,  its 
dwellers,  its  wealth,  and  human  relations  as 
false,  laments  :  kisu  nali  kichai  dosti  sabh  jagu 
chalanhar-  whom  to  befriend  ?  The  whole 
world  is  in  flux"  (GG.468).  Elsewhere  in  the  Sikh 
Scripture,  the  world  is  described  as  falsehood, 
illusion,  dream,  bubbles,  a  wall  of  sand, 
destructible.  Thus,  according  to  Sikhism,  the 
world  may  be  considered  as  a  dialectical  truth 
lying  between  the  Absolute  Truth  and  the 
Buddhist-Saiikaracharyan  maya. 

The  world  came  into  being  through  God's 
Will  and  is  ever  subject  to  His  hukam,  a  Persian 
term  meaning  command,  decree,  verdict, 
order,  fiat,  rule,  law,  control,  direction; 
authority,  jurisdicdon,  etc.  Hukam  as  a  concept 
in  Guru  Nanak's  message  is  both  Divine  Will 
and  Divine  Law.  In  fact,  Divine  Law  has  its 
origin  in  Divine  Will,  and  the  sanction  behind 
it  bhai  or  bhau  Sanskrit  bhaya) ,  the  fear  or  awe 
of  God.  According  to  Guru  Nanak,  the  whole 
creation  is  under  bhau,  fear  of  God  (GG,  464). 
Other  terms  used  synonymously  with  hukam 
are  amar  and  farman  (Divine  fiat  or  command) 
;  bhana  and  raza  (divine  pleasure)  and  qudarat 
(divine  power,  But  God,  unlike  God  in  some 
Semitic  religions,  is  no  jabbar  (tyrant, 
oppressor)  or  gahhar  (wrathful,  avenger),  and 
hukam  is  not  a  blind  impulse  of  the  supreme 
spirit ;  it  is  regulated  by  order  andjustice.  The 
universe  being  the  play  of  his  pleasure,  God 
enjoys  it.  He,  of  course,  dispenses  divinejusdce 
but  it  is  tampered  by  his  mihar  (mercy)  and 
nadar  (grace).  God  in  reladon  to  his  creation 
is  benign  and  compassionate. 

God's  creation  does  not  exist  in  a  lump. 
"The  indestructible  lord,  ekankar  (the  one 
God)  has  spread  himself  in  several  ways,  in 


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several  forms,  several  colours  and  several  garbs" 
(GG,  284).  He  is  immanent  in  all  these  diverse 
beings,  in  that  atma,  the  divine  spirit,  pervades 
through  all.  Of  these  the  sentient  beings, jivas, 
are  endowed  with  individual  souls,  jivatma.  Jiva, 
jiu  and  jio  are  the  terms  used  in  the  Sikh 
Scripture  both  for  an  individual  being  and  for 
the  soul  while  jia  signifies  both  the  individual 
being  and  man  or  mind.  J7va  takes  birth  under 
God's  hukam  through  the  fusion  of  the 
formless  soul  with  some  material  form  or  body. 
While  the  former,  being  a  part  of  the  supreme 
spirit,  paramatma,  is  immortal,  the  latter, 
conditioned  by  time  and  space,  is  transient  and 
temporary,  and  is  liable  to  laws  of  growth,  decay 
and  death.  Jiva  dies  when  jivatma  or  individual 
soul  sheds  its  elemental  body.  De  ath  like  birth 
is  also  subject  to  hukam,  God's  will.  Hukam 
prevails  even  between  birth  and  death,  but 
there  it  operates  primarily  in  the  form  of 
karma,  the  divine  law  of  cause  and  effect. 

Sikhism  accepts  the  laws  of  karma  and 
transmigration  of  soul,  but  according  to  it 
heaven  and  hell  have  only  symbolic 
significance.  The  term  kara/n,  as  it  is  spelt  in 
Punjabi  and  as  it  appears  in  Sikh  Scripture, 
has  three  connotations.  As  an  inflection  of 
Sanskrit  karman  from  root  kri  (to  do,  perform, 
accomplish,  make,  cause,  effect,  etc.)  it  means 
an  act,  action,  deed,  etc.  It  also  stands  for  fate, 
destiny,  predestination  inasmuch  as  these  result 
from  one's  actions  and  deeds.  Thirdly,  as  a  word 
of  Arabic  origin,  karam  is  a  synonym  of  nadar, 
that  is  divine  grace,  kindness,  clemency.  Under 
the  law  of  karma,  popular  in  several  eastern 
religions,  jivatma  on  leaving  one  body 
transmigrates  to  another  body  to  take  birth  as 
another  jiva  which  may  belong  to  any  one  of 
the  8,400,000  species  that  exist.  Whether  the 
new  body  shall  belong  to  a  species  higher  or 
lower  than  the  one  lately  cast  off  by  the  jivatma 
depends  upon  the  good  or. bad  deeds, 
respectively,  perfomed  during  the  previous 
birth  or  births.  It  is  as  result  of  good  actions 
performed  during  successive  births  especially 
during  human  births,  that,  subject  to  nadar  or 


God's  grace,  a  jivatma  attains  mokh  (Sanskrit 
moksa) ,  that  is  final  liberation  from  the  cycle 
of  births  and  deaths.  Jivatma,  a  mere  drop,  then 
merges  finally  with  the  Unfathomable  Ocean 
that  is  paramatma  or  God,  and  becomes 
undistinguishable  from  Him.  But  as  long  as 
such  merger  does  not  come  about,  the  soul 
must  wander  enveloped  in  gross  matter 
through  various  bodies  and  differnent  species 
that  form  the  cycle  of  transmigration. 

Of  all  the  species,  human  is  the  highest 
and  the  most  privileged.  Guru  Arjan  says,  "lakh 
chaurasih  joni  sabil,  manas  kau  prabhi  dii 
vadiai.  Of  all  die  eighty-four  lacs  of  species,  God 
gave  superiority  to  man  (GG,  1075)  ;  and  "avar 
joni  ten  panihari,  isu  dharti  mahi  teri  sikdari- 
All  other  species  are  your  (man's)  water-bearers ; 
you  have  hegemony  over  this  earth"  (GG,  374). 
Man's  superiority  arises  from  his  superior 
intelligence,  keener  understanding,  self- 
knowledge  and  a  fine  moral  instinct.  Human 
birth  is,  therefore,  the  most  appropriate  for 
trying  to  attain  moksa  or  mukti.  It  is  a  rare 
chance  for  Jivatma  to  seek  union  with 
paramatma.  To  quote  Guru  Arjan  again, "  bhaf 
parapati  manukh  dehuria;  gobind  milan  ki  in 
teri  baria-(now  that)  you  have  got  a  human 
body,  this  is  your  turn  to  meet  God"  (GG,  378). 
Guru  Nanak  himself  had  warned  :  "Listen, 
listen  to  my  advice,  O  my  mind  ;  only  good 
deeds  will  endure,  and  there  may  not  be  a 
second  chance-suni  suni  sikh  hamari ;  sukritu 
kita  rahasi  mere jiare  bahuri  na  avai  van"  (GG,  154). 

According  to  Guru  Nanak,  mukti  or 
attainment  of  union  with  God  is  the  ultimate 
purpose  of  man.  In  human  mind,  endowed 
with  superior  cognitive,  affective  and  conative 
faculties,  the  spiritual  spark  shines  the 
brightest.  But  haumai,  or  egoism,  the  sense  of 
"I-amness"  bedims  the  divine  spark  within  him 
and  hampers  his  understanding  of  the  primal 
reality.  Haumai  or  self-concern  creates  a  wall 
around  man's  understanding,  separates  him 
from  his  original  source  and  leads  him  to  agian 
(spiritual  blindness,  nescience).  Haumai  gives 
rise  to  the  five  passions,  i.e.  kam  (sensuality), 


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krodh  (anger) ,  lobh  (avarice),  moh 
(attachment),  and  hankar  (pride).  Led  by  these 
passions,  he  becomes  manmukh,  a  self-centred, 
self-willed,  unregenerate  individual, 
unresponsive  to  instruction.  His  salvation  lies 
in  overcoming  his  haumai  and  understanding 
his  true  self,  which  is  a  spark  of  the  light  eternal. 
"Recognize  yourself,  O  mind,"  says  Guru  Amar 
Das,  Nanak  III,  'You  are  the  light  manifest." 
And  he  goes  on  in  the  same  verse  to  show  the 
way :  "Rejoice  in  Guru's  instruction  that  God  is 
(always)  with  (in)  you.  If  you  recognize  your 
Self,  you  shall  know  Lord  and  shall  get  the 
knowledge  of  life  and  death"  (GG,  441).  The 
seeker  is  advised  to  follow  gurmati,  Guru's 
instruction,  and  be  a  gurmukh,  Guru-oriented, 
rather  than  a  manmukh.  Guru  in  Sikhism 
means,  besides  God  Himself,  the  ten  Sikh 
Gurus  from  Guru  Nanak  (1469-1539)  to  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  (1666-1708)  and,  after  them, 
their  shabad  (Sanskrit  sabda)  preserved  in  the 
form  of  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the  Holy  Scripture 
of  the  Sikhs.  Gurmati,  therefore,  means  tenets 
and  doctrines  of  the  faith  as  revealed  in  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Thet  Guru  is  the  voice  of 
God  and  Guru's  shabad  is  his  divine  self- 
expression. 

According  to  gurmati,  the  means  to 
overcome  haumai  lies  in  understanding 
hukam,  the  fundamental  principle  of  God's 
activity,  and  in  living  one's  life  wholly  in  accord 
with  it.  This  understanding  or  gian  (Sanskrit 
jhan)  comes  not  through  rites  and  rituals,  nor 
through  the  study  of  voluminous  tomes  or 
discursive  discussions.  It  is  not  attained 
through  renunciation,  austerities  and 
penances,  either.  Sikhism  recommends 
grihastha  or  normal  life  of  a  householder,  but 
without  falling  in  love  with  worldly  life  as  if  it 
would  always  endure.  The  onlv  true  love  is 
devotion  to  God.  Guru  Nanak  set  torth  devout 
love  as  the  truest  virtue.  Love  of  God  consists 
in  immersing  oneself  in  nam  simaran,  i.e. 
constant  and  loving  remembrance  of  His 
Name,  meditating  upon  His  immeasurable 
immenseness  in  awe  and  wonder,  and  in 


singing  His  praises.  Such  loving  devotion  helps 
one  to  free  oneself  from  haumai  and  to  attain 
mokhduar  or  threshold  of  mukti,  i.e.  liberation 
from  the  circuit  of  birth,  death  and  rebirth.  At 
the  same  time  as  a  householder  one  should 
earn  one's  living  by  kirat  karni,  i.e.  by  hard  work 
and  honest  means.  The  third  virtue  is  vand 
chhaina,  to  share  one's  victuals  with  others. 
Besides  these  Guru  Nanak  laid  special  emphasis 
on  seva  or  self-abnegating  deeds  of  service. 
"One  who  performs  selfless  service,"  says  Nanak 
V,  "finds  the  Lord"  (GG.286).  Shil  (good 
conduct),  sangam (moderation),  santokh 
(contentment)  and  garibi  (in  the  sense  of 
humility,  not  of  poverty)  are  the  individual 
virtues  a  Sikh  is  instructed  to  cherish. 

On  the  social  plane,  Guru  Nanak 
preached  equality  of  all  human  beings.  He 
especially  denounced  distinctions  and 
discriminations  based  on  caste,  creed,  sex  and 
worldly  possessions.  Humanism,  universalism 
tolerance  and  seva  are  the  pillars  of  social  ethics 
of  the  Sikhs. 

The  founder  of  the  faith,  Guru  Nanak, 
not  only  dtermined  the  principal  truths  and 
doctrines  of  Sikhism,  he  also  took  care  to 
ensure  that  his  teaching  would  endure. 
Wherever  he  went  he  advised  his  followers  to 
join  together  in  sarigat,  i.e.  holy  fellowship  or 
community,  to  establish  dharamsals  or  houses 
of  congregation,  and  lahgar  or  community 
refectory  (for  themselves  and  for  the  needy). 
At  the  end  of  his  udasis  or  travels,  he  himself 
had  such  a  community  established  at  Kartarpur 
on  the  right  bank  of  Ravi.  It  was  not  a  monastic 
order,  but  a  fellowship  of  ordinary  people 
ehgaged  in  ordinary  occupations  of  life, 
congregating  for  prayer  and  sitting  together 
tO  share  a  common  repast,  overruling 
distinctions  of  caste  and  creed.  To  carry  on  his 
work  he  himself  nominated  a  successor,  a 
devout  Sikh  Bhai  Lahina,  who  he  renamed 
Angad,  a  limb  of  his  own  body,  and  to  whom 
he  passed  on  a  book  containing  his  teachings, 
and  his  own  light,  transmitted  further  from  one 
to  the  next  succeeding  Guru  so  that,  the  Sikhs 


SIKH  ISM 


153 


SIKHISM 


believe,  all  the  ten  Gurus  were  of  equal 
spiritual  rank  sharing  the  revelation  of  Guru 
Nanak,  whose  message  they  elaborated  and 
preached  and  whose  social  institutions  of 
sangat  and  pangat  they  expanded  and 
consolidated  into  a  well-defined  community  of 
believers  which  ultimately  blossomed  into  the 
Sikh  Panth. 

Guru  Ahgad  (1504-52)  popularized  the 
Gurmukhi  script  among  Sikhs,  and  Guru  Amar 
Das  (1479-1574)  introduced  a  well-knit 
ecclesiastical  system  based  on  manjis  or 
dioceses  and  organized  regular  congregational 
fairs  for  the  Sikhs  at  Goindval,  which  became 
their  special  centre  of  pilgrimage.  Guru  Ram 
Das  (1534-81)  established  yet  another  centre 
by  founding  the  town  of  Amritsar,  now  the 
religious  capital  of  the  Sikhs.  Under  Guru  Arjan 
(1563-1606)  Sikhism  was  more  firmly 
established.  He  constructed  in  the  middle  of 
the  pool  of  Amritsar,  the  Harimandar,  Golden 
Temple  of  today.  He  also  founded  new  towns 
of  Tarn  Taran,  Kartarpur  and  Sri 
Hargobindpur,  and  further  consolidated  the 
mahji  system  by  appointing  masands  to  the 
outlying  preaching  districts. 

More  significant  was  his  collection  and 
canonization  of  the  composidons  of  the  Gurus 
and  some  other  saints  in  the  form  of  the  Adi 
Granth,  which  he  installed  in  the  Harimandar. 
The  provision  of  a  central  place  of  worship  and 
the  Scripture  proved  to  be  of  great  significance 
in  moulding  Sikh  self-consciousness  and  in  the 
reitication  of  Sikh  life  and  society.  Sikhs  were 
now  a  community  distinct  enough  to  attract 
the  spite  of  the  heir-apparent  to  the  throne  of 
Delhi  who,  soon  after  his  accession  as  Emperor 
Jahahgir  in  1605,  had  Guru  Arjan  executed. 
Guru  Arjan's  martyrdom,  the  first  in  the 
eventful  history  of  Sikhism,  gave  a  martial  turn 
to  the  community's  orientation.  His  son  and 
successor,  Guru  Hargobind  (1595-1644), 
instead  of  donning  the  rosary  and  other  saintly 
emblems,  wore  a  warrior's  equipmen  t  for  the 
ceremonies  of  succession  and  encouraged  his 
followers  to  train  as  soldiers.  He  set  the  principle 


of  rain"  and  piri,  combination  of  worldly 
strength  with  spiritual  faith,  and  devodon  or, 
to  use  modern  terminology,  coalescence  of 
religion  and  politics.  Not  that  the  earlier  Gurus 
had  been  oblivious  of  the  polidcal  happenings 
around  them.  The  fusion  of  the  worldly  and 
the  other-worldly  was  inherent  in  the  basic 
teachings  of  Guru  Nanak.  The  Gurus  preached 
active  participation  in  life  rather  than  running 
away  from  it.  What  Guru  Hargobind  did  was  to 
consciously  prepare  the  community  to  defend 
the  faith  against  wilful  oppression  of  bigoted 
state  power.  His  task  was  made  easier  by  the 
awakening  brought  about  by  the  teaching  of 
his  predecessors.  He  was  able  to  forge  the 
instruments  of  a  mighty  revolution  which  he 
duly  tested  in  his  lifetime.  His  successors,  Guru 
HarRai  (1630-61)  and  Guru  HarKrishan  (1656- 
64)  kept  the  style  he  had  introduced  and  were 
attended  by  armed  followers.  But  although 
summoned  to  imperial  presence,  they  were  left 
in  comparative  peace  by  the  ruling  power.  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  (1621-75),  the  ninth  Guru,  again 
bore  the  cross.  He  laid  down  his  life  to  defend 
the  people's  right  to  their  religious  belief.  His 
son,  Guru  Gobind  Singh  (1666-1708),  created 
the  martial  order  of  the  Khalsa,  a  classless 
commonwealth  of  self-abnegating  Sikhs,  now 
surnamed  Sihghs,  devout  and  peaceful 
worshippers  of  the  One  God  but  irreconcilable 
opponents  of  injustice  and  tyranny. 

Seva  or  selfless  service  had  always  been  a 
laudable  ideal  for  the  Sikhs.  It  implied  some 
measure  of  sacrifice.  With  the  martyrdom  of 
Guru  Arjan,  sacrifice  even  in  its  most  difficult 
form,  sacrificing  one's  life  for  a  worthy  cause, 
became  a  desirable  goal  for  them.  To  die 
fighting  in  defence  of  righteousness  was 
something  to  be  sought  after.  "Grant  me  this 
boon,  O  Lord,"  sang  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  "that 
I  may  not  turn  away  from  good  deeds  :  may  I 
not  be  afraid  to  fight  the  enemy  (of  faith)  and 
may  I  assure  my  victory  :  may  I  instruct  my  own 
mind  to  greedily  sing  Thy  praises  ;  and  when 
the  end  comes,  may  I  fall  fighting  in  the  thick 
of  the  battle." 


SIKHISM 


154 


SIKHISM 


Guru  Gobind  Singh  transformed  die  Sikh 
sahgat  into  Khalsa  panth,  giving  it  a  distinct 
identity  in  form  as  well  as  in  spirit.  Before  he 
passed  away,  he  put  an  end  to  personal 
guruship  and  bequeathed  the  spiritual 
leadership  of  the  community  to  the  Holy  Book, 
Guru  Granth  Sahib,  in  perpetuity  and  the 
temporal  leadership  to  the  Panth  itself  who  was 
to  fashion  its  own  destiny  in  future  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the 
perpetual  repository  of  fundamental 
principles,  spiritual  and  moral,  as  revealed  by 
Guru  Nanak  in  ten  corporeal  frames.  Within 
half  a  century  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  decease, 
Sikhism  had  turned  into  a  political  force  and 
in  another  forty  years  it  had  become  a  state.  In 
die  process  the  Panth  had  to  undergo  the  worst 
state  persecution  and  genocide  in  human 
history,  but  the  courage,  tenacity  and  faith  with 
which  it  reacted  to  and  overcame  the 
suppression  was  equally  unprecedented.  The 
ultimate  emergence  of  Sikhs  as  the  ruling 
power  in  northwestern  India,  however,  was 
accompanied  by  some  loss  on  the  doctrinal 
side.  The  Sikh  doctrine  is  not  a  single  reasoned 
statement  but  lies  scattered  in  the  Scriptural 
verses  and  in  traditional  institutions  of  the 
Panth.  The  preservation  of  doctrinal  purity, 
therefore,  largely  depends  on  correct 
interpretation  of  Scripture  and  tradition. 
Unforttunately  during  the  turbulent 
eighteenth  century,  while  the  Khalsa  were  fully 
involved  in  the  grim  struggle  for  existence  and, 
later,  in  conquest  and  political  administration, 
theological  affairs  fell  almost  completely  in  the 
hands  of  Udasi  and  Nirmala  priests  highly 
influenced  by  Hindu  scholasticism.  They 
brought  in  priesthood,  ritualism  and  at  places 
even  idol-worship,  all  strictly  forbidden  in 
Sikhism.  The.  rise  of  aristocracy  and  later  of 
monarchy,  on  the  other  hand,  put  an  end  to 
such  democratic,  republican  institutions  as 
Sarbatt  Khalsa,  gurmaia  and  Dal  Khalsa. 

After  the  conquest  of  the  Punjab  by  the 
British,  there  was  a  sharp  fall  in  the  Sikh 
population.  Two  early  attempts  for  the 


preservation  of  doctrinal  purity  were  the 
Niraiikari  movement  of  BabaDyal  (1783-1855) 
and  the  Namdhari  movement  under  Baba  Ram 
Singh  (1815-85).  The  real  renaissance 
commenced  with  the  Singh  Sabha  movement 
launched  in  1873.  It  touched  Sikhism  to  its  very 
roots  and  made  it  a  living  force  once  again  with 
a  renewed  search  for  separate  Sikh  identity.  It 
opened  for  the  Sikhs  doors  of  modern 
progress,  and  ushered  in  a  period  of  vigorous 
educational  and  literary  activity.  The  Singh 
Sabha  gave  place  to  Gurdwara  Reform 
movement  of  the  early  1920's  which  resulted 
in  the  removal  of  the  influence  of  the  priestly 
class  and  the  establishment  of  a  democratically 
elected  statutory  body,  the  ShiromanI 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee,  to  look 
after  the  religious  affairs  of  the  Panth  and  the 
management  of  Sikh  shrines.  For  political 
leadership,  bulk  of  the  Sikh  population  looked 
up  to  the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal.  At  the  national 
level,  their  commitment  to  the  cause  of  Indian 
freedom  was  total  and  their  contribution  to  it 
was  noteworthy. 

In  1940,  the  Muslims  of  India  represented 
by  the  Indian  Muslim  League  made  a  bid  to 
have  a  separate  country  of  their  own,  Pakistan, 
comprising  predominantly  Muslim  territories 
culled  out  of  India.  The  Sikhs  were  both 
alarmed  and  motivated.  The  Punjab,  which  to 
them  was  their  only  home,  was  a  Muslim 
majority  province.  Its  tranfer  to  Pakistan  would 
greatlyjeopardize  their  interests,  and  threaten 
their  newly  re-discovered  identity.  They  made 
a  bid  for  an  independent  homeland  of  their 
own,  but  they  were  too  few  in  numbers  (1.47 
per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  India  and 
13  per  cent  of  that  of  the  Punjab  according  to 
the  1941  census)  and  too  thinly  spread  to  justify 
their  claim  to  a  viable  territorial  unit. 

The  partition  of  the  Punjab  in  1947,  which 
divided  the  Sikh  population  into  two  almost 
equal  halves,  was  a  severe  blow  to  them.  Those 
left  in  districts  assigned  to  Pakistan  had  to 
migrate  to  the  Indian  side  of  the  Punjab  and 
the  Sikh  states  of  cis-Sutlej  region.  But,  by  their 


SI  KM  ISM 


155 


SIKHISM  AND  CASTE  SYSTEM 


native  tenacity  and  enterprise,  they  soon 
rehabilitated  themselves  in  independent  India. 
Yet  fresh  doubts  and  misgivings  soon  arose 
about  the  preservation  of  their  jealously- 
guarded  identity  and  cultural  heritage.  The 
framers  of  the  new  Constitution  of  India 
declined  to  grant  to  them  special  rights  as  a 
minority  community,  and  a  bulk,  of  the  non- 
Sikh  Punjabis  disowned  Punjabi  as  their 
mother  tongue  with  the  result  that  while  the 
whole  of  India  was  reorganized  on  linguistic 
basis,  the  Sikhs  had  to  launch  a  prolonged 
struggle  to  secure  a  Punjabi-speaking  state. 
Language  being  one  of  the  most  important 
factors  of  any  culture,  the  Sikhs  are  highly 
sensitive  about  it. 

On  the  theological  plane,  modern 
Sikhism  is  a  continuation  of  the  Singh  Sabha 
restoration.  While  it  retains  its  creedai.  unity 
and  its  adherence  to  its  original  metaphysics 
and  symolism,  it  has  found  enough  resilience 
in  the  framework  it  has  inherited  to  adapt  itself 
to  the  modern  course  of  progress  without 
compromising  on  the  fundamentals.  Deeply- 
conscious  of  its  eventful  history,  its  outlook  is 
essentially  forward-looking.  Guru  Granth 
Sahib,  the  Holy  Scripture,  is  the  continuing 
spiritual  authority  and  is  venerated  as  the  living 
presence  of  the  Gurus.  It  gives  form  and 
meaning  to  the  Sikhs'  religious  style  and  social 
customs.  It  is  the  integral  focus  of  their  psyche 
and  the  regulative  principle  of  their  beli  ef  and 
practice.  Through  their  sacred  book  and 
through  their  500-year  old  history,  they 
maintain  a  strong  attachment  to  their  religious 
inheritance.  Yet  their  deep  allegiance  to  it 
creates  no  exclusivism.  Their  faith  has  a  broad 
humanitarian  base.  Singly  in  their  homes  and 
collectively  in  congregations  in  their  places  of 
worship,  the  Sikhs  conclude  their  morning  and 
evening  prayers,  or  prayers  said  at  any  other 
time  as  part  of  personal  piety  or  of  a  ceremony, 
with  ardas  or  supplicatory  prayer  which  ends 
with  the  words  :  Nanak  nam  charhdi  kala  tere 
bhane  sarbatt  ka  bbala-  May  Thy  Name,  Thy 
Glory  be  forever  triumphant,  Nanak,  and  in 


Thy  Will,  may  peace  and  prosperity  come  to 
one  and  all. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jodh  Singh,  Bhai  Gurmati  Nirnai  [Reprint]. 
Patiala,  1990 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Nanak  and  Origins  of  the 
Sikh  Faith.  Patiala,  1969 

3.  Nirbhai  Singh,  Philosophy  of  Sikhism.  Delhi,  1990 

4.  Sher  Singh,  The  Philosophy  of  Sikhism.  Lahore, 
1944 

5.  Kapur  Singh,  Parasaraprasna.  Amritsar,  1989 

6.  Jodh  Singh,  The  Religious  Philosophy  of  Guru 
Nanak.  Delhi,  1983 

7.  Harbans  Singh  and  Lai  Mani  Joshi,  An 
Introduction  to  Indian  Religions.  Patiala,  1973 

8.  Talib,  Gurbachan  Singh,  An  Introduction  to  Sri 
Guru  Grantli  Sahib.  Patiala,  1991 

9.  Dhaiam  Singh  ,  Sikli  Theology  of  Liberation. 
Delhi,  1991 

10.  Avtar  Singh,  Ethics  of  the  Sikhs.  Patiala,  1970 

G.S.T. 

SIKHISM  AND  CASTE  SYSTEM.  A  total 
rejection  of  the  caste  system  is  a  typical  feature 
of  the  Sikh  tradition.  Sikhism  in  fact  originated 
as  a  voice  of  protest  against  the  many  prevalent 
ills  of  contemporary  Indian  society.  The  caste 
system  was  the  most  damaging  and  debilitating 
of  them.  It  completely  negated  the 
humanitarian  and  egalitarian  principles, 
fundamental  to  the  Sikh  creed.  Guru  Nanak, 
founder  of  Sikhism,  and  his  nine  spiritual 
successors  strongly  attacked  the  system.  The 
advent  of  Sikhism  in  the  midst  of  caste  rigidities 
and  superstitions  was  truly  a  radical  beginning, 
Caste,  lexically  defined  as  "  a  hereditary 
social  group  comprising  persons  of  the  same 
ethnic  stock,  social  rank,  occupation  and  more 
or  less  distinctive  mores,"  is  a  characteristic 
common  to  all  societies  the  world  over,  and 
hardly  shows  anything  more  than  social 
differenciations  that  have  developed  in  varying 
degrees  of  discrimination  or  exclusiveness.  In 
the  Punjab,  for  instance,  caste  (Jat  or  zat) 
signifies  only  an  ethnic  group  gotra  (family, 


SIKHISM  AND  CASTK  SYSTEM 


156 


SIKHISM  AND  CASTE  SYSTKM 


line,  sept  or  class)  just  like  the  MacDonalds, 
Montagues,  Montmorencies,  etc,  in  England, 
It  is  only  when  it  develops  into  a  system  with  its 
rigid  stratification  and  permanent  division  of 
social  status  based  on  birth  alone,  as  it  did  in 
India,  that  caste  becomes  a  curse. 

A  system  is  qualitatively  different  from  a 
casual  or  unintentional  assortment  of  factors 
or  forces.  It  is  what  distinguishes  philosophy, 
religion  or  science  from  an  unintegrated  mass 
of  doctrines  and  tenets.  It  is  what  distinguishes 
an  army  from  a  rabble,  as  it  involves 
organization,  arrangement,  method  and 
considered  principles  of  procedure.  Above  all, 
a  system  presumes  a  direction,  a  plan,  a 
purpose,  an  objective  towards  the  fulfilment 
of  which  the  functioning  of  the  different  parts 
of  the  system  is  oriented,  coordinated  and 
harmonized.  Moreover,  a  system  has  its  own 
cumulative  power,  thrust,  momentum  not  easy 
to  stem,  and  grip,  hold  and  shackle  almost 
impossible  to  unfetter.  The  caste  system  that 
developed  in  India  over  the  millenia  possessed 
all  these  ingredients  and  characteristics.  And 
more,  it  was  given  the  garb  of  religion,  the 
Varnasrma  Dharma,  signifying  divine  origin  or 
sanction  for  it. 

That  social  distinctions  existed,  as  in  other 
primitive  societies,  in  pre-Aryan  India  is 
evidenced  by  the  ruins  of  the  Indus  Valley 
civilization,  but  whether  these  were 
characterized  by  permanent  divisions  based  on 
birth  we  do  not  know.  The  caste  system  in  the 
Hindu  society  as  generally  understood 
definitely  developed  after  the  advent  of  the 
Aryans.  Whether  a  four-fold  division  into 
occupational  groups  was  historical  necessity  for 
the  invaders  is  irrelevant  here.  The  fact  is  that 
among  the  sacerdotal  groups,  the  Brahmans, 
came  to  possess  real  power  in  matters  social  as 
well  as  religious  and  became,  besides  being  the 
sole  interpreters  of  religious  texts,  exclusive 
authors  and  arbiters  of  the  social  code.  They 
divided  society  into  castes  and  sub-castes 
meticulously  arranged  in  a  hierarchical  social 
pyramid  in  which  the  social  grade  of  each 


group  and  individual  was  fixed  permanently 
by  birth.  Each  layer  in  the  pyramid  was  superior 
in  caste  status  (virtually  in  social  status)  to  all 
the  layers  below  it,  and  lower  in  caste  status  to 
all  the  others  above  it,  irrespective  of  their 
political  power  and  economic  position.  Even 
the  Brahmans  at  the  top  of  the  pyramid  and 
the  untouchables  at  its  bottom  were  graded 
among  their  own  ranks.  The  privileges, 
disabilities,  obligations,  and  duties,  i.e. 
practically  all  aspects  of  social  behaviour,  of 
each  sub-caste  by  fixed  rules  and  codes  were 
fomulated  by  Brahmans  particularly  by  Manu 
who  claimed  direct  descent  from  Brahma,  the 
creator  of  universe.  These  sub-castes  were,  by 
and  large,  endogamous  groups,  and  they 
worked  sedulously  to  isolate  themselves  from 
each  other  in  other  social  matters  too.  Mututal 
exclusiveness  was  caused  predominantly  not 
by  social,  but  by  ritualistic  factors.  Such  factors 
as  personal  endowments,  wealth,  political 
power,  colour  and  racial  prejudices,  and  even 
taboos,  which  determined  the  hierarchical  set- 
ups in  other  societies,  were  not  the  final 
determinants  in  the  Indian  caste  system, 
though  these  did  contribute  to  its 
development.  Although  individuals,  groups 
and  sub-castes  were  in  the  grip  of  a 
continuously  downward  process,  there  was 
practically  no  upward  social  mobility. 

Caste  system  of  the  Varnasrama  had  its 
own  intricacies.  Its  constituents  were 
interdependent  and  interlocked,  both 
horizontally  and  vertically,  in  a  self- 
perpetuating  social  fabric.  Within  the  sub-caste, 
each  constituent  of  the  system  (hereditary 
functionalism,  social  and  ritualistic  taboojs, 
pollution,  religion,  etc.)  tied  its  own  caste-knot 
around  the  individual. 

The  fundamental  assumption  of  the  caste 
ideology  is  that  men  are  not  equal,  but  are 
forever  unequal.  Permanent  human  inequality 
is  the  officially  declared  Brahmanical  ideology, 
and  this  forms  the  basis  of  the  Hindu  social 
order.  God  Himself  is  the  author  of  this 
inequality.  The  Veda  was  declared  by  Manu  to 


SIKHISM  AND  CASTE  SYSTEM 


157 


SIKHISM  AND  CASTE  SYSTEM 


be  the  direct  revelation  of  God,  and  it  is  a  Rig 
Vedic  hymn,  Purusa  Sukta,  which  forms  the 
source  for  the  caste  ideology.  It  says  that  God 
created  Brahmans  from  His  head,  Ksatriyas 
from  His  arms,  Vaisyas  from  His  legs  and  Sudras 
from  His  feet.  Even  the  Dharma  Sastra  of  Manu 
is  said  to  be  the  inspired  word  of  the  Vedas, 
almost  of  equal  authority  with  them.  Ma  nu  did 
not  rest  content  with  establishing  the  divine 
authority  of  the  Vedas.  His  object  thereby  was 
to  sanctify  the  caste  system  and  the  position  of 
the  Brahmans.  He  declared  that  the  teaching  of 
a  Brahman  is  authoritative  for  'man'  because  the 
Veda  is  the  foundation  for  that  (Manu,  XI.  85). 

The  process  of  the  creation  of  a  sovereign, 
autonomous  society,  the  Sikh  Panth,  had 
started  in  the  day  of  Guru  Nanak  himself.  He 
had  begun  his  career  as  a  teacher  of  men  with 
the  significant  utterance,  "There  is  no  Hindu, 
no  Mussalman,"  and  took  clear-cut  practical 
steps  towards  moulding  a  society  of  Sikhs 
(literally  disciples)  on  independent,  ideological 
lines.  He  specifically  condemned  caste  and 
caste  ideology  as  perverse,  and  rejected  the 
authority  of  the  Vedas  and  supremacy  of  the 
Brahmans.  On  caste,  he  said  : 

Meaningless  is  caste  and  meaningless 
(caste)  names, 

The  same  shadow  protects  all  beings  (CG,  83) 

What  can  caste  do  ? 

Truthfulness  is  the  criterion  (GO,  142). 

Discern  the  light ;  do  not  enquire  (one's) 
caste; 

There  is  no  caste  in  the  hereafter  (GG.349). 
Do  not  enquire  about  (one's)  caste  and 
birth, 

Preach  the  True  Sastra 

Caste  and  honour  are  determined  by 

deeds  (GG.1330). 
About  high  and  low  caste,  he  declared  : 

There  are  lower  castes  among  the  low 

castes, 

And  some  are  absolutely  low: 

Nanak  seeketh  their  company, 

What  hath  he  to  do  with  the  high  ones  ? 

(GO,  15) 


Reading  of  Vedas  he  described  as  a  mundane 
function  which  Brahmans  perform  (GG,  791). 
Elsewhere  he  says, 

Vedas  talk  about  virtue  and  sin 

Or  about  heaven  and  hell,  nothing  else; 

But  the  soul  know  that 

As  one  soweth,  so  one  reapeth  (GC,  1243). 
And  he  castigated  Brahmans  as  "immersed  in 
doubt,  they  never  find  the  goal,  although  they 
call  themselves  teachers,  savants  and  priests" 
(GG,  905)  ;  and  "The  Pandit  cannot  reach  (the 
goal)  simply  by  studying  ;  involved  in  the  duel 
of  sin  and  virtue  he  only  quenches  Death's 
hunger,"  (GG,  1012).  Other  Gurus  who 
succeeded  Guru  Nanak  also  spoke  and 
preached  in  the  same  vein. 

By  contradicting  Hinduism,  Sikhism  also 
delinked  itself  from  that  aspect  of  Hindu 
dharma  which  was,  in  day-to-day  action,  the 
main  vehicle  for  providing  religious  sanction 
to  the  varnasrama  dharma.  The  Gurus  issued 
their  own  new  version  of  dharma,  which  was, 
at  least  as  far  as  caste  was  concerned,' 
completely  at  variance  with  the  Hindu  mores. 
They  made  the  Dharma  perfect  and  universal 
by  blending  the  four  castes  into  one. 
Underlying  the  taboos  on  food  and  drink  and 
the  ostracization  of  the  Sudra  castes  was  the 
notion  of  pollution  which  was  supposed  to  be 
incurred  not  only  by  partaking  of  food  or 
drinks  under  certain  conditions,  but  by  the 
mere  bodily  contact  with  persons  of  certain  low 
castes  whose  traditional  occupation,  whether 
actually  followed  or  not,  rendered  them 
untouchable.  This  hymn  by  Guru  Nanak  speaks 
clearly  : 

If  idea  of  impurity  be  admitted,  there  is 

impurity  in  everthing 
There  are  worms  in  cow-dung  and  in 

wood  ; 

There  is  no  grain  of  corn  without  life, 
In  the  first  place,  there  is  life  in  water 
By  which  everything  is  made  green. 
How  can  impuritybe  avoided  ? 
It  enters  our  very  kitchens. 
Impurity  is  not  washed  away  thus, 


SIKH1SM  AND  CASTE  SYSTEM 


158 


S1KH1SM  AND  CASTE  SYSTEM 


Nanak; 

It  is  washed  by  divine  knowledge... 

All  impurity  supposedly  contagious 

Consists  in  superstition... 

Those  who  have,  through  the  Guru, 
understood 

ouffer  no  contamination  (CC,  47a). 

Besides  denying  the  authority  of  the  Vedas 
and  Sastras,  the  Guru  took  some  practical  steps 
to  impart  an  egalitarian  thrust  to  the  nascent 
Sikh  community.  The  twin  institutions  of  sarigat 
(company  of  the  holy)  and  pahgat 
(commensality),  where  no  discrimination  on 
the  basis  of  caste,  birth  or  social  status  was 
observed,  went  a  long  way  in  inculcating  in  the 
Sikhs  the  spirit  of  equality,  brotherhood  and 
humanitarianism.  The  creation  of  the  Khalsa 
by  Guru  Gobind  Singh  was  the  acme  of  the  Sikh 
movement.  The  Khalsa  made  a  clear  break  with 
the  caste  society.  Of  the  five  original  initiates, 
the  first  batch  of  entrants  to  the  Khalsa 
Brotherhood,  there  were  three  from  the  so- 
called  Sudra  castes,  and  one  Jat,  a  caste  then 
on  the  borderline  of  Vaisyas  and  Sudras.  For 
initiation  into  the  Khalsa  ranks,  ritual  (a/nrit 
or  khande  di  pahul)  was  made  obligatory 
(Guru  Gobind  Singh  himself  had  to  undergo), 
and  during  the  ceremony  the  neophytes  had 
to  take  five  vows,  viz.  dharm  nash,  i.e.  to  sever 
connection  with  one's  previous  religious  belief; 
karam  nash,  i.e.  to  free  oneself  from  former 
rites,  rituals,  customs,  etc.  ;  kul  nash,  i.e. 
severence  of  all  ties  with  lineage  and  birth,  the 
fundamental  basis  of  caste  society ;  shram  nash, 
i.e.  obliteration  of  stigmas  attached  to  trade  or 
occupation,  which  gave  the  convert  a  sense  of 
self-respect  and  dignity  of  labour;  and  bharm 
nash,  i.e.  discarding  superstition,  taboos  and 
notion  of  pollution.  The  later  Sikh  literature 
of  the  18th  century  (  the  Rahitnamas, 
specifically  of  varied  authorship  and  composed 
at  different  times  carrying  the  different 
emphases)  is  agreed  on  the  point  that  the 
Khalsa  broke  away  categorically  from  the  caste 
ideology  and  caste  society.  Testimony  from 
contemporary  non-Sikh  sources  substantiates 


this  fact  and  historical  evidence  supports  it. 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  assigned  the  overall 
military  command  to  a  former  Bairagi  assisted 
by  a  council  of  five,  selected  irrespective  of  their 
former  castes.  Later,  of  the  five  divisions  of  Sikh 
guerillas,  one  was  captained  by  a  convert  from 
the  so-called  untouchable  scavenger  caste  while 
another  was  headed  by  a  former  Ksatriya.  Still 
later,  when  with  further  expansion  of  the  Sikh 
army,  the  Dal  Khalsa,  it  was  divided  into  eleven 
misls,  one  was  commanded  by  a  low-caste 
warrior.  Likewise,  the  overall  command  vested 
with  one  not  born  to  the  caste. 

Sikhism  mounted  a  frontal  attack  on 
citadel  of  caste  and  the  individual  pillars  on 
which  it  was  based.  It  must,  however,  be 
admitted  that  caste  could  not  be  totally 
uprooted,  so  strongly  was  it  entrenched  in  the 
Indian  soil,  although  it  must  be  emphasized  at 
the  same  time  that  the  Sikhs  never  accepted 
either  the  religious  validity  of  the  caste  system 
or  that  of  its  constituent  pillars,  its  authors, 
interpreters  and  upholders,  the  Brahmans.  The 
Sikhs  have  never  owed  allegiance  to  any 
scripture  but  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  and  it 
completely  and  categorically  repudiates  caste 
distinctions,  ritualism  and  the  Brahmanical 
ideology  of  pollution.  Nor,  since  the  time  of 
the  creation  of  the  Khalsa.  Brahmans  have  ever 
become  a  point  of  reference  in  the  Sikh  society 
in  regard  to  social,  status  or  hierarchy,  or  for 
that  matter  for  any  purpose  whatsoever.  There 
has  been  no  sacerdotal  class  or  caste  among 
the  Sikhs,  and  stress  on  work  ethics  has 
amalgamated  the  other  three  castes  into  a 
single  working  class. 

Guru  Nanak  says,  "Do  not  ever  bow  at  the 
feet  of  those  who  claim  to  be  gurus  and  spiritual 
guides  but  go  begging  at  others'  doors  for 
subsistence.  He  has  recognized  the  (true)  path, 
O  Nanak  !  who  earns  his  living  through  hard 
labour  and  gives  something  to  help  others"  (GG, 
1245).  Whatever  traces  of  caste  are  still 
discernible  among  the  Sikhs  constitute  a 
lingering  and  fast-dying  aberration  and  not  the 
rule.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  is 


SIKHISM  AND  c;ASTK  SYSTKM 


159 


SIKHISM  AND  CASTE  SYSTEM 


vital  distinction  between  caste  and  caste  system 
—  caste  in  the  ordinary  lexical  sense  and  the 
term  caste  in  the  Brahmanical  sense.  Jatts  and 
Khatris  among  the  Sikhs  are  in  reality 
occuptional  classes  and  not  castes  as  under  the 
Varnasrama  Dharma.  They  do  not  constitute 
an  hierarchy,  because  hierarchy  presupposes 
demarcation  of  higher  and  lower  grades,  which 
are  absent  from  the  Sikh  society.  Distinctions 
wherever  noticed  are  not  ethnic  but  economic. 
Jatt  Sikhs  traditionally  forming  the  peasantry, 
by  and  large,  continue  to  stick  to  land  and 
constitute  bulk  of  the  rural  segment  of 
population,  while  Khatri  and  Arora  Sikhs  being 
traditionally  engaged  in  trade  and  commerce 
are  largely  located  in  urban  areas.  There  is 
however  no  bar  to  occupational  mobility. 

The  only  case  where  some  vestiges  of  the 
caste  system  still  remain  is  that  of  social 
discrimination  against  Mazliabi  Sikhs  (converts 
from  scavenging  caste)  and  Ramdasia  Sikhs 
(formerly  Chamars  engaged  in  leather  work 
and  weavers) .  They  too  have  never  been  treated 
as  untouchable  and  there  has  been  no 
commensal  or  social  discrimination  against 
those  among  them  who  have  taken  die  pahCil 
(the  rites)  of  the  Khalsa.  Also,  there  has  been 
no  discrimination  against  anyone  while 
attending  religious  gatherings  or  dining  in 
Guru  ka  Lahgar,  i.e.  commiunity  kitchen.  The 
existence  of  remaining  prejudices  may  be 
explained  by  several  factors.  First,  it  is  a  part  of 
the  dynamics  of  ideological  mass  upsurges  that 
their  initial  momentum  has  always  tended  to 
taper  off  as  time  goes  by.  After  reaching 
ideological  peaks,  they  have  invariably  reached 
a  plateau  and  then  slided  somewhat  back 
towards  the  levels  they  started  from.  It  is  due 
to  the  limitation  of  human  nature  and 
environmental  hurdles  that  the  transformation 
of  human  society  in  terms  of  its  idealistic  goals 
has  been  extremely  slow,  despite  all  religious 
and  other  progressive  movements  that  have 
taken  place.  Revolutionary  movements  clo  leave 
behind  more  or  less  degrees  of  progress,  but 
the  critics  usually  tend  to  compare  them  with 


absolute  standard  instead  of  measuring  the 
achievements  in  relative  terms.  It  is  always 
easier  to  point  out  shortcomings  than  to 
appreciate  gains.  The  initial  success  of  the 
revolutionary  Sikh  movement,  it  must  be 
appreciated,  attracted  to  its  fold  a  large  number 
of  converts,  mostly  from  the  Hindu  caste 
society. 

During  the  tribulations  and  turmoils  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  the  core  elements  of 
the  Khalsa  were  deeply  involved  in  a  life-and- 
death  struggle  against  the  tyranny  of  the 
oppressive  Indian  State  and  depredations  of 
rapacious  invaders,  leaving  the  religious 
leadership  in  the  hands  of  Udasis  and  Nirmala 
priestly  classes  whose  religious  and  educational 
background  was  more  akin  to  traditional 
Brahmanism  than  to  orthodox  Sikhism.  The 
influence  of  these  classes  resulted  in  diludng 
the  essentially  anti-caste  teaching  of  Sikh  Gurus 
so  much  so  that  the  nineteenth-century 
Nirahkarl  and  Namdhari  movements 
professing  to  re-establish  the  purity  of  Sikh 
mores  ended  in  gurudom  and  sectarian 
exclusiveness. 

Intra-caste  endogamy  is  practised  only  by 
some  Khatri  and  Arora  caste  groups.  In  most 
cases,  and  invariably  in  the  case  of  Jatt  Sikhs, 
marriage  is  exogamous  in  relation  to  sub-caste, 
though  endogamous  in  relation  to  class.  In 
India,  marriages  are  not  based  on  pre-marital 
love,  as  in  the  West,  and  divorce  is  most  difficult 
to  obtain,  if  not  practically  impossible,  because 
it  carries  with  it  social  stigma.  Joint  family 
system  has  been  and  is  still,  commonly,  the 
universal  mode  of  life.  A  girl  after  marriage  has 
to  undergo  a  tremendous  change  in  family 
relationships  as  well  as  in  social  environment, 
and  has  to  make  far-reaching  adjustments  in 
her  own  behaviour  and  way  of  life.  Such 
adjustments  become  easy  if  the  change  from 
parental  home  to  the  in-laws'  is  minimal,  that 
is  if  the  life-style  of  the  two  families  is  identical 
or  similar.  This  is  easily  achieved  if  the  marriage 
is  arranged  within  the  same  occupational  class 
which  is  what  caste  means  among  the  Sikhs. 


SIKH  JAMl'AT 


160 


SIKH  JAMl'AT 


An  alternative  custom  of  marrying  within  the 
family,  introduced  in  India  by  the  Semitic 
tradition,  has  not  been  acceptable  to  Indian 
culture,  which  considers  marriage  between 
cousins  as  incestuous.  Hence  the  vogue  of 
treating  marriage  within  zat  (caste  or  class)  as 
endogamous,  but  in  relation  to  gotra  (sub- 
caste,  sept  or  clan)  as  exogamous. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Banerjee,  A.C.,  Guru  Nanak  to  Guru  Gobind 
Singh.  Patiala,  1978 

2.  Barth,  A.,  Religions  of  India.  Delhi,  1963 

3.  Blunt,  E.H.H.,  The  Caste  Systems  of  Northern 
India 

4.  Crooke,  W.,  The  North-Western  Provinces  of 
India  :  Their  History,  Ethnology  and 
Administration,  1994 

5.  Daljeet  Singh,  Sikhism.  Chandigarh,  1979 

6.  Ghurye,  G.S.,  Caste  and  Race  in  India.  1986 

7.  Hutton,  J.H.,  Caste  in  India.  1980 

8.  Ibbetson,  Sir  Denzil,  Punjab  Castes.  Patiala,  1970 

9.  Ketkar,  S.V.,  History  of  Caste  System  in  India.  1979 

10.  Marenco,  E.K.,  The  Transformation  of  Sikh 
Society.  Portland,  Oregon,  1974 

11.  Weber,  Max,  The  Religions  of  India,  1960 

12.  Narang,  G.C.,  Transformation  of  Sikhism.  Delhi, 
1956 

13.  Prinsep,  H.T.,,  Origin  of  the  Sikh  Power  in  the 
Punjab  and  Political  Life  of  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh.  Calcutta,  1834 

14.  Jagjit  Singh,  The  Sikh  Revolution.  Delhi,  1981 

15.  .,  Sikh  Dharam  ate Jat  Pat 

16.  Major  Gurmukh  Singh,  "Professor  McLeod  on 
Sikh  and  Sikhism"  in  Dharam  Singh  (ed.) 
Sikhism  and  Socialism.  Delhi,  1994 

J.S.C. 

SIKH  JAMl'AT  or  JAMi'AT-I-SIKKHAN,  also 
called  locally  the  Lahauri  Fauj  or  Lahore  army, 
was  the  designation  given  the  Sikh  force  in  the 
employment  of  the  Nizams  or  rulers  of  the 
former  Indian  state  of  Hyderabad.  Jami1  at  is 
an  Arabic  word  meaning  an  assemblage  or 
congregation.  The  Sikh  Jami'at  came  into 
existence  during  the  rule  of  the  third  Nizam, 


Sikandar  Jah  (1803-29),  who  raised  it  on  the 
advice  of  Raja  Chandu  Lai,  a  Punjabi  who  rose 
to  a  position  of  great  influence  at  the  Nizam's 
court.  The  Nizam  had  in  his  service  contingents 
of  the  Arabs  and  the  Ruhilas,  and  Chandu  Lai, 
conversant  with  the  martial  qualitites  of  Sikh 
soldiers,  recommended  a  similar  force 
composed  purely  of  Sikhs.  The  Nizam  sent  an 
embassy  to  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  with  costly 
gifts  (including  a  richly  bejewelled  canopy 
which  the  Maharaja  presented  to  the  Golden 
Temple,  Amritsar,  where  it  was  preserved  until 
recently),  to  request  him  to  send  some  Sikh 
soldiers  to  Hyderabad.  The  Maharaja  readily 
agreed.  In  order  not  to  arouse  British 
suspicions  these  soldiers  travelled  to 
Hyderabad  in  small  batches.  The  exact  number 
and  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  Sikhs  in 
Hyderabad  is  not  known  but  old  records  refer 
to  the  existence  of  a  Sikh  force  in  1810.  Its 
strength  has  been  estimated  at  1200.  On  arrival 
they  were  stationed  in  Ram  Bagh-Kishan  Bagh 
area,  afterwards  known  as  Shhaoni  Sujjgaii  or 
the  Sikh  cantonment.  Later  they  were  divided 
into  12  chhkonis  or  camps,  each  chhaon] 
functioning  as'an  independent  unit.  Their 
main  function  was  the  collection  of  revenue 
from  recalcitrant  landlords  and  suppression  of 
rebellions  in  the  territory.  They  proved  so 
efficient  in  the  performance  of  their  duties  that 
they  soon  won  the  Nizam's  favour  and  had  their 
emoluments  doubled.  They  also  acquired  the 
privilege  of  purchasing  and  inheriting  property 
in  the  state  and  of  joining  service  in  other 
government  departments.  During  the  time  of 
the  fourth  Nizam,  Nasir  ud-Daula  (1829-57), 
another  1,000  Sikhs  trickled  into  Hyderabad 
and  joined  the  state  army  and  police  force. 

Sikh  Jami'at  continued  to  exist  till  after 
India  became  independent  in  1947.  It  was 
disbanded  with  effect  from  1  May  1951  when 
each  soldier  of  the  force  was  given  five  years' 
salary  as  compensation  and  dismissed.  A  large 
number  of  the  soldiers  were  however  retaken 
into  the  police  department.  The  Nizam,  who 
was  redesignated  as  Rajpramukh  of  the  state, 


SIKH  JOURNALISM 


161 


SIKH  JOURNALISM 


also  retained  100  Sikhs  under  Risaldar  Khem 
Singh  in  his  personal  bodyguard,  but  the 
number  was  gradually  reduced.  In  1960, 
Risaldar  Khem  Singh  was  appointed  sarbarah 
or  head  of  the  Gurdwara  Board  Sachkhand  Sri 
Hazur  Sahib,  Nanded,  constituted  in  1956,  and 
this  last  remnant  of  the  Sikh  Jami'at  faded  away. 

The  soldiers  of  the  Jami'at  preserved  their 
identity  as  Sikhs.  Each  ciiihaoru  of  the  Sikh 
Jami'at  had  its  own  gurdwara.  Although  most 
of  them  married  local  women  and  setded  down 
permanently  in  the  South,  they  brought  up 
their  children  as  Sikhs.  Later  they  intermarried 
among  themselves  and  among  other  families 
of  immigrant  Sikhs.  They  not  only  adop  >ted  the 
five  K's,  religious  symbols  of  the  Khalsa,  but 
also  carried  five  weapons  each,  viz.  two  pistols, 
a  sword,  a  dagger  and  a  musket  or,  later,  rifle. 
Moreover,  they  insisted  on  wearing  their 
traditional  dress  comprising  a  chola  (long 
cloak),  kachhahira  (drawers  reaching  down  to 
cover  the  knees),  and  chakkar  (sharp-edged 
quoits)  over  the  turban.  Foir  over  half  a  century 
they  resisted  the  government's  orders  to  put 
on  regulation  dress  of  the  Western  style.  It  was 
only  in  1912,  after  the  government  had 
accepted  their  demand  that  the  cost  of  the 
uniform  be  met  from  the  public  exchequer, 
that  the  Sikhs  of  the  Jami'at  agreed  ico  wear 
the  prescribed  dress.  Even  now  the  male 
descendants  of  the  Jami'at  and  other  Sikhs 
settled  in  the  former  Hyderabad  state  and 
collectively  known  as  Dakkhani  (  from  the 
Deccan)  Sikhs  are  recognizable  by  their 
unshorn  hair  and  kachhahiras  that  cover  their 
knees. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
Bingley,  Capt.  A.H.,  Sikhs-A  Handbook  for 
Indian  Army.  Calcutta,  1918 

N.S.A. 

SIKH  JOURNALISM,  tracing  its  beginnings  to 
the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
influenced  in  its  founding  and  evolution 
primarliy  by  two  factors  :  institution-building 


in  Sikhism  with  a  view  to  defending  itself  and 
restating  its  principles,  and  the  Sikhs' 
confrontation  with  the  aggressive  Arya  Samaj 
over  the  question  of  whether  the  Sikhs  were 
just  another  sect  within  Hinduism.  It  was  a 
period  when  the  Sikhs  faced  a  crisis  of  identity 
occasioned  by  a  strong  sense  of  militancy 
among  the  numerous  sects  and  religions  and 
a  concomitant  set  of  pressures  arising  from  the 
demands  of  modernization.  The  consequent 
attempts  at  revitalizing  the  community  resulted 
in  the  evolution  of  Sikh  journalism,  besides 
several  other  institutions  such  as  the  Singh 
Sabhas,  schools,  orphanages,  theological  study 
groups  and  ultimately,  in  1902,  the  Chief  Khalsa 
Diwan,  which  defended  Sikhism  and  reaffirmed 
Sikh  beliefs.  Thus  the  impetus  for  starting 
newspapers  and  magazines  came  from  the  need 
to  circulate  news  and  opinion  within  the 
community,  and  they  did  serve,  apart  from 
playing  an  important  role  in  communication 
and  mobilizing  Sikh  resources,  as  an 
instrument  of  warning  the  Sikhs  of  any  danger 
and  as  a  means  of  combating  the  claims  of 
opponents.  Although  not  the  first  to  appear, 
the  Sikh  periodicals  soon  outnumbered  those 
sponsored  and  patronized  by  other  groups,  and 
by  1912  approximately  thirty  journals  and 
newspapers  owned  by  and/or  concerned 
primarily  with  Sikh  affairs  had  appeared. 

Most  of  the  Sikh  periodicals  were  written 
either  in  Punjabi  or  Urdu.  They  were  weekly 
or  monthly  papers  with  sporadic  bulletins  and 
supplements.  All  of  them  had  almost  a  similar 
format-  a  page  of  scripture,  an  editorial,  a 
signed  article  on  a  subject  of  importance,  local 
news  and  a  column  of  letters  from  the  readers. 
Those  sponsored  by  an  institution  served, 
generally,  a  social  and/.or  religious  cause 
whereas  those  financed  and  sponsored  by  an 
individual  reflected,  alongside,  the  immediate 
concern  of  the  patron.  For  example,  the  Khalsa 
Dharam  Parkashak  Shuddhi  Pattar  (1896),  a 
monthly  paper  in  Gurmukhi  script  sponsored 
by  the  Lahore  Shuddhi  Sabha,  focussed  on 
conversions  and  missionary  efforts.  The  Dukh 


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Nivaran  (1906),  another  monthly  paper  in 
Punjabi,  was  sponsored  by  Mohan  Singh  Vaid 
and  served  as  a  means  of  advocating  the  use  of 
Gurmukhi.  Similarly,  Bhai  Takhat  Singh  started 
Pahjabi  Bhain  (1907)  to  propagate  women's 
education  and  improvement  of  family  life- 
ideas  so  dear  to  his  heart.  Several  Sikhs  rulers 
wned  or  heavily  subsidized  some  newspapers, 
journals,  and  these  papers  paid  particular 
interest  to  news  relating  to  the  patron's  state 
and  projected  his  viewpoint.  Nanak  Prakash 
Kapiirthala  (1887),  a  monthly  edited  by  Bawa 
Arjan  Singh  and  financed  by  the  Maharaja  of 
Kapiirthala,  was  one  such  paper.  Patiala  Akhbar 
(1880),  a  weekly  which  ran  until  the  early  1900's 
and  actively  supported  the  Council  of  Regency 
of  Patiala  state,  is  another  illustration  of  the 
close  link  between  newspapers  and  princely 
politics. 

Financial  uncertainty  accounted  for  the 
rapid  fall  of  Sikh  periodicals  prior  to  1900. 
Except  for  a  few  notable  papers,  journals 
usually  disappeared  within  two  or  three  years. 
Newspapers  ran  on  slim  budgets  and  since  the 
number  of  educated  Sikhs  was  relatively  small, 
they  had  limited  circulations  ranging  between 
100-500.  Accordingly,  when  interest  in  the 
cause  waned  or  when  circulations  dropped  off, 
the  papers  suspended  operations,  to  reappear 
again  if  circumstances  permitted. 

The  first  major  journal  which  devoted 
itself  to.  the  Sikh  cause  was  Aftab-i-Panjab,  a  bi- 
weekly publication  in  Urdu  begun  in  1866  by 
Diwan  Buta  Singh,  later  vice-president  of  the 
Lahore  Singh  Sabha,  who  encouraged  reform 
efforts  and  Sikh  creative  writings.  Althought 
the  regularity  of  publication  and  circulation  of 
the  paper  fluctuated,  it  reached  an  audience 
of  around  500.  The  Aftab-i-Panjab  had 
numerous  editorial  changes,  with  Sikhs, 
Hindus  and  Muslims  at  one  time  or  another 
heading  the  staff.  A  Muslim  editor,  Faqir 
Muhammad,  gave  leadership  at  an  early  stage 
in  the  paper's  history  (1872-1880).  The 
editorial  policy  of  the  newspaper  remained 
reasonably  consistent!  It  supported  cow 


protection,  mildly  criticized  British 
administration,  called  on  Sikhs  to  be  loyal  to 
the  government,  and  usually  sided  with 
attempts  to  remove  Hindu  accretions  from  the 
Sikh  faith.  Much  of  its  news  came  either  from 
cuttings  from  English  and  other  vernacular 
journals,  or  from  a  string  of  district 
correspondents.  The  newspaper's  experience 
points  to  another  feature  of  Sikh  journalism — 
the  interlocking  nature  of  publishing 
enterprises.  In  addition  to  printing  the  paper, 
the  Aftab-i-Pahjab  Press  produced  an 
assortment  of  Gurmukhi  books  on  various  Sikh 
matters  and  eventually  a  secondjournal,  Khalsa 
Prakash  ( 1 89 1 ) ,  a  weekly  Gurmukhi  paper,  with 
approximately  250  subscribers,  which  ran  until 
1899.  The  Aftab-i-Panjab  was  followed  by 
Akh  bar  Sri  Darbar  Sahib  which  was  started  from 
Amritsar  in  1867  by  two  Sahajdhari  Sikhs, 
MunshI  Hari  Narain  and  Phiraia  Lai.  This 
fortnightly  paper  was  perhaps  the  first 
newspaper  to  appear  in  Punjabi.  Besides  giving 
the  Sikh  and  the  national  news,  it  carried 
advertisements  from  big  commercial 
establishments,  too.  Since  Gurmukhi  type  was 
still  not  available  in  Amritsar,  it  was  printed 
from  hand-written  copy. 

The  fervour  and  dedication  surrounding 
the  Lahore  Singh  Sabha  generated  a  major 
series  of  newspapers  closely  associated  with  die 
local  organization.  Bhai  Gurmukh  Singh  (1849- 
1898),  a  Sikh  reformist  and  Professor  of 
Punjabi  at  the  Oriental  College  at  Lahore, 
founded  Vidya  Pracharak  and  Gurmukhi 
Akhbar  (1880)  in  order  to  foster  Sikh 
education  and  Punjabi  as  a  literary-  language. 
While  the  former  collapsed  soon,  the  latter  ran 
till  1895  and  widely  influenced  the  Sikh 
intelligentsia.  In  1883,  Gurmukh  Singh  joined 
with  Bhai  Jhanda  Singh  and  Bhai  Ditt  Singh  to 
establish  the  Khalsa  Press  and  Khalsa  Akhbar 
(1883),  a  weekly  newspaper  in  Punjabi.  With 
Ditt  Singh  and  Bhai  Mayya  Singh  as  editors, 
the  paper  became  the  chief  spokesman  for  the 
reformist  elements  within  the  community.  After 
suffering  a  temporary  setback  resulting  from  a 


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libel  suit,  the  paper  rebounded  and  built  up  a 
loyal  following  of  around  1,000  regular  readers. 
The  paper  ceased  publication  in  1905.  Some 
of  the  other  papers  of  this  period  were  Singh 
Sabha  Gazette  in  Punjabi  (1892),  Lyall  Gazette, 
VfcfyarJcin  Punjabi  (1881),  Gurmukhi  Akhbar 
(1880),  Ham dard-i-Ehalsa{  1899),  Khalsa 
Akhbar  (1883),  Khalsa  Bahadar  in  Urdu 
(1897),  Khalsa  Samachar  in  Punjabi  (1899), 
Panjab  Darpan  in  Punjabi  (1885),  Singh  Sabha 
Gazette  in  Punjabi  (1892),  and  Sri  Gurmat 
Parchar  in  Punjabi  (1892). 

By  the  turn  of  the  century,  literary  efforts 
and  news  coverage  had  become  an  essential 
part  of  the  public  life  of  the  Sikhs.  The  fiery 
prose  and  sensitive  issues  highlighted  by  Ditt 
Singh,  who  was  a  noted  scholar  and  revelled 
in  argument,  never  yielding  to  anybody  a  point 
in  polemics,  directly  affected  a  new  generation 
of  leaders  such  as  Bhai  Viir  Singh  and  Sundar 
Singh  Majithia  who  took  up  the  mantle  of 
reform  and  moved  forward  to  strengthen  Sikh 
institutions. 

The  Sikhs  were  now  moving  into  a  highly 
dynamic  phase  of  i  nstitution-building,  in  which 
education,  militant  defence  of  their  faith  and 
extensive  publication  received  prominence. 
Experience  gained  by  the  editors  and 
proprietors  and  increase  in  the  audience  which 
incidentally  also  meant  increase  in  income  as 
a  result  of  the  efforts  made  in  the  past  for  the 
spread  of  education  were  two  other  variables 
which  influenced  press  activism.  Besides, 
several  fresh  developments  occurred  almost 
simultaneously.  Amritsar  joined  Lahore  as  a 
nexus  for  Sikh  institutions  and  publication. 
Bhai  Vir  Singh  influenced  many  of  the  events 
which  underlay  the  evoludon  of  the  Amritsar 
enterprises.  Apart  from  providing  leadership 
to  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan,  he  set  up,  in 
1892,  the  WazIr-i-Hind  Press  which  became 
the  primary  source  for  Punjabi  literature 
during  the  coming  decades.  The  Press  took 
up  the  publication  of  innumerable  books 
and  tracts  on  Sikhism  many  of  which  were 
written  and  edited  by  Bhai  Vir  Singh  who,  in 


1894,  helped  found  the  Khalsa  Tract  Society 
in  order  to  produce  small,  cheap  volumes  on 
theology  and  social  topics.  Stadsdcs  from  the 
Society's  1902  report  indicate  that  it  had 
published  almost  200  ddes  and  distributed  half 
a  million  copies.  The  final  building  block  in 
Bhai  Vir  Singh's  effort  to  revitalize  Sikhism 
involved  the  creation  of  an  Amritsar-based 
newspaper.  His  Khalsa  Samachar  (1899) ,  which 
has  survived  to  this  day,  soon  became  a  rallying 
point  for  pan-Punjab  Sikh  activities.  Its 
editorials  and  detailed  news  reports  played  a 
major  role  in  spreading  Sikh  programmes  on 
a  unified,  regular  basis.  Another  important 
Sikh  newspaper  was  Panth,  a  fortnightly  in 
Punjabi,  issued  from  Gujrahwala  by  Lai  Singh. 
Two  more  newspapers  of  note  were  the  Bar 
(1907),  a  Punjabi  weekly  published  from 
Lyallpur  and  edited  by  Kirpal  Singh,  which  gave 
news  on  agrarian  problems,  besides  lobbying 
for  patronage  of  rural  Sikhs,  and  the  Ramgarhia 
Patrika,  a  Punjabi  weekly  published  from 
Lahore,  which  contained  caste  news  and  general 
commentary  on  social  reform  and  local  issues. 

English  language  journals  also  became 
quite  popular  in  Sikh  circles.  The  Khalsa 
(1899),  a  weekly  newspaper  in  English, 
founded  by  Bhagat  Lakshman  Singh, 
demonstrated  within  its  brief  span  of  a  litde 
more  than  two  years  the  Sikhs'  determinadon 
to  reach  not  only  the  Western-educated 
members  of  the  community  but  also  other 
Punjabis  and  Englishmen  who  did  not  read 
Punjabi.  In  1903,  a  group  of  Sikhs  headed  by 
Bhai  Jodh  Singh  established  another  English 
weekly,  The  Khalsa  Advocate  (1903). 
Acknowledged  as  one  of  the  most  important 
English-medium  newspapers,  it  gained  a 
circulation  of  over  1,000  and  served  as  a 
spokesman  for  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan,  leading 
discussions  on  current  Sikh  issues.  Another 
English  weekly,  published  by  Bhai  Sohan  Singh 
from  Gujrahwala,  was  The  Sikhs  and  Sikhism 
(1903). 

The  major  concerns  of  the  period, 
beginning  with  1860's  when  Sikh  journalism 


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164 


SIKH  JOURNALISM 


had  its  humble  beginning  and  ending  with  the 
turn  of  the  century,  were  rebuilding  Sikh 
identity  and  further  developing  Sikh  style  of 
life  and  organizadon.  During  this'period  Sikh 
journalism  moved  from  experimentation, 
uncertainty  and  the  survival  of  only  a  handful 
of  newspapers  to  a  new  plateau  characterized 
by  sustained  publication  and  an  accepted  role 
in  the  Sikh  life.  This  process  produced  an 
effective  news  and  propaganda  network  for  the 
Sikh  community. 

One  final  trend  appeared  in  the  early 
1900's  which  foreshadowed  a  major  redirection 
in  Sikh  journalistic  efforts.  Until  then,  Sikh 
commentators  had  generally  been  loyal  to  the 
British.  Newspapers  sometimes  criticized 
specific  official  actions,  but  always  in  a  subdued 
tone.  Constitutional  reform  and  the  spectre  of 
separate  electorates  based  on  sectarian 
affiliation  raised  questions  of  how  to  organize 
and  gain  political  influence.  Immediate  issues 
such  as  control  of  Sikh  institutions  (most 
importantly  the  internal  operation  of  the 
Khilsa  College  and  supervision  of  gurdwaras) 
brought  them  into  conflict  with  a  government 
hitherto  considered  benevolent.  The  natural 
consequence  was  polidcal  commentary  and  a 
crescendo  of  hostile  writing  on  British 
administration.  Leaving  aside  the  shrill  call  to 
revolution  of  G_hadr  writers  in  America,  the 
shift  in  emphasis  and  tone  of  Sikh  journalism 
did  not  occur  suddenly.  The  time-tested 
network  of  tract  societies  and  newspapers  stood 
ready,  and  when  the  dual  explosion  of 
Jalliahvala  Bagh  and  Guru  ka  Bagh  thrust  Sikhs 
into  a  new  era  of  political  experience,  Sikh 
journalism  came  to  the  forefront  making  a 
decisive  shift  from  self-criticism  and  socio- 
religious  discussion  to  active  political 
participation. 

A  new  breed  of  newspapers  arose  in 
response  to  the  needs  and  demands  of  the 
community.  Between  1922  and  1933,  at  least 
20  radical  Sikh  periodicals  waged  verbal  war 
against  the  British  government  and  opponents 
within  the  community.  Many  were  prosecuted, 


banned,  or  driven  out  of  circulation  by  heavy 
security  demand.  Others  managed  to  survive, 
primarily  because  of  their  widespread 
popularity  and  also  because  of  management's 
ability  to  keep  one  step  ahead  of  the  censor 
and  the  judicial  system.  The  Aka.li,  started  in 
1920,  and  its  various  associated  newspapers, 
symbolized  this  phase  of  militant  journalism. 

A  handful  of  Sikh  activists  founded  a 
series  of  newspapers  in  late  1922  and  early 
1923.  The  Urdu  Akali,  with  circulation  ranging 
from  2,000  to  10,000,  received  financial  aid 
from  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  and  published  a  crescendo  of 
denunciations  against  both  the  British  and 
anti-Sikh  forces.  Several  of  its  1924  numbers 
were  banned  and,  in  the  following  decade,  its 
various  editors  and  registered  proprietors 
underwent  as  many  as  twelve  trials  for 
publishing  sedition  or  creating  public 
disturbance.  Master  Tara  Singh,  a  prominent 
Akali,  was  acknowledged  as  a  major  force 
behind  the  paper.  He  also  was  associated  with 
a  Gurmukhi  version  of  the  Akali  and  its  sister 
concern,  Akali  te  Pardesi.  Almost  no  year 
passed  without  at  least  one  fresh  prosecution 
of  the  Akali  te  Pardesi  staff  and,  although 
security  demands  frequently  led  to  its 
temporary  suspension,  the  paper  kept 
emerging  with  new  registered  proprietors  and 
the  same  militant  message.  Sikhs  demanded 
control  of  their  institutions  and  political  future. 
The  Akali  and  similar  papers  such  as  Panth 
Sevak,  political  spokesman  for  Sikhs,  opposed 
the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan's  moderation.  The  anti- 
Akali  forces  developed  their  own  chain  of 
journals,  such  as  the  Sanatan  Sikh,  (  a 
Gurmukhi  weekly  from  Amritsar) ,  ?nd  the  Sikh 
Sudhar,  an  Urdu  journal  from  Amritsar  that 
supported  organizations  opposed  to  the  Akali 
Dal.  The  relatively  short  lives  of  such  papers, 
however,  mirrored  the  inability  of  publications 
to  continue  indefinitely  without  substantial 
support  from  the  Sikh  public. 

Although  radical  politics  and  polemics 
dominated  Sikh  journalism  during  the  1920's, 


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two  other  trends  were  also  apparent.  First,  the 
earlier  tendency  for  factions  and  organizations 
among  Sikhs  lo  publish  periodicals  continued 
and  even  intensified.  Niraftkaris,  Narndharis, 
and  organizations  deemed  heretical,  such  as 
the  Panch  Khalsa  Diwan  of  Bhasaur,  had  their 
organs  of  propaganda.  The  latter,  for  example, 
sponsored  the  Parlch  KhaJsa  Samachar  and  its 
successors,  while  the  Central  Malva  Khalsa 
Diwan  published  the  weekly  Kripan  Bahadur. 
Secondly,  the  diversity  and  numerous  activities 
among  Sikhs  led  to  the  appearance  of 
specialized  newspapers.  The  Gurdwara  Gazette, 
sponsored  by  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  focussed  on  news, 
elections,  and  administrative  arrangements 
within  Sikh  shrines,  while  several  papers,  such 
as  the  Gurmar,  a  weekly  Gurmukhi  newspaper 
owned  by  the  Gurmat  Tract  Society,  Lahore, 
tended  to  print  essentially  scriptural  and 
religious  articles.  Sikh  Brahmans,  Khatiris  and 
other  social  networks  had  newspapers,  with  the 
.most  voluminous  assortment  emanating  from 
the  Ramgarhla  community.  Between  1922  and 
1942,  at  least  ten  different  Ramgarhla  news- 
papers and  periodicals  appeard,  sometimes 
with  general  news  and  political  commentary, 
but  more  often  serving  as  a  channel  of 
communication  among  Ramgarhla  families.  A 
more  secular  and  cosmopolitan  approach  to 
journalism  could  be  found  in  two  new 
publications,  Mauji  and  Phulwari.  Mauji 
(1931),  a  Gurmukhi  weekly  published  first  in 
Amritsar  and  later  in  Lahore,  featured  satire, 
humour,  commentary,  and  critical  essays 
modelled  after  those  in  the  English  Punch. 
Phuiwan(1931),  a  monthly  specializing  in 
social,  literary  and  political  commentary, 
evolved  from  a  narrow  and  essentially  political 
focus  to  a  broad-based  journal  prominent 
among  educated  Sikhs  who  appreciated  its 
range  of  concerns.  Edited  by  Hira  Singh  Dard, 
Phu/wan  set  new  standards  of  Punjabi  prose 
and  served  as  a  major  sounding  board  for  Sikh 
intellectuals.  Some  of  the  most  important  essays 
by  Sikh  historians  and  theologians  were  first 


printed  in  Phulwari. 

Once  the  turmoil  surrounding  the  period 
of  reforms  subsided  in  approximately  1920, 
Sikh  journalism  entered  a  relatively  calm  phase 
of  growth.  Although  the  total  number  of 
journals  remained  relatively  stadonary,  in  the 
range  of  40  to  50  annually,  the  editors  and  tides 
of  periodicals  changed  frequently.  Many 
newspapers  appeared  briefly,  developed  a 
subscription  list  around  300  to  600,  stumbled 
financially,  and  then  either  disappeared  or 
merged  with  another  journal.  Important 
papers  such  as  the  KhaJsa  Samachar,  Fateh, 
Mauji,  Phulwari,  and  the  Khalsa  Sewak  (  a 
controversial  daily  from  Amritsar  with  the 
redoubtable  editor  and  politician  Giani  Sher 
Singh  at  its  back)  provided  continuity,  as  did 
specialized  ventures  such  as  Nirguniara, 
Gurdwara  Gazette,  and  an  assortment  of 
college  or  educational  magazines.  Most  Sikh 
papers  tended  to  be  in  Gurmukhi,  but  Urdu 
held  its  own  as  a  major  literary  language  for 
the  community.  In  1942,  some  of  the  Sikh 
newspapers  and  journals  in  Urdu  were  Ajit, 
Khalsa  VJr,  Gargajj,  Punjab  Gazette  and  Rajput 
Qaumi  Prakash.  The  longest-lived  and  most 
influential  Sikh  newspaper  in  Urdu  has  been 
the  Sher-i-Pahjab  which  after  1947  moved  to 
Delhi  and  is  still  in  existence.  While  Lahore 
and  Amritsar  served  as  publication  centres  for 
Sikhs  as  well  as  for  other  Punjabis,  Sikh 
journalists  and  presses  were  dispersed 
throughout  central  Punjab  in  district  towns 
such  as  Firozpur,  Ambala,  Ludhiana  and 
Jalandhar.  The  content  of  such  a  broad  network 
of  journals  varied  with  the  sponsoring  group 
(or  proprietor)  and  circumstances.  For 
example,  major  concerns  included  ongoing 
political  problems  (such  as  defence  of  Sikh 
interests  in  the  armed  forces,  the  census,  and 
elections),  social  issues,  and  special  incidents 
such  as  the  firing  at  SIsgahj  and  controversy 
over  the  Shahidgahj  Gurdwara.  Earlier 
preoccupation  with  Hindu  opponents  tended 
to  be  replaced  with  overt  conflict  with  the 
Muslim  majority  in  Punjab.  In  additon,  because 


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SIKH  STATES 


of  the  large  rural  and  agrarian  composition  of 
the  Sikh  population,  peasant  issues  received 
attention  either  in  editorials  or  in  the  form  of 
particular  journals  (  for  example,  Kirtj,  a 
Gurmukhl  and  Urdu  paper  affiliated  with  the 
Punjab  Communist  Party).  Propagation  of 
Punjabi  and  enrichment  of  Punjabi  literature 
also  constituted  common  themes. 

Indian  independence  and  consequent 
partition  of  the  country  in  1947  resulted  in  the 
dislocation  of  a  segment  of  Sikh  journals  and 
opened  yet  another  era  of  challenge  and 
change.  Sikh  newspapermen  adjusted  to  the 
altered  conditions  and  led  both  in 
rehabilitation  efforts  and  the  mounting 
demand  for  creation  of  a  predominantly  Sikh 
state.  The  journalists  and  publications  of  the 
community  thus  had  come  full  circle.  Sikh 
journalism  initially  had  arisen  in  response  to 
the  problems  of  defining  Sikhism  and 
protecting  Sikh  rights  and  institutions.  After 
1947,  the  same  concerns  once  again  came  to 
the  forefront  in  an  independent  India.  The 
success  of  Punjabi  Suba,  the  further 
legitimization  of  Punjabi  as  an  official  and 
literary  language,  and  the  strengthened 
foundation  of  the  Sikh  religion  owe  much  to 
the  vigorous  leadership  and  energy  of  a  vigilant 
press. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suba  Si iigh ,  Pahjabi  Pattarkari  da  Itihas. 
Chandigarh,  1974 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  Aspects  of  Punjabi  Literature. 
Firozpur,  1961 

3.  Barrier,  N.  Gerald,  The  Sikhs  and  Their 
Literature.  Delhi,  1970 

4.  —  and  Paul  Wallace,  The  Punjab  Press,  1880- 
1905.  East  Lansing,  1971 

N.G.B. 

SIKH  STATES.  Political  conditions  in 
eighteenth-century  India  fostered  the  rise  of 
diverse  contenders  for  power  and  the  creation 
of  new  forms  of  organization.  The  emergence 
of  Sikh-ruled  territorial  units  was  a  specially 


notable  development  during  this  period.  The 
Mughal  authority  was  withering  throughout 
India  and  it  had  many  ambitious  successors  in 
Punjab.  Besides  the  Mughal  agents  trying 
desperately  to  reassert  imperial  authority,  they 
included  Persians  led  by  Nadir  Shah,  Afghans 
having  the  backing  and  support  of  Ahmad 
Shah  Durrani,  some  Maratha  chieftains 
moving  northwards,  and  eventually  a  number 
of  European  freebooters  such  as  George 
Thomas.  In  this  political  maelstrom  where  they 
had  many  enemies  and  few  possible  allies,  the 
Sikhs  organized  themselves  for  self-protection 
into  jathas  or  small  armed  bands  and,  by  the 
mid-eighteenth  century,  into  a  confederacy  of 
twelve  misls.  Misl  as  a  word  means  a  rank,  file 
or  a  group  of  equals  and  in  actuality  it  was  a 
voluntary  army  recruited  from  a  political  area. 
Gradually,  the  misls  extended  their  protection 
and  domination  over  specific  tracts  in  return 
for  financial  considerations  and  came  to 
assume  a  position  of  political  sovereignty  over 
their  clients,  who  sometimes  were  not  Sikhs. 
Eleven  of  the  misls,  the  Ahluvalla,  Bhahgi, 
Dallevalia,  Faizullapuria  (Sihghpuria) , 
Kanhaiya,  Karorsihghia,  Nakai,  Nishanvalia, 
Ramgarhia,  Shahid,  and  the  Sukkarchakkia 
originated  in  the  Majha  area  or  the  Bari  Doab 
between  the  Beas  and  the  Ravi  rivers  while  the 
twelfth,  the  Phulkiah,  settled  in  the  Malva  area 
south  of  the  Sudej  river. 

In  January  1764,  the  Sikhs  crossed  the 
Sutlej  under  the  command  of  Jassa  Singh 
Ahluvalia  and  pushed  their  arms  up  to  Sirhind, 
accurst  from  its  association  with  the  execution 
of  the  two  infant  sons  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh. 
The  Afghan  governor,  Zain  Khan,  was  killed 
in  battle  and  the  town  given  up  to  plunder.  The 
Sikhs  now  had  a  free  run  of  the  country  and 
they  ranged  abroad  unchecked  obtaining  the 
surrender  of  far-flung  provinces.  In  the 
aftermath  of  the  campaign,  members  of  the 
Phulkiah  misl  soon  established  their  claims  to 
statehood.  They  included  Ala  Singh  of  Patiala, 
Hamir  Singh  of  Nabha,  Gajpat  Singh  of  Jind, 
and  Desu  Singh  of  Kaithal.  Some  of  the  trans- 


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167 


SIKH  STATES 


Sutlej  misls  also  gained  a  foothold  south  of  the 
Sutlej  from  the  spoils  of  conquest.  Many  misls 
had  their  most  extensive  expansion  during  the 
latter  decades  of  the  eighteenth  century,  but 
the  aggrandizement  increasingly  took  place  at 
the  expense  of  one  another  rather  than  from 
a  domestic  or  foreign  Muslim  overlord.  The 
almost  continuous  warfare  corroded  the  misl 
form  of  organization  and  weakened  the  ideal 
of  a  Sikh  commonwealth.  At  this  disheartening 
juncture  a  Sikh  sardarwith  a  broader  political 
vision,  Ranjit  Singh  of  the  Sukkarchakkia  misl, 
emerged.  In  1799,  he  entered  Lahore  and  then 
began  to  extend  outward  his  kingdom  of 
Punjab,  at  first  largely  with  the  estates  of  other 
Sikh  misldars  and  then  with  the  possessions  qf 
non-Sikhs.  In  the  trans-Sutlej  region,  the 
Shluvaha  state  of  Kapurthala  continued  in 
uneasy  existence  as  a  close  ally  of  Ranjit  Singh 
while  most  other  misls  became  extinct.  The  cis- 
Sutlej  Sikh  states  of  Patiala,  Nabha,  Jind, 
Kaithal,  Faridkot,  and  Kalsia  generally 
maintained  friendly  relations  with  the  gradually 
encroaching  Ranjit  Singh  but  slowly  began  to 
fear  his  ambition  despite  his  gifts  of  crumbs  of 
territory  from  his  nearby  annexations.  Several 
began  negotiations  with  the  rising  British 
power  to  the  south  and,  in  1809,  Patiala,  Nabha, 
Jind,  Kaithal,  Faridkot,  and  Kalsia  secured  their 
future  under  British  protection  in  return  for 
pledges  of  military  assistance  when  needed. 
Eventually  in  1826,  Sardar  Fateh  Singh  of 
Kapurthala  also  received  British  protection  for 
his  cis-Sutlej  estates  while  those  across  the  river 
remained  under  the  guarantee  of  Ranjit  Singh 
and  his  successors.  Meanwhile,  in  1843,  most 
of  the  Kaithal  state  escheated  to  the  British 
upon  the  death  without  issue  of  its  chief,  Bhal 
Udai  Singh. 

The  first  significant  test  of  the  alliance 
with  the  British  came  with  the  Anglo-Sikh  war 
in  1845-46.  When  confronted  with  the  demand 
to  support  a  foreign  power  against  brother 
Sikhs,  the  response  of  the  Sikh  states  varied. 
Patiala,  Jind,  Faridkot  and  Kalsia  promptly 
committed  their  resources  to  the  British  while 


Nabha,  Kapurthala  and  Ladva  hesitated  or 
fought  along  with  the  Khalsa.  The  loyalists  were 
rewarded  with  honours  and  grants  of  captured 
territory  while  the  others,  like  Ladva,  forfeited 
all  their  privileges  or  lost  part  of  their  territory 
like  Kapurthala  and  Nabha. 

In  1849,  the  British  formally  annexed  the 
kingdom  of  the  Punjab  and  all  the  trans-Sutlej 
misls  lost  their  remnants  of  political 
sovereignty,  though  not  necessarily  their  social, 
religious,  or  economic  prestige.  When  the 
British  were  next  challenged  militarily  in  the 
revolt  of  1857  the  conspicuous  aid  of  the  Sikh 
princes  was  most  helpful  in  holding  the  newly 
appended  Punjab  and  in  recovering  the 
historical  locus  of  imperial  authority  at  Delhi. 
Now  the  British  finalized  their  relationship  with 
their  Sikh  client  princes  for  the  next  century. 
Queen  Victoria  renounced  any  further 
annexation  and  later  granted  to  them  the  right 
to  adopt  heirs  so  that  none  of  them  would 
suffer  the  fate  of  Ladva  or  Kaithal.  Moreover, 
the  Phulkiah  rulers  of  Patiala,  Nabha,  and  Jind 
received  the  distinctive  boons  of  consultation 
in  the  selection  of  an  heir  from  the  Phulkiah 
family  if  any  one  qf  them  died  without  utilizing 
his  right  of  adoption  and  in  the  formation  of 
the  council  of  regency  when  one  of  their  states 
was  under  minority  rule.  More  immediate  signs 
of  favour  were  titles,  honorary  orders, 
remissions  of  tribute  payments,  monetary 
rewards  and  land.  Since  the  new  estates  were 
usually  confiscated  from  British  opponents, 
they  only  compounded  the  dispersion  of  state 
territories.  Kapurthala  received  estates  in 
Oudh,  and  Patiala,  Nabha  and  Jind  acquired 
districts  in  Haryana.  Until  1947,  the  Sikh  states 
of.  Patiala,  Nabha,  Jind,  Faridkot,  Kapurthala 
and  Kalsia  would  continue  as  internally 
autonomousislands  in  the  sea  of  British  Indian 
Punjab  and  would  serve  as  reservoirs  of  military 
personnel  and  material  whenever  the  British 
la/was  threatened  on  its  northwestern  frontier 
or  during  the  wars  in  China,  Africa,  and 
Europe. 

The  remarkable  longevity  of  these  Sikh 


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168 


SIKH  STATES 


states  may  be  attributed  to  their  geographical 
location  between  a  series  of  opposing  political 
forces  and  their  symbolic  role  and  value  as  a 
Sikh  political  power.  These  states  first  served 
as  a  buffer-between  the  Mughals  at  Delhi,  the 
invading  Marathas  and  the  Majha  Sikh  misls 
and  then  between  the  British  and  Ranjit  Singh. 

After  -India  became  independent,  all  the 
Sikh  states  were  grouped  together,  along  with 
the  Muslim  state  of  Malerkotla  and  the  Hindu 
state  of  Nalagarh,  to  form  the  Patiala  and  East 
Punjab  States  Union  (PEPSU).  In  1956,  PEPSU 
was  merged  with  East  Punjab  but  this 
consolidated  state  was  further  realigned  in  1966 
when  Punjab  and  Haryana  were  created  as 
separate  Punjabi  and  Hindi-speaking  units. 

The  states  whose  individual  histories  are 
delineated  in  the  following  section  are  referred 
to  as  Sikh  states  primarily  because  their  rulers 
were  Sikhs.  With  the  exception  of  Faridkot, 
they  never  contained  an  absolute  Sikh  majority 
population.  Like  the  British  Indian  province 
of  the  Punjab,  the  Sikh  states  registered  a  steady 
increase  in  Sikh  population  during  the 
twentieth  century.  In  the  premier  Sikh  state  of 
Patiala  a  comparison  of  the  census  figures  from 
1881  to  1931  reveals  that  the  Hindu  population 
declined  from  50.1%  in  1881  to  38.2%  in  1931 
and  the  Muslim  minority  remained  steady, 
being  21.9%  in  1881  and  22.4-%  in  1931. 

The  Sikh  princes  allied  themselves  with  a 
wide  spectrum  of  political  and  social  factions 
within  Sikh  revivalism  during  the  nineteenth 
and  twentieth  centuries.  The  first  Sikh  ruler  to 
be  involved  prominently  was  Raja  Bikram  Singh 
of  Faridkot.  He  participated  in  the  Amritsar 
Singh  Sabha  and  contributed  generously  to 
various  Sikh  educational  projects.  While  the 
Faridkot  Raja  supported  the  more  conservative 
Amritsar  Singh  Sabha,  Maharaja  Hira  Singh  of 
Nabha  and  Maharaja  Rajinder  Singh  of  Patiala 
sustained  Sikh  newspapers  which  were 
associated  with  the  rival  Lahore  Singh  Sabha. 
All  the  Sikh  princes  donated  substantially  to 
the  establishment  of  Khalsa  College  at  Amritsar 
and  were  rewarded  with  seats  on  the  college 


council  and  managing  committee  and 
honorary  posts  like  the  Chancellorship.  In  the 
twentieth  century,  the  heirs  of  Maharaja  Hira 
Singh  and  Maharaja  Rajinder  Singh,  Maharaja 
Ripudaman  Singh  of  Nabha  and  Maharaja 
Bhupinder  Singh  of  Patiala,  expanded  their 
involvement  in  Sikh  political,  religious,  and 
cultural  activities  but  also  used  these  spheres 
to  contest  their  state  and  personal  rivalries. 

PATIAIA  the  first  Sikh  state  to  acquire  symbols 
of  political  sovereignty,  eventually  outlasted  all 
of  its  formidable  rivals  to  emerge  as  the  premier 
Sikh  state  of  India.  In  1931,  its  population  of 
16,25,520,  its  area  of  5,942  square  miles  and  its 
annual  revenues  of  almost  one  and  a  half  crores 
were  more  than  the  combined  totals  in  these 
categories  of  the  other  five  Sikh  states  of  Jlnd, 
Nabha  Faridkot,  Kapurthala,  and  Kalsla.  Part 
of  its  prestige  was  also  attributable  to  its  leading 
position  in  the  Phulkiaii  misl  which  had  been 
fortuitously  located  between  the  advancing 
armies  of  Ranjit  Singh  and  the  British  East 
India  Company.  In  the  twentieth  century,  its 
prominence  had  been  further  enhanced  by  the 
ubiquity  of  father  and  son,  Maharajas 
Bhupinder  Singh  and  Yadavinder  Singh,  in 
Sikh  affairs  and  in  all-India  politics. 

The  Phulklah  misl  traced  its  ancestry  to 
Jaisal,  a  Bhatti  Rajput,  who  founded  Jaisalmer 
state  in  ad  1180.  Phul  (d.  1652),  from  whose 
name  the  Phulkian  house,  (Patiala,  Nabha, 
Jind),  derived  its  appellation,  was  the  fir.st 
member  of  the  family  to  come  into  recorded 
contact  with  Sikhism.  He  was  blessed  with 
power  and  plenty  by  Guru  Har  Rai,  the  Seventh 
Sikh  Guru,  during  his  travels  in  the  Malva.  Phul, 
whose  name  means  flower,  had  seven  sons  by 
two  wives.  The  first  was  Tilok  Singh  (Tiloka) 
who  was  the  ancestor  of  the  houses  of  Nabha 
and  Jind,  and  the  second  was  Ram  Singh 
(Rama)  who  was  the  forefather  of  the  rulers  of 
Patiala. 

Ram  Singh  and  Tilok  Singh  were  devoted 
disciples  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh  who  had  called 
upon  them  by  a  hukamnama  of  2  August  1696 


SIKH  STATKS 


169 


SIKH  STATKS 


for  a  detachment  of  cavalry  and  had  blessed 
their  houses  as  his  own-tera  ghar  rnera  asai. 
They  helped  Banda  Singh  Bahadur,  the  first 
Sikh  ruler  (1710-16),  with  men  and  money  in 
his  early  exploits.  Baba  Ala  Singh  (1696-1765), 
the  third  son  of  Rarn  Singh,  was  a  brave  soldier 
and  a  shrewd  politician,  and  was  successful  in 
carving  out  the  principality  of  Patiala.  During 
much  of  his  early  career,  he  was  engaged  in 
intermittent  warfare  with  the  Bhattis  and  the 
Afghans.  By  1732,  he  had  conquered  a  vast 
territory  around  Barnala  which  served  as  his 
headquarters.  In  the  forties  and  fifties  during 
the  Durrani-Mughal  clashes  in  the  Punjab,  Ala 
Singh  extended  his  hold  over  a  number  of 
villages  in  the  sarkar  of  Sirhind  and  had 
occupied  important  towns  like  Sunam,  Samana, 
Sanaur  and  Tohana.  In  1763,  he  laid  the 
foundation  of  Patiala  Fort,  the  present  Qila 
Mubarak,  around  which  Patiala  town  grew  up 
in  due  course.  Ala  Singh  was  a  close  associate 
of  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia  in  the  conquest  of 
Sirhind  in  1764,  and  purchased  the  town  from 
Bhai  Buddha  Singh  to  whom  it  was  assigned 
by  the  Khalsa.  Qazi  Nur  Muhammad  tells  us  in 
his  Jang  Naina  that  during  his  seventh  invasion 
(1764-65),  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  summoned 
Ala  Singh  to  his  presence,  treated  him  with 
respect  and  bestowed  upon  him  a  drum  and  a 
banner,  Tabl-o-'Alam,  as  insignia  of  royalty. 
Baba  Ala  Singh  died  in  August  1 765  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  grandson ,  Amar  Singh  ( 1 748- 
81 )  who  received  the  title  of  Raja-i-Rajgan  from 
the  Durrani  king.  He  formed  a  number  of 
alliances  and  fought  a  wide  variety  of 
opponents  and  so  expanded  Patiala  that  it 
became  the  most  powerful  state  between  the 
Jamuna  and  the  Sutlej.  After  his  death  in 
February  1781,  Maharaja  Amar  Singh  was 
succeeded.by  his  seven-year-old  son,  Sahib 
Singh  (1772-1813).  The  weak  administration 
of  the  minor  chief  encouraged  internal 
refractories  and  external  adventurers  to  expoit 
the  situation.  It  was,  however,  saved  by  his 
heroic  sister,  Bibi  Sahib  Kaur,  who  for  some 
time,  took  the  reins  of  the  government  into 


her  hands.  She  was  an  able  administrator  and 
a  brave  soldier.  It  was  through  her  personal 
dash  and  daring  that  she  was  able  to  save 
Patiala  and  its  neighbourhood  from  the 
Marathas  at  a  critical  moment  when,  in  1794, 
they  crossed  the  Jarnuna,  subdued  a  number 
of  small  chiefs  and  moved  in  the  direction  of 
Patiala.  After  Sahib  Kaur's  death,  the  real  power 
in  the  state  passed  on  to  Rani  As  Kaur,  the  wife 
of  the  Maharaja.  Like  Sahib  Kaur,  she  too  saved 
the  Patiala  state  from  extinction  in  its  critical 
years.  She  steered  the  administration  in  a  wise 
manner  during  her  husband's  last  years  and 
the  minority  of  her  son,  Karam  Singh  (1798- 
1845),  who  succeeded  his  father  in  1813. 
Maharaja  Karam  Singh  helped  the  British  in 
1814  in  opposing  the  Gurkha  expansion  in  the 
Punjab  hills  and  secured  a  large  tract  in  the 
Himalayan  foothills.  He  was  an  able  ruler  who 
not  only  set  his  own  house  in  order,  but  also 
made  up  the  mutual  differences  between  the 
Phulkiah  chiefs-Patiala,  Nabha  andjind,  and 
Bhai  Udai  Singh  of  Kaithal  by  an  agreement 
signed  at  Bhavanigarh  in  May  1834.  Maharaja 
Karam  Singh  paid  special  attention  towards 
Sikh  historical  places  and  saw  that  every  Sikh 
gurdwara  in  the  state  had  a  good  building  and 
a  proper  jagir  attached  to  it. 

Narinder  Singh  (1824-1862),  who 
succeeded  his  father  Karam  Singh  on  his  death 
in  1845,  aided  the  British  with  supplies  and 
carriage  during  the  first  Anglo-Sikh  war  and 
was  amply  rewarded  with  estates  from  Nabha 
and  a  house  from  Ladva.  Once  the  Sikh  Darbar 
at  Lahore  was  extinguished  in  1849,  the  Patiala 
ruler  came  to  be  acknowledged  as  a  political 
spokesman  for  the  Sikh  community.  Maharaja 
Narinder  Singh  cemented  his  alliance  with  the 
British  by  his  ready  support  of  guns,  carriage, 
loans,  and  troops  in  1857.  Once  again  Patiala 
was  compensated  with  new  titles,  honours, 
estates,  and  a  seat  on  the  newly  enlarged 
Viceroy's  Legislative  Council  (1862)  for  its 
ruler.  Maharaja  Narinder  Singh  was  a  great 
builder  and  also  a  patron  of  art  and  literature. 
He  set  up  in  1861  an  akhara  of  Nirmala  Sikhs 


SIKH  STATUS 


170 


SIKH  STATUS 


which  is  known  as  Dharam  Dhuja.  He  also 
raised  a  beautiful  gurdwara  at  the  site 
associated  with  the  visit  of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur- 
just  opposite  Motlbagh  Palace.  Narinder  Singh 
died  on  13  November  1862  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  ten-year-old  son,  Mohinder  Singh  (1852- 
76).  Maharaja  Mohinder  Singh  is  known  for 
his  patronage  of  learning,  works  of  public  utility 
and  for  measures  connected  with  the 
improvement  and  general  well-being  of  his 
people.  He  spent  millions  of  rupees  on  the 
Sirhind  Canal  project,  contributed  seventy 
thousand  rupees  to  the  University  College  in 
Lahore,  and  established  Mohindra  College  in 
Patiala  in  1875,  providing  free  education  to  all 
who  studied  in  that  college.  His  noble  work 
was  continued  by  his  son  Rajmder  Singh,  who 
ascended  the  throne  of  Patiala  after  his  father's 
death  in  April  1876  and  died  in  November  1900 
at  the  age  of  28. 

Bhupinder  Singh,  born  in  October  1891, 
was  only  nine  years  old  when  he  succeeded 
his  father.  He  developed  into  a  first  class 
sportsman,  an  astute  politician  and  an  able 
administrator,  and  it  was  he  who  was  mostly 
responsible  for  giving  Patiala  a  prominent  place 
on  the  political  map  of  India.  He  was  practically 
a  life-Chancellor  of  the  Chamber  of  Princes. 
He  attended  the-Imperial  War  Conference  in 
1918  as  a  representative  of  the  Indian  states. 
He  was  also  chosen  as  one  of  the 
representatives  of  the  Princes  for  the  Round 
Table  Conference  in  London  in  1930.  A  great 
patron  of  art  and  literature,  his  collections  of 
great  historical,  artistic  and  zoological  interest 
were  highly  admired  by  all  who  happened  to 
see  them.  His  efforts  for  the  development  of 
Punjabi  language  deserve  highest 
commendation.  He  was  the  only  prince  to  raise 
it  to  the  position  of  the  court  language.  It  was 
at  his  suggestion  that  the  Remingtons  invented 
the  Gurmukhi  typescript.  In  the  field  of  sports, 
Maharaja  Sir  Bhupinder  Singh  was  an 
international  figure  and  was  known  all  over  the 
world  for  his  polo  and  cricket. 

Maharaja  Sir  Yadavinder  Singh  (191 3-74) , 


who  succeeded  his  father  on  his  death  in  1938, 
had  his  education  at  Aitchison  College,  Lahore, 
and  was  an  enlightened  ruler  with  varied 
interests.  He  did  a  lot  for  the  welfare  of  his 
people  and  was  a  guiding  light  in  the  politics 
of  the  Princely  order.  He  became  the  Pro- 
Chancellor  of  the  Chamber  of  Princes  in  1943. 
He  took  a  leading  part  in  the  negotiations  with 
the  Cabinet  Mission  in  1946.  He  moulded  the 
views  of  the  ruling  Princes  in  line  with  the 
progressive  leaders  of  the  country.  His  greatest 
service  to  India  was  in  having  saved  it  from 
further  division  into  Hindustan  and  one  or 
more  Rajasthans  (in  addition  to  Pakistan).  He 
not  only  opposed  this  balkanization  of  India 
but  gathered  around  him  a  number  of  patriotic 
princes  and  strengthened  the  hands  of  the 
Indian  National  Congress  in  opposing  the 
machinations  of  anti-national  elements.  He 
himself  was  one  of  the  first  princes  who 
acceded  to  the  Union  of  India  and  helped  in 
integration  of  ihe  country  with  the  formation 
of  State  Union  on  the  lines  of  British  Indian 
provinces.  The  Covenant  of  Patiala  and  East 
Punjab  States  Union  was  signed  on  5  May  1948. 
Maharaja  Yadavinder  Singh  served  as 
Rajpramukh  of  PEPSU  until  1956  when  PEPSU 
and  Punjab  were  merged.  Patiala  city  then  lost 
its  place  as  a  capital  but  retained  certain 
institutions  like  the  Punjab  State  Archives  and 
gained  new  ones  like  the  National  Institute  of 
Sports  and  Punjabi  University. 

JIND,  one  of  the  Phulkiaii  states,  was  the 
creation  of  Gajpat  Singh  (1738-89)  who  was  the 
middle  son  of  Sukhchain  Singh  (d.  1751),  the 
younger  brother  of  Gurdit  Singh,  of  the  ruling 
family  of  Nabha.  In  1764,  Gajpat  Singh  joined 
the  Khalsa  Dal  underjassa  Singh  Ahluvalla  and 
took  part  in  the  conquest  of  Sirhind.  He  then 
seized  the  districts  of  Jind  and  Safidoii  and 
overran  Panipat  and  Karnal.  Unlike  other  Sikh 
chiefs,  he  continued  his  relation  with  the 
Mughal  court  in  Delhi  also  and  paid  revenue 
to  the  emperor.  He  obtained  the  title  of  Raja 
under  a  royal  far/nan  from  Emperor  Shah  Alam 


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II  in  February  1772.  From  this  time  Gajpat 
Singh  assumed  the  style  of  an  independent 
chief  and  coined  money.  He  was  on  war  with 
the  Nabha  chief  and  had  seized  Amloh, 
Bhadsoh  and  Sahgrur  in  1774.  Amar  Singh  of 
Patiala  and  chiefs  of  Bhahgi  and  Kanhaiya  misls 
compelled  him  to  relinquish  the  first  town  to 
Nabha  but  Gajpat  Singh  retained  Sahgrur 
which  eventually  became  the  capital  of  Jind 
state.  The  daughter  of  Raja  Gajpat  Singh,  Raj 
Kaur,  was  married  to  Mahah  Singh  of  the 
Sukkarchakkia  mis!  and  she  was  the  one  who 
gave  birth  to  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh. 

Gajpat  Singh  died  in  1789  and  was 
succeeded  to  the  gaddi  by  his  elder  son,  Bhag 
Singh  (1768-1819),  the  younger,  Kahvair  Bhup 
Singh,  taking  the  estate  of  Badrukkhah.  Like 
his  father,  Raja  Bhag  Singh  was  also  a  close  ally 
of  Patiala.  He  joined  the  Patiala  army  under 
Bibi  Sahib  Kaur  in  1794  against  the  Marathas, 
who  were  repulsed  by  her  from  Patiala  state. 
He  was  mainly  responsible  for  the  check  to  the 
advance  of  George  Thomas  towards  the  Sikh 
territories  and  later  on  of  General  Perron  of 
the  Maratha  service.  He  maintained  friendly 
relations  with  the  British  government  and 
accompanied  Lord  Lake  up  to  River  Beas  in 
pursuit  of  Jasvant  Rao  Holkar.  He  also  invited 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  to  settle  disputes  among 
the  Phulkiah  chiefs.  Awise  politician,  he  gained 
in  territory  both  from  the  British  and  the 
Maharaja. 

Raja  Bhag  Singh  died  in  1819  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Fateh  Singh.  Raja  Fateh 
Singh  died  in  1822  and  his  place  was  taken  by 
Sahgat  Singh  who  died  childless  in  1834.  Then 
followed  a  protracted  debate  among  the  British 
government  and  the  Phulkiah  chiefs  and 
jagirdars  over  whether  the  state  should  escheat 
to  the  British  and  who  had  the  best  claim  to 
succeed  if  it  did  not.  After  rejecting  the  claims 
of  Nabha  and  Patiala,  the  British  decided  in 
1837  in  favour  of  Sarup  Singh  (1812-64)  of 
Bazidpur  and  declared  that  he  would  inherit 
only  those  portions,  namelyjind,  Sangrur  and 
Safidoh,  which  had  been  acquired  by  Raja 


Gajpat  Singh  from  whom  he  claimed  descent. 
The  remainder  of  Jind  state  which  had  been 
received  as  grants  from  Ranjit  Singh  would  be 
divided  between  the  British  and  Ranjit  Singh 
with  the  former  taking  all  estates  granted 
before  the  treaty  of  1809  and  the  latter 
resuming  grants  made  afterwards.  It  was  by  this 
decision  that  the  British  obtained  Ludhiana. 
Raja  Sarup  Singh  was  very  tall  and  physically 
well-built.  Sir  lepel  Griffin,  writes  in  his  The 
Rajas  of  the  Punjab  :  "In  person  and  presence 
he  was  eminently  princely  and  the  stalwart  Sikh 
race  could  hardly  show  a  taller  or  stronger  man. 
Clad  in  armour,  as  he  loved  to  be,  at  the  head 
of  his  troops  there  was  perhaps  no  other  Prince 
in  India  who  bore  himself  so  gallantly  and 
looked  so  true  a  soldier."  Sarup  Singh  had 
cordial  relations  with  the  British  and  was 
rewarded  with  Dadri  in  Haryana,  and  thirteen 
more  villages  near  Sahgrur,  a  house  at  Delhi, 
and  an  eleven-gun  salute. 

Sarup  Singh  died  in  1864  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Raghbir  Singh  (1832-87) 
who  rebuilt  the  town  of  Sahgrur  on  the  model 
of  Jaipur.  He  helped  the  British  with  men  and 
money  during  the  secondAfghan  war  in  1878- 
80  and  was  rewarded  with  the  title  of  Raja-i- 
Rajgan  in  perpetuity.  Upon  his  death  in  1887, 
his  eight-year-old  grandson,  Ranbir  Singh 
(1879-1948)  succeeded  him  as  his  only  son, 
Balbir  Singh,  had  predeceased  him.  Ranbir 
Singh  was  invested  wi  th  ruling  powers  in  1899. 
Deaf  from  a  relatively  early  age,  Maharaja 
Ranbir  Singh  lived  until  1948  and  witnessed 
fifty  momentous  years  from  his  gaddi.  The 
Dhuri-Jakhal  and  Jlnd-Panipat  railway  lines 
were  laid  during  his  reign.  He  received  the  title 
of  Maharaja  in  1911.  Ranbir  Singh  died  early 
in  1948  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Rajbir 
Singh,  during  whose  time  the  Jind  state  joined 
the  Patiala  and  East  Punjab  States  Union. 

Jind,  which  consisted  of  the  three 
dispersed  nizamats  of  Sahgrur,  Jind  and  Dadri, 
ranked  second  among  the  Sikh  slates  in  area 
(1,299  square  miles)  and  population  (3,24,676 
in  1931).  Its  revenues  in  the  1930's  averaged 


SIKH  STATUS" 


172 


SIKH  STATES 


around  twenty-five  lakhs  annually  which  placed 
it  fourth  behind  Patiala,  Kapurthala  and 
Nabha,  and  reflected  the  arid  character  of 
Dadri,  the  largest  district  of  the  state,  near  the 
Rajasthan  desert.  Its  Sikh  population  was  only 
10%  of  the  total  in  1931  while  Hindus  and 
Muslims  were  75%  and  14%  respectively. 

NABHA  STATE,  founded  by  Hamir  Singh,  a 
descendant  of  Baba  Phul  through  his  eldest 
son,  Tilok  Singh  (d.  1687),  belonged  to  the 
Phulkiah  family.  Hamir  Singh  added 
considerably  to  the  estates  of  Kapurgarh  and 
Sahgrur  which  he  had  inherited  from  his 
grandfather,  Gurdit  Singh.  He  founded  the 
town  of  Nabha  in  1755.  In  1764  hejoined  Baba 
Ala  Singh  of  Patiala  and  the  Khalsa  Dal  in  the 
conquest  of  Sirhind  and  received  the  pargana 
of  Amloh  as  his  share  of  the  spoil.  He  then 
declared  his  independence  and  exercised  the 
right  of  coining  money. 

On  his  death  in  December  1783,  Hamir 
Singh  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Jasvant  Singh, 
under  the  guardianship  of  his  stepmother,  Rani 
Deso,  a  very  resourceful  woman.  Rani  Deso 
secured  the  military  aid  of  her  son-in-law,  Sahib 
Singh  Bhahgi  of  Gujrat,  and  Jai  Singh  of  the 
Kanhaiya  misl,  and  recovered  much  of  the 
territory  thai  had  been  seized  by  Raja  Gajpat 
Singh  of Jind.  Rajajasvant  Singh  improved  his 
relations  with  the  Jind  chief  and  succeeded  in 
checking  the  exploits  of  the  Irish  adventurer, 
George  Thomas,  with  the  help  of  General 
Perron  of  the  Maratha  service.  He  entered  into 
an  alliance  with  Lord  Lake  in  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century  and  was  formally  taken 
under  British  protection  in  May  1809.  He 
helped  the  British  in  the  Gurkha  war  in  1814 
and  also  in  the  Kabul  campaign  in  1838. 

Jasvant  Singh  in  1840  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  Raja  Devinder  Singh  (1822-65). 
During  the  first  Anglo-Sikh  war  of  1845-46, 
Devinder  Singh  whose  sympathy  was  with  the 
Lahore  Darbar  did  not  help  the  British  and,  in 
consequence  of  his  conduct,  nearly  one-fourth 
of  his  possessions  were  confiscated  and  he  was 


removed  from  his  state,  the  succession  passing 
to  his  eldest  son,  Bharpur  Singh,  then  a  boy  of 
seven  years.  Bharpur  Singh  who  helped  the 
British  in  the  suppression  of  the  mutiny  of  1 857 
was  rewarded  with  the  grant  of  the  division  of 
Bawal  and  Kanti,  with  permission,  later  on,  to 
purchase  a  portion  of  Kanaud  sub-division  of 
Jhajjar.  Like  other  Phulkiah  chiefs,  he  was 
granted  the  right  of  adoption  ,  the  power  of 
life  and  death  over  his  subjects  and  the  promise 
of  non-interference  by  the  British  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  his  state.  On  his  death  in 
1863,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  Bhagvan 
Singh,  who  too  died  eight  years  later,  leaving 
no  son.  As  there  was  no  near  relative  to  claim 
the  gaddi  of  Nabha,  Hira  Singh  of  the 
Badrukkhah  branch  of  the  Phulkiah  family  was 
selected  in  1871  by  the  two  Phulkiah  chiefs  of 
Patiala  and  Jind  and  a  representative  of  the 
British  government  to  be  the  ne«'  ruler. 

Maharaja  Sir  Hira  Singh  (1843-1911) 
ruled  for  forty  years  and  did  much  to  improve 
the  image  of  Nabha  with  the  British  and  the 
Sikh  community.  His  contribution  of 
contingents  of  state  troops  to  fight  in  most  of 
the  major  frontier  campaigns  was  duly 
rewarded  by  the  British  government  with  many 
honours  including  the  hereditary  titles  of  Raja- 
i-Rajgan  and  Maharaja.  Maharaja  Hira  Singh 
contributed  to  the  establishment  of  the  Khalsa 
College  at  Amritsar,  and  patronized  liberally 
Max  Arthur  Macauliffe  to  write  his 
monumental  work,  The  Sikh  Religion.  He  died 
in  1911  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Ripudaman  Singh. 

Maharaja  Ripudaman  Singh  (1883-1942) 
was  a  wide-awake  ruler.  As  Tikka  Sahib  or  heir 
apparent,  he  was  appointed  to  the  Imperial 
Legislative  Council  and  there  gained  a  certain 
reputation  as  a  sympathizer  with  Indian 
nationalism.  Some  disputes  between  the  rulers 
of  Patiala  and  Nabha  enabled  the  British  to 
intervene  and  Maharaja  Ripudaman  Singh  was 
made  to  abdicate,  in  July  1923,  the  Nabha  gaddi 
in  favour  of  his  minor  son,  Pratap  Singh.  His 
abdication  accelerated  an  Akali  campaign 


SIKH  STATUS 


173 


SIKH  STATES 


protesting  first  that  the  British  had  forced  him 
to  leave  and  then  that  state  troops  under  British 
direction  had  interrupted  the  nkhand  path  of 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  at  Jaito.  The 
administration  of  the  state  during  Pratap 
Singh's  minority  was  entrusted  to  an 
administrator  appointed  by  the  Government 
of  India.  Maharaja  Pratap  Singh  assumed  full 
powers  in  1938  and  ruled  the  state  up  to  August 
1948,  when  it  was  merged  into  the  Patlala  and 
East  Punjab  States  Union  (PEPSU). 

Nabha  was  the  third  largest  Sikh  state  with 
947  square  miles  of  territory  and  had  the  same 
rank  in  revenues  which  were  about  twenty-eight 
lakhs  but  its  population  in  1931  was  2,87,574 
and  it  ranked  fourth  behind  Paliala,  Jind  and 
Kapiirthala.  The  religious  composition  of  its 
population  in  1931  was  46%  Hindu,  34%  Sikh 
and  20%  Muslim.  The  state  had  three  nizainats, 
Phiil,  the"  tract  most  directly  influenced  by 
Sikhism  and  the  centre  of  the  Jatt  Sikh 
population,  Aniloh,  the  most  fertile  area,  and 
Baval,  the  sandy  appendage  whose  Hindus  and 
Hindustani  reflected  its  position  in  southwest 
Haryana. 

KM'UKTl  IA1.A,  the  only  Sikh  state  which  survived 
north  of  the  Sutlej  until  1947,  was  founded  by 
Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia  (1718-83),  a  prominent 
leader  of  the  Sikhs  during  die  eventful  years 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  jassa  Singh  was  the 
right-hand  ifi-an  of  Nawab  Kapur  Singh  in  the 
organization  of  the  Dal  Khalsa  and  he  took  a 
leading  part  in  the  Sikh  struggle  against  the 
Mughal  governors  of  the  Punjab,  Zakariya 
Khan,  Yahiya  Khan  and  Mir  Mannu.  In  March 
1758,  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia  led  the  Sikhs  against 
Sirhind  when  it  was  captured  by  the  joint  forces 
of  the  Sikhs  and  the.  Marathas,  and  also  when 
they  occupied  Lahore  a  month  later  Although 
Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  re-established  his 
influence  in  the  winter  of  1759,  defeated  the 
Marathas  at  Panipat  in  1761  and  inflicted  a 
heavy  loss  upon  the  Sikhs  in  February  1762, 
the  Sikhs  under  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia  rose 
against  him  and  in  1764  conquered  Sirhind. 


In  1774,  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia  after  defeating 
the  Bhatti  chief,  Rai  Ibrahim,  acquired  the 
present  town  of  Kapiirthala  and  made  it  the 
capital  of  the  Ahluvalia  family.  By  thejuirne  of 
his  death  in  1783,.  he  had  obtained  a  vast 
territory  around  present-day  towns  of 
Kapiirthala  and  Sultanpur  Lodlri. 

Asjassa  Singh  died  in  1 783  without  a  male 
issue,  the  succession  passed  on  to  his  second 
cousin,  Bhag  Singh  (1745-1801),  son  of  Laddha 
Singh,  He  ruled  the  state  for  eighteen  years 
and  was  succeeded  on  his  death  in  1801  by  his 
son,  Fateh  Singh  (1784-1836).  A  great  friend 
of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh's,  Fateh  Singh 
entered  into  offensive  and  defensive  alliances 
with  him  shortly  after  his  father's  death,  but 
was  rather, quickly  demoted  from  the  position 
of  bqual  "to  that  of  a  subordinate  partner. 
Participating  in  many  of  Ranjit  Singh's 
expeditions  and  military  campaigns,  Fateh 
Singh  gained  estates  scattered  on  both  sides 
of  the  Sutlej  from  his  ally.  In  1826,  he  sought 
British  protection  for  his  cis-Sutlej  estates.  On 
his  death  in  1836,  Fateh  Singh  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Nihal  Singh  (1817-52).  Kapiirthala 
state  had  a  number  of  parganas  to  the  south 
of  the  River  Sutlej.  The  British  expected  Nihal 
■Siiigh  to  ally  himself  actively  with  them  against 
the  Sikh  Darbar  during  the  Anglo-Sikh  war  of 
1845-46.  This  he  could  not  afford  to  do  as  his 
main  territory  lay  to  the  north  and  Lahore-side 
of  Sutlej.  The  result  was  that  he  lost  his  cis- 
Sutlej  estates  and  had  to  pay  an  annual  tribute 
of  1,38,000  rupees  to  retain  his  other  estates. 

Nihal  Singh  died  in  1852  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  Randhir  Singh 
(1831-70),  whose  valuable  services  to  the  British 
during  the  mutiny  of  1857  were  rewarded  with 
the  title  of  Raja-i-Rajgan,  the  right  of  adoption 
and  other  concessions,  and  addition  to  his  state 
of  some  territories  in  the  United  Provinces  of 
Agra  and  Oudh.  He  died  at  Aden  in  1870  on 
his  way  to  England.  His  son,  Raja  Khaiak  Singh 
(1850-77),  reigned  for  seven  years  and  on  his 
death,  in  1877,  was  succeeded  by  his  five-year- 
old  son,  Jagatjit  Siiigh  (1872-1949),  who  was 


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174 


SIKH  STATES 


invested  wilh  full  powers  of  administration  in 
November  1890,  and  who  received  the  title  of 
Maharaja  in  1911.  He  developed  into  a  great 
scholar  and  traveller  and  was  one  of  the  most 
cultured  princes  of  his  day.  He  took  keen 
interest  in  the  prosperity  of  his  state  and  made 
Kapurthala  a  city  of  beautiful  palaces  and 
gardens.  On  the  lapse  of  British  paramountcy 
in  August  1947,  the  Kapurthala  state  acceded 
to  the  Indian  Union  andjoined  the  Patiala  and 
East  Punjab  States  Union  (PEPSU)  on  its 
formation  in  1948,  with  His  Highness  Maharaja 
Sir  Jagatjit  Singh  as  its  Up-Rajpramukh. 
Maharajajagatjit  Singh  was  one  of  the  two  most 
widely  travelled  Indians  of  his  day  and  India 
was  best  known  to  the  outside  world  by  these 
two  names,  i.e.  Mahatma  Gandhi  and  Maharaja 
Jagatjit  Singh  of  Kapurthala.  In  a  number  of 
capitals  of  the  world,  the  Maharaja  received  a 
singular  honour,  i.e.  a  standing  ovadon  by  those 
present.  He  died  in  1949  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  Paramjit  Singh  (1892-1955),  who 
was  in  turn  succeeded  by  his  son  Sukhjlt  Singh 
(b.  1934). 

Though  its  area  was  oiily  599  square  miles 
and  thus  fifth  among  Sikh  states,  Kapurthala 
was  situated  in  fertile,  well  watered  tracts  and 
supported  a  population  of  3,16,757  in  1931  and 
enjoyed  annual  revenues  around  thirty-three 
lakhs,  including  its  Oudh  estates.  Its  location 
might  have  influenced  its  population  as 
Muslims  constituted  57%  while  Sikhs  were  23% 
and  Hindus  17%.  It  was  divided  into  five  tahsils 
of  Kapurthala,  Dhilvari,  Bholath,  Phagwara  and 
Sultanpur  Lodhl,  and  Punjabi  was  the  language 
of  most  of  its  inhabitants. 

FARIDKOT  STATU.  The  ruling  house  of  Faridkot 
claimed  descent  from  Brar,  the  seventeenth  in 
line  fromjaisal,  the  Bhatti  Rajput,  from  whom 
the  Phulkiaii  rulers  and  the  Bhals  of  Kaithal 
also  traced  their  ancestry.  Brar  has  lent  his 
name  to  the  t  ribe  of  the  Brarjatt  Sikhs  to  which 
the  Faridkot  family  belongs.  He  was  a 
contemporary  of  the  Lodhis,  and  Sahghar,  a 
descendant  of  his,  of  the  Mughal  emperors, 


Babar  and  Humayuii.  Sahghar  is  said  to  have 
helped  Humayuii  in  his  final  victory  against 
Sikandar  Shah  Sur  in  1555.  His  son,  Bhallan, 
was  a  contemporary  of  Akbar,  and  was  always 
in  armed  conflict  with  the  Bhattis.  Bhallan  is 
said  to  have  served  Guru  Hargobihd  in  one  of 
his  battles  against  the  Mughals  and  received 
his  blessings.  He  had  no  male  issue  and  was 
succeeded  on  his  death  in  1643  by  his  nephew, 
Kapura  (1628-1708),  son  of  Lala.  During  his 
long  life,  Kapura  had  the  rare  honour  of 
serving  Guru  Har  Rai  and  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
during  their  travels  in  his  part  of  the  country. 
He  was  a  brave  man  and  soon  succeeded  in 
consolidating  the  family  possessions.  He 
founded  the  town  of  Kot  Kapura  in  1661. 
Kapura  received  the  pahul  or  the  rites  of  Khalsa 
initiation  at  the  hands  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
and  came  to  be  known  as  Kapur  Singh.  He  was 
killed  by  'Isa  Khan  Mahj  who,  in  turn,  fell  at 
t<he  hands  of  his  revengeful  sons.  Kapur  Singh 
was  succeeded  by  son  Sukhia  Singh,  who  was 
followed  in  1732  byjodh  Singh.  The  latter  had 
strained  relations  not  only  with  the  Patiala  chief 
but  also  with  his  own  brothers,  Hamir  Singh 
and  Bir  Singh,  who  complained  against  him  to 
the  leaders  of  the  Khalsa  Dal.  Jassa  Singh 
Ahluvalia  andjhanda  Singh  Bhahgi  brought 
about  a  compromise  among  the  brothers. 

Hamir  Singh  (d.  1782)  succeeded  his 
brother  Jodh  Singh's  son,  Tek  Singh.  He  built 
the  fort  of  Faridkot  and  made  it  his  capital. 
His  son,  Mohar^ihgh  (d.  1798)  was  deposed 
by  Charhat  Singh  (d.  1804),  who,  in  turn,  was 
attacked  and  slain  by  his  uncle,  Dal  Singh.  And 
Dal  Singh  was  assassinated  by  a  cousin,  Fauja 
Singh,  who  acted  as  the  guardian  of  the  minor 
chief,  Gulab  Singh,  son  of  Charhat  Singh.  The 
territory  of  Faridkot  was  invaded  and  occupied 
by  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  in  1807.  It  was 
restored  to  Gulab  Singh  two  years  later  in 
consequence  of  the  Maharaja's  treaty  of  1809 
with  the  British.  Gulab  Singh  was  murdered  in 
November  1826  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
young  son,  Atar  Singh  who  died  soon 
afterwards  in  August  1827.  Pahar  Singh,  who 


SIKH  STATES 


175 


SIKH  STATKS 


succeeded  Atar  Siiigh  was  succeeded  by  his 
son,  Wazlr  Singh  who,  like  other  chiefs,  placed 
his  resources  at  the  disposal  of  British 
government  for  the  suppression  of  the  mutiny 
of  1 857  and  was  duly  rewarded  for  his  loyalty. 
He  died  in  April  1874  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son,  Bikram  Siiigh. 

A  dominant  figure  i:n  Faridkot  history, 
Raja  Bikram  Siiigh  gave  a  good  administration 
to  the  state.  He  beautified  the  town  of  Faridkot 
with  stately  palaces  and  gardens^and  encouraged 
his  people  in  agriculture  and  trade.  He  also 
played  a  significant  role  in  the  organization 
of  the  Amritsar  Khalsa  Diwan.  It  was  he  who 
took  elaborate  steps  to  get  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  translated  into  Punjabi  prose  with  the 
help  of  a  band  of  devoted  Sikh  scholars  headed 
by  Bhai  Badan  Siiigh.  He  also  gave  liberal 
grants  for  the  lahgar  at  Darbar  Sahib,  Amritsar, 
and  electrification  of  the  Golden  Temple. 

Raja  Balbir  Singh  (1869-1906)  succeeded 
his  father,  Bikram  Singh,  in  1898,  and  ruled 
for  only  eight  years  before  being  succeeded  by 
his  adopted  son,  Brijindar  Singh,  who  was 
formally  installed  in  March  1906.  Brijinder 
Singh  earned  the  title  of  Maharaja  by  his  whole- 
hearted support  for  the  British  during  the  First 
World  War.  Maharaja  Harinder  Siiigh  (1915- 
1989),  the  last  autonomous  Faridkot  prince, 
was  educated  at  Aitchison  College,  Lahore,  as 
his  father  had  been.  He  was  invested  with  full 
ruling  powers  in  October  1934.  He  assiduously 
devoted  himself  to  the  economic  prosperity  of 
the  state  and  educational  advancement  of  his 
people.  On  the  declaration  of  Indian 
independence,  Faridkot  acceded  to  the  Union 
of  India  andjoined  the  Patiala  and  East  Punjab 
State  Union  (PEPSU)  on  its  formation  in  1948. 

With  an  area  of  638  square  miles,  Faridkot 
was  divided  into  two  tahsils  of  Faridkot  and  Kot 
Kapura,  lying  between  Patiala  slate  and 
Firozpur  district.  Its  annual  revenues  during 
the  1930's  were  about  eighteen  lakhs  and 
ranked  fifth  among  the  Sikh  states.  Still 
Faridkot  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  only 
Sikh  state  in  which  Sikhs  had  an  absolute 


majority  by  1931.  In  that  year  they  constituted 
57%  of  the  population  while  Hindus  were  only 
12%  and  Muslims  were  30%. 

KALSIA  STATE,  originally  forming  part  of  the 
territories  of  the  Karorsihghia  misl  founded  by 
Shiam  Siiigh  of  Narli,  and  later  on  consolidated 
by  Karora  Siiigh  of  Bark!  who  lent  his  name  to 
it.  After  Karora  Singh's  death  in  the  battle  of 
Taraori  in  1761,  he  was  succeeded  by  Baghel 
Singh  of  Jhabal  who  greatly  extended  his 
exploits  and  territories,  both  to  the  north  and 
the  south  of  the  Sutlej  with  his  headquarters 
at  Hariana  in  Hoshiarpur  district,  and 
Chhalaudi  in  Karnal  district.  A  prominent 
companion  of  Baghel  Singh  was  Gurbakhsh 
Siiigh,  a  Sandhujatt  of  the  village  of  Kalsia  in 
Kasur  tahsll  of  Lahore  district,  now  in  Pakistan. 
When  the  Sikhs  conquered  Sirhind  and 
occupied  its  territories  in  1764,  Gurbakhsh 
Singh  also  shared  the  exploits  and  conquests 
of  the  Karorsihghia  misl  and  occupied  the 
parganas  of  Chhachhrauli,  Sialba,  etc. 
Gurbakhsh  Siiigh  left  his  son,  Jodh  Singh,  at 
Chhachhrauli  and  himself  settled  down  at 
Banbeli  in  Hoshiarpur  district,  where  he  died 
in  1775.  The  state  formed  around 
Chhachhrauli  came  to  be  called  Kalsia  after  the 
ancestral  village  of  the  founders.  Jodh  Singh 
made  considerable  additions  to  his  otherwise 
small  principality  of  Kalsia.  After  the  death  of 
Baghel  Siiigh  in  1802,  Jodh  Singh  succeeded 
to  the  leadership  of  the  misl.  In  1807,  hejoined 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Siiigh  in  the  latter's  attack  on 
Naraingarh  in  Ambala,  and  later  fought  for  him 
in  many  a  battle  in  the  Punjab.  The  Maharaja 
granted  him  the  tract  of  Garhdivala,  in 
Hoshiarpur  district,  as  a  reward  for  his  services. 
Jodh  Singh's  possessions  at  the  height  of  his 
power  are  said  to  have  yielded  him  over  five 
lakhs  annually.  He  died  at  Multan  in  1818  of 
wounds  received  in  the  battle,  and  his  son, 
Sobha  Siiigh,  succeeded  him  who  ruled  the 
Kalsia  state  for  forty  years  until  his  death  in 
1858.  Sobha  Singh's  son,  Lahina  Siiigh,  who 
•died  in  1869,  and  was  followed  in  the  chiefship 


SIKH  STATT'.S 


176 


S1K1I  STATKS 


by  his  son,  Bishan  Siiigh  (d.  1883)  and 
grandsons  Jagjit  Siiigh  (d.  1886)  and  Ranjit 
Singh  (d.  1908). 

The  chief  figure  in  Kalsia  during  the 
twentieth  century  was  Raja  Ravi  Sher  Siiigh 
(1902-47)  who  succeeded  his  father  Ranjit 
Siiigh,  on  the  gaddi  in  1908.  During  his 
minority,  a  council  of  three  ministers 
administered  the  state  and  completed  the  land 
settlement  in  1915.  Placing  the  entire  resources 
of  the  state  at  the  disposal  of  the  British  during 
World  War  I,  the  council  earned  the  title  of 
Raja  for  its  ruler  in  1916.  Like  many  of  his  fellow 
Sikh  princes,  Raja  Ravi  Sher  Siiigh  was 
educated  at  Aitchison  College  and  travelled 
abroad  before  being  invested  with  ruling 
powers  in  1922.  Though  Kalsia  was  the  only 
Sikh  state  not  accorded  a  salute  and  therefore 
not  eligible  for  membership  in  its  own  right  in 
the  Chamber  of  Princes,  Ravi  Sher  Siiigh  did 
serve  as  a  representative  member  of  non-salute 
states  in  the  Chamber  of  Princes  from 
November  1924  to  March  1933.  When  Raja 
Ravi  Sher  Siiigh  died  in  1947,  he  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  Raja  Karan  Sher  Siiigh  (1931-61), 
who  had  been  educated  at  the  Doon  School. 
Maharaja  Yadavinder  Siiigh  of  Patiala  served 
as  regent  for  the  teenage  prince.  The  Kalsia 
state  acceded  to  the  Indian  Union  on  the  lapse 
of  British  paramountcy  in  August  1947  and 
joined  the  Patiala  and  East  Punjab  States  Union 
(PEPSU)  in  1948.  The  town  of  Kalsia  and  a 
number  of  small  enclaves  were  tranferred  to 
Punjab  and  Himachal  Pradesh  in  1950  in 
exchange  of  territories  taken  over  by  PEPSU 
from  these  states. 

Kalsia  was  the  smallest  of  the  Sikh  states 
with  an  area  of  192  square  miles,  annual 
revenue  of  about  four  lakhs  in  the  1930's  and 
a  population  of  59,848  in  1931,  which  included 
48%  Hindus,  36%  Muslims  and  15%  Sikhs. 
Prior  to  1857,  Kalsia  had  lost  its  trans-Sutlej 
estates,  so  that  it  came  to  be  centred  in  Ambala 
district  in  the  two  tahsils  of  BasI  and 
Chhachhrauli,  with  an  isolated  tract  at  Chirak 
in  Firozpur  district. 


KAITHAI.  ruling  family  descended  from  Bhal 
Bhagatu,  a  revered  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru 
Arjan,  and  claimed  the  same  Bhatti  Rajput 
origin  as  did  the  Phulkiaii  misl.  One  of  Bhal 
Bhagatu 's  descendants,  Gurbakhsh  Siiigh,  son 
of  Bhal  Ram  Dial,  who  had  gained  renown  as  a 
holy  man,  was  a  frequent  ally  of  Baba  Ala  Siiigh 
of  Patiala  in  the  latter's  conquests.  Upon  his 
death  in  1764,  his  five  sons,  divided  their 
father's  estates  among  themselves.  Desu  Siiigh 
who  was  widely  recognized  as  the  most 
powerful  of  the  Bhais  or  brothers,  established 
an  independent  principality  at  Kaithal 
sometime  between  1764  and  1768.  His  son,  Lai 
Siiigh,  personified  the  stereotype  of  the 
defiant,  ambitious  younger  son. In  prison  for 
rebellion  at  the  death  of  his  father  in  1781,  Lai 
Siiigh  managed  to  escape,  to  eliminate  his  elder 
brother,  and  to  expand  widely  his  possessions. 
When  in  1809  the  state  became  a  protected 
state  under  the  British,  Lai  Siiigh,  enjoying 
revenues  of  two  and  a  quarter  lakhs,  ranked 
second  to  the  Maharaja  of  Patiala,  who  had 
revenue  of  six  lakhs  while  Nabha  was  third 
among  the  Phulkiaii  sa.rda.rs  with  revenues  of 
one  and  a  half  lakhs.  After  reaching  this 
pinnacle  the  fortunes  of  Kaithal  rapidly 
declined.  The  last  sardar,  Bhal  Udai  Siiigh,  had 
been  bedridden  for  several  years  prior  to  his 
death  on  15  March  1843.  For  much  of  his  last 
decade,  there  were  frequent  raids  on  the 
Patiala-Kaithal  border  which  became  a  no- 
man's  land  of  deserted  villages.  However  it  was 
Bhal  Udai  Siiigh,  who  had  patronized  the  great 
poet,  Bhal  Santokh  Singh,  who  wrote  the 
famous  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth, 
monumental  history  in  verse  of  early  Sikhism. 
Bhal  Udai  Siiigh  died  without  issue  and  the 
chiefship  and  part  of  the  territory  worth  about 
one  lakh  annually  devolved  to  a  collateral,  Bhal 
Gulab  Siiigh  of  Arnauli  while  the  major  part 
of  die  state  which  earned  about  four  lakhs 
annually  and  included  the  town  of  Kaithal 
escheated  to  the  British.  Kaithal  became  a 
district  headquarters  but,  in  1849,  was  absorbed 
into  Thanesar  district  and  then  in  1862  was 


SIKH  STATES 


177 


SIKH  STUDENTS  FEDERATION 


designated  a  tahsil  of  Karnal  district. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  The  Phulkian  States  Gazetteer 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Rajas  of  the  Punjab 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  The  Patiala  and  the  East  Panjab 
States  Union  :  Historical  Background.  Patiala, 
1951 

4.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  (he  Sikhs,  2  Vols. 
Princeton,  1963/1966 

5.  Kirpal  Singh,  Life  ofMahaicjaAla  Singh  of  Patiala 
and  His  Times.  Amritsar,  1954 

6.  Walia,  Ramesh,  Praja  Mandal  Movement  in  East 
Punjab  States.  Patiala,  1972 

7.  Jones,  Kenneth  L.,  and  W.  Eric  Gustafson,  ed., 
"The  Princely  States  of  Panjab  :  A  Bibliographical 
Essay"  Sources  of  Punjab  History.  Delhi,  1975 

8.  A  History  of  the  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar. 
Amritsar,  1949 

9.  Cashman,  Richard,  Patrons,  Players  and  the 
Crowd  :  the  Phenomenon  of  Indian  Cricket. 
Bombay,  1980 

'10.  Menon,  V.P.,  The  Story  of  the  Integration  of 
the  Indian  States.  Bombay,  1961 

11.  Nayar,  B.R.,  Minority  Politics  in  the  Punjab. 
Princeton,  1966 

12.  Pavate,  D.C.,  My  Days  as  Governor,  Delhi,  1974 

13.  Richter,  William  and  Ramusack,  Barbara,  "The 
Chamber  and  the  Consultation  :  Changing  Form 
of  Princely  Association  in  India,"  in  Journal  of 
Asian  Studies,  Vol  XXXV  (1975),  pp.  755-66 

14.  Ramusack,  Barbara,  "The  Punjab  States  : 
Maharajas  and  Gurdwaras  :  Patiala  and  the  Sikh 
Community"  in  People,  Princes  and  Paramount 
Power.  Delhi,  1978 

15.  Sanyal,  Saradindu,  Olympic  Games  and  India. 
Delhi,  1970 

16.  Ganda  Singh,  "The  Role  of  Patiala  in  the 
Integration  of  India,"  in  Panjab  Past  and 
Present,  Vol.  II,  Part  I,  (1968),  pp.  144-59 

17.  Singh,  K.  Natwar,  Curtain  Raisers  .:  Essays, 
Reviews,  Letters.  Delhi,  1983 

18.  Crown  Representative  Records,  India  Office 
Library,  London,  1 938-1946 

19.  Durga  Das,  ed.,  Sardar Patel's  Correspondence 


1945-50.  Ahmedabad,  1974 

20.  Collins,  L  and  Lapierre,  D.,  Mountbatten  and 
the  Partition  of  India.  Delhi,  1982 

21.  Keesing's  Contemporary  Archives,  1947-1974 

22.  Newsweek.  20  June  1966 

23.  The  NewYork  Times.  19  June  1974 

24.  Harbans  Singh,  "How  I  became  Head  of  the 
Sikhs —  From  Maharaja's  Memoirs",  in  The  Sikh 
Sansar,  U.S.A.,  December,  1974 

25.  Harbans  Singh,  Faridkot  Itihas  Bare.  Faridkot, 
n.d 

26.  Ganda  Singh,  Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ah luvalia. 
Patiala,  1969 

27.  Ramsukh  Rao,  Jassa  Singh  Binod  (MS.) 

B.R. 
I.C. 

SIKH  STUDENTS  FEDERATION.  A  front  of 
the  Sikh  youth  studying  in  schools,  colleges  and 
universities  formed  in  1944,  at  Lahore,  with 
Sarup  Singh,  then  a  senior  law  student,  as 
president.  Its  primary  object  was  the  promotion 
among  the  Sikh  youth  of  the  Sikh  prii  ciple's 
and  values  and  to  bring  to  them  a  living 
consciousness  of  their  religious  inheritance. 
The  search  was  for  the  authentic  Sikh 
personality  and  to  this  end  all  of  their  conscious 
energy  and  formulations  were  then  d'rected. 
After  the  partition  of  India  in  1947  the 
Federation  shifted  from  Lahore  and  )  nade  its 
home  in  Amritsar. 

Before  the  Federation  came  inio  being, 
there  existed  Bhujahgi  Sabhas,  societies  of  the 
Sikh  youth,  in  schools  to  nurture  Sikh  ideals. 
Most  of  the  Sikh  schools  had  their  Bhujahgi 
Sabhas.  The  origin  was  traced  to  1888  when 
the  first  Sikh  Vidyarthi  Sabhas  or  Khalsa  Clubs 
came  into  existence.  These  were  the  product 
of  the  new  religious  and  cultural  awakening 
the  Sikhs  were  then  experiencing.  They  had 
started  questioning  and  cavilling  at  some  of  the 
prevalenfpractices  which  were  considered 
contrary  to  the  teachings  of  the  Gurus,  The 
Sabhas  met  every  Saturday  after  which 
members  went  to  the  Harimandar  Sahib 
chanting    the    holy   shabads.  Another 


SIKH  STUDENTS  FEDERATION 


178 


SIKH  STUDENTS  FEDERATION 


nomenclature  then  gaining  the  vogue  was  Sikh 
Youngmen's  Association.  The  first  President  of 
the  Association  was  Bhai  Harnam  Singh,  a 
graduate  of  the  Pahjab  University  who  later 
took  a  doctorate  at  London.  The  Association 
started  publishing  in  1905  a  quarterlyjournal 
named  Khalsa  Youngmen's  Magazine.  It  also 
sponsored  tracts  on  religious  and  social  topics. 

The  Sikhs  entered  the  modern  phase  of 
their  educational  enterprise  with  the  founding 
of  that  magnificent  complex  at  Amritsar  which 
went  by  the  name  of  Khalsa  College.  In  the 
line  of  distinguished  men  who  led  the 
movement  were  some  of  the  British  principals 
of  the  institudon.  The  most  popular  among 
them  was  Mr.  G.A.  Wathen  who  initiated  Coats 
Off  Movement,  encouraging  students  to 
participate  in  manual  work  on  behalf  of  the 
college.  That  massive  programme  of  labour  of 
the  two  hands  the  youth  willingly  volunteered 
to  join.  Among  them  was  that  strappingly 
handsome  youth,  S.  Pratab,  of  the  village  of 
Narahgval,  in  Ludhiana  district,  then  reading 
at  the  Khalsa  College.  He  was  born  son  of  Col 
HIra  Sihgl  on  1  June  1896  at  the  far-away 
capital  of  the  princely  state  of  Rewa  where  the 
latter  had  been,  in  his  day,  like  his  father,  Rai 
Bahadur  Capt  Hazura  Singh,  commander  of 
the  state  infantry.  After  his  education  at  the 
Khalsa  College,  S.  Pratab  proceeded  to  Great 
Britain  where  he  qualified  for  service  on  the 
railways,  but  he  chose  to  be  in  the  Indian  Civil 
Service.  After  hi  .  stints  at  Simla,  Delhi  and 
Lahore,  he  steered  past  the  toughest  challenge 
of  his  life  -  Gurdwara  Shahidganj  agitation  - 
smoothly.  He  dealt  with  the  highly  combustible 
situation  with  extraordinary  coolness  of  mind 
and  sang-froid. 

The  Sikh  Students  Federation  came  into 
being  as  such  in  the  forties  of  the  twentieth 
century.  The  purpose  mainly  was  to  stimulate 
Sikh  thought  and  ideals  among  the  youth  and 
to  counteract  the  corrosive  influence  of  Muslim 
and  other  groups  which  were  forcing  their 
identity  issue  rather  obstreperously.  The 
response  of  the  Sikhs  lay  in  energizing  their 


own  body-politic. 

With  the  independence  of  India  drawing 
close  began  the  more  dynamic  phase  of  the 
Federation.  The  sphere  of  its  activities  widened. 
Sikh  youth  camps  became  the  order  of  the  day. 
Young  men  and  old  and  tried  leaders  joined 
in  enthusiastically,  committed  to  carrying  them 
through  in  their  training  in  Sikh  lore  and 
scholarly  discipline.  The  series  was  weighed  in 
with  the  camp  at  Paonta  Sahib  which  ranked 
as  historic.  Even  the  senior  Sikh  politicians  of 
the  day  considered  it  a  privilege  to  join  and 
address  these  camps.  Much  intellectual  novelty 
flowed  from  the  discussions  and  lectures  at 
these  camps.  The  Sikh  Panth  felt  the  glow  of  a 
new  life  process  through  these  camps  and  their 
influencegwhich  indeed  was  widespread  and 
many-sided.  The  youth  took  to  their  work  with 
a  new  zeal  which  brought  to  the  Panth  a 
completely  fresh  image  of  its  future  and  destiny. 
Many  new  names  sprang  up  on  the  Sikh 
horizon,  and  older  men  were  filled  with  a  new 
eagerness  for  action. 

The  camps  became  very  popular  and 
brought  a  new  dimension  to  Sikh  life.  Many 
Sikhs  from  among  the  older  generation  came 
forward.  Famous  among  them  was  Hukam 
Singh,  jurist  and  parliamentarian,  whose 
photographs  can  still  be  seen  bathing  in  the 
knee-deep  waters  of  the  Yamuna.  Hukam  Singh 
was  followed  by  a  series  of  brilliant  youth 
leaders  such  as  Surjit  Sirigh  Barnala,  Amar 
Singh  Ambalvi,  Jaswant  Singh  Neki,  Gurmeet 
Singh,  Satbir  Singh,  Bhai  Harbaiis  Lai  and 
Santokh  Singh  of  Indore.  There  were  many 
others  who  had  made  themselves  famous  in 
their  respective  spheres.  In  fact,  there  is  hardly 
a  Sikh  of  any  eminence  who  had  not  been 
touched  by  the  Federation  and  its  ideology. 
Men  like  India's  fabulous  finance  minister 
Manmohan  Singh  were  no  exception.  Another 
name  that  became  a  legend  was  that  of  Bhai 
Amrik  Siligh  (1948-84),  son  of  Giani  Kartar 
Sirigh  Khalsa,  who  was  elected  president  on  2 
July  1978.  He  remained  its  president  even 
during  his  internment  fromjuly  1982  to  August 


SIKH  STUDF-NTS  FEDERATION 


179 


SIKH  TRADITION 


1983  and  thereafter  until  his  death  during 
Operation  Blue  Star  in  June  1984.  This  was  a 
glorious  period  of  Sikh  youth  resurgence  and 
the  Sikh  youth  found  themselves  profoundly 
moved.  This  was  a  momentous  experience  for 
the  enure  body  of  the  Sikh  youth  and  its  impact 
lasts  to  this  day.  A  permanent  ambition  of  one 
of  the  senior  members  of  the  Federation  who 
is  internationally  famous  in  his  profession  is  to 
write  a  history  of  the  Federation. 

Apart  from  this  political  orientation  the 
Sikh  youth  received  from  this  experience  a 
fresh  religious  leaven.  This  way  they  felt 
quickened  to  a  new  pace  of  life. 

Morning  and  evening  religious  services 
took  place  at  these  camps  regularly.  Prayers 
constantly  mingled  with  the  murmur  of  the 
river  water.  Guru  ka  Lahgar  was  always  ready 
to  be  served.  The  same  regimen  of  prayer  and 
meditation  was  repeated  in  the  evening. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Constitution  of  All  .  India  Sikh  Students 
Federation.  Amritsar,  1983 

2.  Khalsa  Akhbar.  Amritsar,  1888 

3.  Gurmukhi  Akhbar.  Amritsar.  1893 

4.  Golden  Jubilee  Book  (Sikh  Educational 
Conference).  Amritsar,  1958 

5.  Sarhadi,  Ajit  Singh,  Punjabi  Suba.  Delhi,  1970 

6.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Siklis.  Delhi, 
1983 

Sp.  S. 

SIKH  TRADITION  (HISTORIOGRAPHY) 
begins  with  Janam  Sakhis,  the  life-stories  of 
Guru  Nanak  (14G9-1539).  There  is  hardly  any 
evidence  of  the  tradition  of  history  writing  in 
ancient  India,  though  in  modern  times 
attempts  have  been  made  at  different  levels  to 
show  the  existence  of  somewhat  vague 
historiographic  elements  particularly  in  the 
Ramayanii  and  the  Mahabharafa  :  but  religious, 
mythological  and  allegorical  legends  and 
stories  are  so  mixed  up  with  the  Indian 
religious  thought  and  philosophy  in  them  that 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  discern  in  them  a 
pure  historiographical  tradition.  Similarly,  the 


Puranas  contain  mostly  mythological  elements 
with  a  semblance  of  history.  Pali  and  Prakrit 
literature,  too,  is  predominantly  religious. 
Bana's  Harsha  Charitra  (7th  century)  and 
Kalhana's  Ra/atararigiriJ  (12th  century)  are  rare 
exceptions  to  show  that,  generally  speaking, 
historiography  was  not  the  vogue  until  recent 
times. 

The  art  of  historiography  came  to  India 
with  the  Arabs  soon  after  their  conquest  of 
Sindh.  They  brought  a  fully  developed  art  of 
history-writing  with  a  deep  understanding  of 
the  Islamic  polity,  religious  institutions  and 
sociological  issues.  Also,  they  possessed  a  keen 
chronological  sense,  and  their  historical 
narratives  begin  yearwise  instead  of  die  regnal 
years  of  the  kings.  The  Arabic  language  was 
for  a  fhort  while  the  vehicle  of  their 
expressions,  but  when  Arabic  replaced  Persian, 
Indo-Muslim  historians  adopted  Persian  as 
their  medium.  Under  the  influence  of  Persian 
Renaissance,  the  Persian  norms  of  history- 
writing  became  their  models.  While  the  Arab 
historiographers  were  rarely  official,  the  early 
Indo-Muslim  historians,  depended  on  the 
Sultans  whose  patronage  they  sought.  In 
methodology  and  technique  Indo-Muslim 
historiography  is  based  on  the  prophetic 
traditional  method  (hadis),  which  precludes  a 
critical  estimate  of  events  and  persons  and  lays 
stress  on  the  true  concept  of  an  Islamic  state 
It  is  biographical  in  nature. 

The  early  Sikh  historical  tradition  which 
begins  during  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century  is  also  in  the  form  of  biography.  The 
Janam  Sakhis  of  Guru  Nanak  are  not 
historiography  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term 
because  these  accounts  rely  mostly  on  oral 
tradition,  without  distinguishing  fact  from 
fiction.  Myths,  legends  and  allegorical  stories 
are  interwoven  in  their  narratives  ;  their  lack 
of  historical  perspective,  however,  is 
counterbalanced  by  their  faithful  record  of  the 
current  Sikh  religious  tradition.  These  Janam 
Sakhis,  the  most  important  source  of 
information  on  the  life  and  mission  of  Guru 


SIKH  TRADITION 


180 


SIKH  TRADITION 


Nanak  and  for  constructing  the  early  history 
of  Sikhism,  represent  the  early  Sikh  historical 
and  religious  traditions.  Among  the  important 
Janam  Sakhis  are  :  a  collection  called  the  Adi 
Sakhiah,  Puratan  Janam  Sakhi,  Miharban 
Janam  Sakhi,  Bala Janam  Sakhi,  Gyan  Ratnavali 
or  Bhai  Mani  Singh  Janam  Sakhi,  and  the 
named  B-40  Janam  Sakhi.  The  first  two  are 
commonly  believed  to  belong  to  late  sixteenth, 
the  next  two  definitely  to  seventeenth  century, 
while  the  last  ones  belong  to  early  eighteenth 
century.  Of  these,  the  Miharban  tradition  leans 
heavily  on  discourse  and  exegesis.  Next  come 
Vars  and  Kabitts  by  Bhai  Gurdas  (d.  1636). 
Written  in  elegant  verse,  Bhai  Gurdas'  Vars  are 
vigorous  in  thrust  and  constitute  a  work  of  very 
high  order  on  the  mission  of  Guru  Nanak  and 
his  five  successors,  but  they  contain  very  litde 
biographical  information.  A  unique  example 
of  early  Sikh  historiography  is  Guru  Gobind 
Singh's  Bachitra  Natak.  Autobiographical  in 
style,  the  work  traces  the  history  of  Bedi  and 
Sodhi  clans  and  relates  the  major  events  of 
the  Guru's  life  up  to  the  year  1696. 

Var,  a  genre  of  indigenous  Punjabi  origin, 
became  very  popular.  It  gave  birth  to  semi- 
historical,  poetically-inspired  ballads  on 
mundane  themes,  and Jangnamas  (accounts  of 
wars  and  battles).  Prominent  Var  writers  are  : 
Daya  Singh  (Fatahnama),  QadirYar  (Var Han 
Singh  Nalva) ,  Shah  Muhammad  (Angrezan  te 
Sihghan  di  Lara 'T) ,  and  Pir  Bakhsh  ( Chatthian 
di  Var).  The  Jangnamas  are  poetical  narratives 
on  events,  persons  and  places.  The  Jangnamas 
of  Anandpur,  Lahore,  Multan  and  Delhi  are 
especially  interesting  study. 

Of  a  differnent  category  are  the 
chronicles  written  by  local  historiographers  in 
the  Punjabi  language.  These  may  be  termed 
as  semihistorical,  for  modern  norms  of 
historiography  cannot  be  applied  to  them. 
Amongst  them  are  Kripal  Das  Bhalla's  Mahima 
Prakash  Vartak  (prose)  and  Sarup  Das  Bhalla's 
versified  Mahima  Prakash.  These  are 
anceedotal  in  style  and  provide  glimpses  of  the 
lives  of  the  Ten  Gurus.  Then  there  are  fuller 


and  connected  biographical  accounts  in  verse 
known  as  the  Gurbilases.  The  first  example  of 
the  gurbilas  style  is  Sri  Gur  Sobha  related  to 
the  life  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  It  was  written 
by  Sainapati,  who  enjoyed  the  patronage  of 
the  Guru,  and  was  completed  in  1711.  Others 
in  the  chronological  order  are  Gurbilas 
Chhevin  Patshahi  (1718),  usually  attributed 
to  a  poet  called  Sohan;  Kuir  Singh's  Gurbilas 
Patshahi  10  (1751)  ;  Kesar  Singh  Chibbar's 
Bahsavalinama  Dasah  Patshahiah  Ka  (1769); 
and  Sukha  Singh's  Gurbilas  Dasvih  Patshahi 
(1797).  These  writings  in  verse  fall  under  the 
old  Janam  Sakhi  tradition  for  their  mixing  of 
fact  with  fiction  but  do  not  follow  the 
anecdotal  style  of  the  latter.  Both  were, 
however,  pane-gyrical  rather  than  analytical 
in  their  treatment. 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
centurey,  a  new  comparatively  modern  trend 
in  Sikh  historiography  took  birth  with  Ratan 
Singh  Bhahgu's  Sri  GurPanth  Prakash  better 
know  as  Prachin  Panth  Prakash,  completed 
in  1841.  Unlike  the  Janam  Sakhiand  Gurbilas 
traditions  which  dealt  with  Lhe  lives  of  the 
Gurus,  the  focus  of  Bhahgu's  book  is  on  the 
Khalsa,  'the  community  of  initiated  Sikhs 
created  by  Guru  Gobind  Singh  on  the  Baisakhi 
of  1699.  Ratan  Singh  Bhahgu  took  up  the 
project  with  a  definite  aim  which  was  political 
rather  than  theological  or  panegyrical.  He 
cared  more  for  truthful  record  of  facts  than 
for  poetical  finesse.  As  he  himself  states  in  the 
beginning  ,  the  British  when  they  occupied 
Delhi  in  1 803  were  given  to  understand  by  the 
nominal  Mughal  emperor  that  the  Sikhs 
were  his  subjects  in  rebellion,  and  had  no 
legal  title  over  the  lands  they  had  occupied. 
A  British  officer,  named  Murray,  asked  Ratan 
Singh,  "Teil  me  how  the  Sihghs  acquired  the 
ruling  power  and  which  king  gave  them  the 
authority  to  rule."  Ratan  Singh  replied,  "The 
True  King,  (Guru)  Nanak,  gave  the  rulership 
to  the  Sihghs."  Murray  further  asked,  "But 
Nanak  was  a  faquir;  what  did  he  know  about 
■kingships  ?"  Ratan  Singh  explains  the  origin  and 


SIKH  TRADITION 


181 


SIKHS,  THE 


development  of  the  Sikhs  under  the  first  nine 
Gurus,  their  tranformation  into  the  Khalsa 
commonwealth  under  the  Tenth  Guru,  Gobind 
Singh,  their  struggles  and  vicissitudes  until  they 
realized  their  destiny.  The  Khalsa,  he 
maintains,  was  created  to  rule,  and  all  who 
acknowledge  its  discipline  must  be  prepared 
to  assert  the  right.  For  Ratan  Singh  diis  was  no 
mere  doctrine  but.  was  an  existential  fact. 

Another  work  in  the  line  of  authentic 
history  is  'Umdat-ut-Twarikh  in  four  parts  by 
Sohan  Lai  Suri,  official  diarist  of  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh.  Barring  the  first  part  (origin  and 
rise  of  the  Sikhs  up  to  the  close  of  eighteenth 
century)  which  is  based  on  traditional  accounts, 
'Umdat-ut-Twarikh  is  day-to-day  record  of  the 
Sikh  rule  in  the  Punjab. 

Ratan  Singh  Bhahgu's  example  was, 
however,  not  followed  immediately.  Bhai 
Santokh  Singh's  celebrated  works  Sri  Guru 
Nanak  Prakash  and  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suryodaya, 
commonly  known  as  Sura/  Prakash  (1841), 
marked  a  reversion  to  earlier  forms  and 
interest,  although,  this  did  nothing  to  deprive 
the  works  of  their  enormous  and  continuing 
influence.  Giani  Gian  Singh's  Panth  Pvakash 
in  verse  (1880)  and  his  Tivarilch  Guru  Khalsa 
in  prose  ( in  several  volumes  published  between 
1891  and  1919),  although  appearing  to  be 
popular  history  of  the  Panth,  carry  a  large 
measure  of  the  old  Janam  Sakhi-Gurbilas 
tradition  including  a  substantial  doctrinal 
content  and  anecdotal  material. 

Meanwhile,  under  the  impact  of  the 
western  rule  and  western  education  a  new 
trend  of  writing  authentic  and  critical  history 
based  on  scientific  research  was  making  its 
appearance.  Joseph  Davey  Cunningham's  A 
History  of  the  Sikhs  from  the  Origin  of  the 
Nation  to  the  Battles  of  the  Sutlej  (1849)  may 
be  regarded  as  the  first  such  book  as  far  as  Sikh 
history  is  concerned.  The  next  important  work 
in  this  line  was  Syad  Muhainmad  Latif 's  History 
of  the  Punjab  from  the  Remote  Antiquity  to 
the  Present  Time  (1891).  These  works  by  non- 
Sikh  authors,  however,  cannot  be  claimed  as 


belonging  to  Sikh  tradition  in  historiography. 
The  first  Sikh  to  adopt  modern  scientific 
research  as  a  basis  for  historiography  was  Sardar 
Karam  Singh  (1884-1930),  commonly 
remembered  as  Karam  Singh  Historian  on 
account  of  his  zeal  for  this  discipline.  His 
pioneering  efforts  resulted  in  several  short 
books  and  articles  on  Sikh  history  and  doctrine. 
Khazan  Singh's  The  History  and  Philosophy  of 
Sikh  Religion,  published  in  two  volumes  in 
1914,  was  another  pioneering  work.  With  the 
establishment  in  December  1929  of  the  Sikh 
Historical  Society  and  a  department  of 
historical  research  in  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar, 
Sikh  historiography  entered,  as  it  were,  its 
adulthood.  Many  able  researchers  and 
historians  have  since  been  studying,  re- 
interpreting and  rewriting  Sikh  history,  more 
eminent  among  them  being  Ganda  Singh  and 
Khushwant  Singh.  The  contribution  of  Hari 
Ram  Gupta  is  no  less  significant. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhangu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachih  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Fauja  Singh,  ed.,  Historians  and  Historiography 
ol  the  Sikhs.  Delhi,  1978 

3.  Rhurana,  Gianeshwar,  British  Historiography  on 
the  Sikh  Power  in  Punjab.  Delhi,  1985 

4.  Darshan  Singh,  Western  Prespective  on  the  Sikh 
Religion.  Delhi,  1991 

5.  GrewalJ.S.,  From  Guru  Nanak  to  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh.  Amritsar,  1972 

B.J.H. 

SIKHS,  THE,  by  General  Sir  John  J.H.  Gordon, 
was  first  published  in  1904  by  William 
Blackwood  and  Sons,  London,  and  reprinted 
in  1970  by  the  Languages  Department,  Punjab, 
Patiala.  The  author's  own  reference  as  to  when 
and  why  he  thought  of  writing  this  book 
provides  an  important  clue  to  his  treatment 
of  the  subject.  The  universal  admiration,  which 
everybody  had  for  the  soldierly  bearing  of  the 
Sikhs  present  among  soldiers  from  all  parts  of 
the  world  representing  the  strength  of  the 


SIKHS,  THE 


182 


SIKHS  AND  AFGHANS,  THE 


British  empire  at  the  coronation  ceremonies 
of  Edward  VII,  inspired  him,  he  says,  to  write  a 
short  sketch  of  the  origin  of  this  "warlike  race" 
and  its  "rise  through  much  tribulation  to  power 
as  a  nation"  which  was  necessary  for 
understanding  its  transformation  "into  loyal 
and  hearty  subjects  of  the  Great  Queen 
Victoria." 

The  book  is  divided  into  fourteen 
chapters  the  first  four  of  which  relate  the  origin 
and  development  of  Sikhism  under  the  Ten 
Gurus.  The  next  two  chapters  deal  with  Sikhs' 
struggle  for  domination  in  the  Punjab  and  the 
establishment  of  misls  or  chiefships,  followed 
by  two  chapters  sketching  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh's  rise  to  power.  A  chapter  then  prescribes 
the  decline  of  the  Sikh  monarchy  and  the  three 
succeeding  are  devoted  to  the  two  Anglo-Sikh 
wars,  with  the  last  two  summing  up  the  beliefs 
and  observances  of  the  Sikhs  and  their  position 
under  the  British  Crown. 

Except  for  the  last  chapter  which  the 
author  prepared  from  his  own  notes,  he  admits 
having  based  the  entire1  book  on  published 
works  such  as  Malcolm,  Sketch  of  the  Sikhs, 
W.L.  M'Gregor,  The  History  of  the  Sikhs,  G.C. 
Smyth,  A  History  of  the  Reigning  Family  of 
Lahore,  J.D.  Cunningham,  A  History  of  the 
Sikhs  and  Syad  Muhammad  Latif,  History  of 
the  Punjab,  besides  Trumpp's  translation  into 
English  of  portions  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 
However,  there  are  no  specific  references  in 
the  body  of  the  book  to  any  of  the  sources  used 
and  it  has  no  bibliography  or  index. 

The  book  is  a  simple  and  straightforward 
narrative  of  what  Gordon  understood  Sikh  faith 
and  tradition  to  be.  His  account  is  not  exempt 
from  tendentious  statements  and  over 
simplifications.  Gordon  in  fact  assesses  the 
Sikhs  as  "subjects  of  the  British  empire,"  and, 
in  the  process,  he  lets  several  factual  errors  and 
misconceptions  creep  into  his  work. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Fauja  Singh,  ed.,  Historians  and  Historiography 
of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi,  1978 


2.  Kluirana,  Gianeshwar,  British  Historiography  on 
the  Sikh  Power  in  Punjab.  Delhi,  1985 

3.  Darshan  Singh,  Western  Perspective  on  the  Sikh 
Religion.  Delhi,  1991 

4.  Grewal,  J.S.,  From   Guru  Nanak  to  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh..  Amritsar,  1972 

J.S.G. 

SIKHS  AND  AFGHANS,  THE,  by  MunshI 
Shahainat  'All,  thejoumal  of  an  expedition  to 
Kabul  through  the  Punjab  and  the  Khaibar  Pass 
in  1838-39  kept  by  the  author,  who 
accompanied  Colonel  Wade  and  Shahzada 
Taimur,  Shah  Shuja's  eldest  son,  with  an 
auxiliary  force  under  a  treaty  made  in  1838 
between  three  parties-the  British,  Afghans  and 
the  Sikhs,  The  main  object  of  this  force  of  4,000 
levies  raised  by  British  money  was  to  gain 
adherents  to  the  Shah's  cause  among  the 
Khaibaris  and  frontier  tribes,  and  then,  if 
possible,  force  its  way  through  the  Khaibar 
towards  Kabul.  Several  British  officials 
including  Lieutenant  J.D.  Cunningham,  the 
future  historian  of  the  Sikhs,  and  Lieutenant 
William  Barr  who  wrote  a  similar  journal 
(Journal  of  a  March  from  Delhi  to  Peshawar 
and  thence  to  Kabul...  London,  1844)and 
others  accompanied  the  expedition. 

Shahamat  'All  was  the  product  of  the 
Delhi  English  College,  set  up  by  Lord  Amherst's 
government  to  train  Persian  knowing  scholars 
in  English  language  for  diplomatic  work.  In 
1 838  he  was  deputed  to  join  Captain  Wade  and 
the  auxiliary  force  on  its  way  to  Kabul  through 
the  Punjab.  His  work,  first  published  in  London 
in  1847  (The  Sikhs  and  Afghans  in  connexion 
with  India  and  Persia  immediately  before  and 
after  the  death  of  Ranjeet  Singh  :  from  the 
Journal  of  an  Expedition  to  Kabul)  is  a  first- 
hand account  of  the  Punjab  under  Ranjit  Singh 
at  the  zenith  of  his  power.  It  gives  a  short 
description  of  his  system  of  administration,  his 
army,  and  the  notable  men  at  his  court.  He 
describes  the  government  of  Lahore  as  "a  pure 
despotism,"  guided  by  the  Maharaja's  vigorous 
mind  and  keen  judgement.  The  civil  and 


SIKHS  AND  AFGHANS,  THE 


183 


SIKHS  AND  THE  SIKH  WARS 


military  government,  he  observes,  was  carried 
on  by  means  of  12  daftars  or  departments.  The 
provincial  government  was  entrusted  to  nazims 
or  governors  and  iardars  or  district  officers. 
He  estimates  the  revenues  of  the  State  in  1838 
to  be  3,00,27,762  rupees.  The  army  of  the 
Maharaja  consisted  of  31  regiments  of  infantry, 
9  of  cavalry,  11,800  irregular  horse,  and  288 
pieces  of  artillery,  with  a  total  annual 
expenditure  of  1,27,96,482  rupees.  Among  the 
principal  ministers  and  officers  of  the 
government  mentioned  are  the  Jammu 
brothers,  Jamadar  Khushal  Singh,  the  Bhai's, 
Faqlr  'Aziz  ud-Din,  Misr  Beli  Ram,  Diwan  Dina 
Nath  and  others  (p.  26  ft). 

The  journal  also  gives  a  bird's  eye-view  of 
the  northern  Punjab  under  Sikh  rule.  It 
supplies  informadon  about  the  towns  en  route 
to  Peshawar-Gujrahwala,  Wazirabad,  Gujrat, 
Jehlum,  Attock,  Rohtas,  and  Peshawar,  as  also 
about  the  revenue,  population  and  the  people 
inhabiting  these  places.  The  relations  of  the 
Khataks,  the  Yusufzais  and  the  Khaibaris  with 
the  Sikh  government  are  briefly  described. 
Avitabile,  the  author  observes,  had  established 
a  good  system  of  police  and  revenue  at 
Wazirabad  which  had  a  population  of  40,000, 
the  main  occupation  of  the  people  being 
manufacture  of  coarse  cloth  and  small  tents 
(p.  57).  Gujrat  was  an  old  town  of  8,000  houses 
mosdy  inhabited  by  Khatris  and  Gujjars  and 
was  known  for  the  manufacture  of  swords, 
matchlocks  and  daggers  (p.  62).  Jehlum  had  a 
populadon  of  3,000  ;  the  transit  dudes  across 
the  river  fetched  the  Sikh  government  10,000 
rupees  and  the  revenue  about  20,000  rupees. 
Timber  brought  down  by  various  streams  into 
the  River  Jehlum  was  collected  by  government 
officials  and  25%  duty  was  charged  (p.  110). 
Rawalpindi,  a  town  surrounded  by  a  mud  wall 
ab,put  one  mile  in  circumference,  had  a 
population  of  about  4,000,  with  a  revenue 
amounting  to  1,50,000  rupees.  It  was  known 
for  its  manufacture  of  ornamented  shoes  (p. 
149).  Hasan  Abdal,  a  small  town  overlooked 
by  the  hills,  had  a  temple  called  Panja  Sahib 


built  by  Hari  Singh  Nalva.  The  fortress  of 
Attock  stood  on  the  spur  of  a  hill  (p.  173). 
Akora,  the  scene  of  the  batde  between  the 
Wahabi  fanatic  Sayyid  Ahmad  and  the  Sikhs, 
was  the  country  of  the  Khataks,  long-time 
enemies  of  the  Sikhs.  The  town  had  a  few 
Hindu  shopkeepers  as  well  (p.  187  ff). 
Naushahra,  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
River  Kabul,  where  the  Sikhs  and  Afghans  had 
fought  a  fierce  batde  in  1823,  had  a  small  fort 
opposite  the  town.  Situated  on  the  highway  to 
Kabul,  Peshawar  was  a  busy  centre  of  trade. 
Shawl-merchants  from  Kashmir  coming  into 
India  passed  through  this  town  (p.  281). 
Agricultural  products  of  the  valley  were  wheat, 
barley,  Indian  corn,  rice,  sugarcane,  cotton, 
sesame  seed  and  san  or  flax.  Figs,  oranges  and 
plums  were  the  major  fruits.  The  revenue  of 
Peshawar  under  Sikhs  rose  to  18,00,000  rupees 
(p.  278) .  General  Avitabile,  the  governor,  had 
by  his  strict  rule  established  firm  Sikh  authority 
over  the  province.  "He  has  been  exceedingly 
severe  in  exercising  his  authority  by  hanging 
many  Afghans  for  small  crimes.  A  thief  can 
hardly  ever  escape  with  life..."  (p.  279). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Fauja  Singh,  ed.,  Historians  and  Historiography 
of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi,  1978 

2.  Khurana,  Gianeshwar,  British  Historiography  on 
the  Sikh  Power  in  Punjab.  Delhi,  1985 

BJ.H. 

SIKHS  AND  THE  SIKH  WARS  :  THE  RISE, 
CONQUEST,  AND  ANNEXATION  OF  THE 
PUNJAB  STATE,  by  General  Sir  Charles  Gough 
and  Arthur  D.  Innes,  first  published  in  London 
in  1897,  is  in  the  main  a  history  of  the  Anglo- 
Sikh  wars  of  1845-46  and  1848-49.  Few  accounts 
of  these  wars  written  by  British  historians  and 
men  of  letters  in  the  nineteenth  century  are  as 
unbiased  as  the  one  by  Gough  and  Innes. 
Though  the  sections  on  the  rise  of  the  Sikhs  in 
the  Punjab  and  the  establishment  of  a 
sovereign  State  under  Ranjit  Singh  are  a  mere 
reproduction  of  works  published  earlier,  those 


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184 


SIKHS  AND  THE  SIKH  WARS 


on  the  Anglo-Sikh  wars  are  based  on  official 
records.  Besides  the  blue  books  and  official 
despatches,  the  regimental  records  and  Lord 
Hugh  Gough's  diaries  have  been  used.  The 
actions  at  Mudki,  Ferozeshah  (Pherushahr), 
Alival  and  Sabhraoh  have  all  been  described 
in  considerable  detail.  At  Ferozeshah,  Viscount 
Hardinge,  who  had  placed  his  services  as  a 
general  officer  under  the  commander-in-chief, 
overrode  his  orders  for  action  until  Sir  John 
Littler's  force  could  join  the  main  British  army. 
Tej  Singh's  inaction  after  the  battle  of 
Ferozeshah  on  the  morning  of  22  December 
"when  the  fate  of  India  trembled  in  the 
balance"  and  when  the  Sikh  army  under  his 
command  could  have  completely  annihilated 
the  weary  and  exhausted  British  army  is 
ascribed  to  his  ignorance  of  the  actual  state  of 
affairs.  "It  would  even  seem,"  comment  the 
authors,  "that  if  they  [Sikh  commanders]  had 
the  same  capacity  for  attack  as  for  defence,  if 
Tej  Singh  had  known  what  to  do  with  his  fresh 
army  at  Ferozeshah,  the  frontier  force  with 
the  Governor-General  and  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  might  have  been  crushed  on 
December  22nd."  Ferozeshah  also  caused  a 
storm  in  England.  Angry  voices  were  raised  in 
British  Parliament  to  condemn  Hardinge  for 
the  military's  unpreparedness  and  Gough  for 
his  rashness  in  the  battle.  Sir  Archibald 
•Galloway,  the  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Directors,  however,  silenced  the  breeze  in 
Parliament.  He  said,  "Complaints  are  made  that 
Sir  Hugh  Gough  at  Ferozeshah  took  the  bull 
by  the  horns.  But,  gentlemen,  in  this  case  the 
bull  was  all  horns. " 

After  their  decisive  victory  in  the  first  Sikh 
war,  there  were  three  policy  options  open  to 
the  British  as  regards  the  future  of  their 
conquest,  the  Punjab,  viz.  immediate 
annexation,  subsidiary  system  as  operative  in 
other  princely  states,  or  the  establishment  of 
"a  strong  and  friendly  government  which 
should  be  independent  of  British  support,  and 
yet  should  not  be  a  menace  to  the  British  power 
in  India,  which  should  in  fact  stand  to  the 


British  in  much  the  same  relation  as  the  Lahore 
State  had  done  when  ruled  by  Ranjit  Singh." 
Lord  Hardinge  opted  for  the  third  course  and, 
after  selling  Jammu  and  Kashmir  to  Gulab 
Singh  and  annexing  the  Jalandhar  Doab  to 
British  India,  established  in  the  remaining 
Punjab  a  government  nominally  independent 
under  its  minor  Maharaja  assisted  by  a  council 
of  some  chosen  Sikh  sardars,  but  virtually  ruled 
by  a  British  Agent  "appointed  to  exercise 
effective  control  over  this  council,  and  to  act 
as  the  mouthpiece  of  the  British  Government." 
At  the  same  time  the  strength  of  the  Khalsa 
army  was  reduced  to  20,000  infantry  and  1 2,000 
cavalry,  while  the  whole  of  the  artillery  which 
had  been  used  against  the  British  was  required 
to  be  delivered  up  to  the  victors. 

These  arrangements  to  begin  with  worked 
well  if  not  with  perfect  smoothness,  and  peace 
was  restored  in  the  land  of  the  Five  Rivers.  But 
certain  developments  such  as  the  forced 
evacuation  of  the  Regent  Queen  to  Sheikhupura 
in  August  1847,  the  mishandling  of  Multan 
situation  in  early  1848  and  over-reaching 
behaviour  of  a  British  agent  in  Hazara  vitiated 
the  atmosphere  of  mutual  trust  so  vital  to  such 
condominium.  Moreover,  with  a  change  in  the 
top  executive  there  came  a  change  in  British 
policy  in  favour  of  annexation.  Henry 
Lawrence,  the  Resident  at  Lahore,  and  Henry 
Hardinge,  the  Governor-General,  sailed 
together  from  India  on  18  January  1848.  The 
next  day  arrived  the  new  Governor-General 
Lord  Dalhousie.  In  Dalhousie's  own  words,  it 
was  his  "strong  and  deliberate  opinion  that  in 
the  execution  of  a  wise  and  sound  policy,  the 
British  Government  is  bound  not  to  put  aside 
or  neglect  such  rightful  opportunities  of 
acquiring  territory  or  revenue  as  may  from  time 
to  time  present  themselves." 

The  trouble  in  Multan  and  Hazara  could 
have  been  contained  and  removed  without 
going  in  for  a  major  war,  but  here  Lord  Hugh 
Gough,  the  British  Commander-in-Chief,  had 
his  own  theory.  He  held  that  the  Sikh 
"movement  was  one  which  could  not  be  nipped 


SIKHS  AND  THE  SIKH  WARS 


185 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


in  the  bud  by  local  successes  ;  and  that 
consequently  the  army  should  not  move  until 
it  could  do  so  in  sufficient  force  to  meet  the 
Sikh  nation  in  arms."  He  purposely  waited  for 
a  general  rising  of  the  Sikhs  and  also  for  a  state 
of  preparedness  of  "a  force  competent  to  crush 
the  whole  Sikh  nation  in  arms."  The  right  time 
and  excuse  for  action  came  when  on  9  October 
1848,  Sher  Singh  "  marched  from  Multan  to 
raise  the  Sikh  nation  in  arms."  Lord  Dalhousie 
was  already  alive  to  the  character  of  the 
impending  war,  and  he  left  Calcutta  for  the 
front  on  10  October.  Already  on  5  October,  he 
had  rhetorically  announced  at  a  public  banquet : 
"Unwarranted  by  precedents,  uninfluenced  by 
example,  the  Sikh  nation  has  called  for  war, 
and,  on  my  words,  sirs,  they  shall  have  it  with  a 
vengeance  ..." 

The  grand  army  under  Lord  Cough's 
personal  command  which  crossed  the  Sutlej 
in  early  November  1948  consisted  of  one 
cavalry  division,  two  infantry  divisions  and  an 
artillery  brigade,  and  it  was  expected  that 
Multan  will  soon  fall  and  the  infantry  division 
reinforced  by  the  Bombay  Column  would  then 
join  the  main  force  heading  to  meet  Sher 
Singh.  After  minor  encounters  at  Ramnagar 
and  Sadullapur,  the  first  main  batde  fought  at 
Cheliahvala  on  13  January  1849  was  indecisive. 
Both  sides  suffered  heavy  casualties  and  both 
retreated  from  the  field.  For  a  whole  month 
after  this  there  was  an  uneasy  lull.  The  British 
Commander-in-Chief  realizing  his  relative 
weakness  in  artillery  was  waiting  for 
reinforcements  from  Multan  where  Mul  Raj 
had  surrendered  on  22  January.  Sher  Singh, 
too,  despite  his  father  Ghatar  Singh's  force 
joining  him,  failed  to  attack  the  British,  and 
moved  on  14  January  to  a  new  position  just 
south  of  Gujrat.  The  Multan  division  which 
arrived  on  17-19  January  brought  with  it  98 
guns,  18  being  of  heavy  calibre.  This  gave  the 
British  superiority  in  fire  power  for  the  first 
lime.  They  immediately  moved  to  a  position 
facing  the  Sikhs  at  Gujrat.  The  conclusive 
action  at  Gujrat  on  21  February  1849  has 


justifiably  been  called  "the  batde  of  guns."  It 
started  at  nine  O'clock  in  the  morning  and  "by 
half-past  twelve,  the  whole  Sikh  army  was  in 
full  flight.  By  one  O'clock  Gujrat  itself,  the  Sikh 
camp,  their  baggage,  and  most  of  their  guns 
were  in  possession  of  the  victors." 

Although  the  authors  are  not  impressed 
by  the  stereotyped  view  that  the  transformation 
of  the  Sikh  army  into  the  executive  sovereign 
of  the  State  of  Lahore  in  1844  represented  "a 
successful  mutiny"  and  that  the  militant  Sikh 
nationalism  fed  on  an  aversion  to  foreign 
interference  in  the  Punjab  led  the  army 
Panchayats  into  a  war  with  the  British,  their 
account  is  not  free  from  exaggerations  as,  for 
instance,  the  statement  that  a  Sikh  army  20,000- 
30,000  strong  with  40  guns  fought  the  British 
at  Mudki.  Mudki  was  a  battle  of  unequal 
numbers  :  designating  it  as  a  "great  batde"  is  not 
quite  correct.  Here  ahastily  drawn  and  haphazardly 
formed  division  out  of  the  detachment  taken 
from  various  Sikh  regiments  atFIrozpur  (3,500 
cavalry,  2,000  foot  and  20  guns)  faced  3 
divisions  of  the  army  of  the  Sutlej  under  Sir 
Walter  Gilbert,  Brigadier  MacCaskill  and  Sir 
Harry  Smith  with  48  guns  and  4  troops  of  horse 
artillery.  The  autiiors  also  take  a  one-sided  view 
of  the  annexation.  Following  Lord  Dalhousie's 
line  of  arguments,  they  conclude  that  defeat 
of  the  Sikhs  was  not  enough.  The  interests  of 
the  British  empire  required  that  they  be 
subjugated  and  the  Sikh  dynasty, destroyed. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Fauja  Singh,  Historians  and  Historiography  of  the 
Sikhs.  Delhi,  1978 

2.  Khurana,  Gianeshwar,  British  Historiography  on 
the  Sikh  Power  in  the  Punjab.  Delhi,  1985 

3.  Darshan  Singh,  Western  Perspective  on  the  Sikh 
Religion.  Delhi,  1991 

4.  Grewal,  J.S.,    From  Guru  Nanak  to  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh.  Amritsar,  1972 

J.S.G. 

SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER. 
The  Sikhs,  after  the  two  Anglo-Sikh  wars,  lost 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


186 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


their  kingdom  and  the  Punjab  came  under  the 
British  rule  in  1849.  The  British,  by  the 
construction  of  railways,  roads  and  canals, 
brought  the  province  stability.  The  Sikhs,  along 
with  other  Punjabis,  became  the  most 
prosperous  peasantry  in  India  and  theyjoined 
in  increasing  numbers  the  army  under  the 
British.  But  signs  of  unrest  began  to  appear 
among  them  as  legislation  restricting  the  rights 
of  colonists  in  the  canal-irrigated  lands  allotted 
to  them  was  passed.  In  1907,  there  were 
demonstrations  and  arrests.  The  British 
authorities,  fearing  the  spread  of  disaffection 
to  Sikh  soldiers  in  the  army,  withdrew  the 
legislation  and  the  agitation  subsided.  A  few 
years  later,  harsh  treatment  of  Sikh  immigrants 
by  the  white  population  in  the  western 
hemisphere  led  to  the  formation  of  a 
revolutionary  party,  most  of  whose  members 
were  Sikhs.  Known  as  the  Ghadr  party,  its 
avowed  object  was  the  overthrow  of  the  British 
rule  and,  at  the  beginning  of  World  War  I,  a 
number  of  Ghadr  leaders  made  their  way  back 
to  India,  hoping  to  stir  up  revolt.  Many  of  them 
were  arrested  at  the  ports  immediately  on 
arrival,  and  the  movement  petered  out.  But 
Sikh  energy  and  interest  soon  became 
concentrated  on  a  purely  religious  issue—  the 
recovery  of  control  over  Sikh  places  of  worship 
(gurdwaras).  The  Gurdwara  Reform  movement 
continued  from  1920  to  1925  and  the  Sikhs 
came  into  open  conflict  with  the  British 
authorities  who  intervened  to  protect  the 
degenerate  mahants  or  priests  in  charge  of  the 
gurdwaras.  Legislation  vesting  management  of 
the  gurdwaras  in  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  which  was  made  an 
elected  body,  brought  at  last  the  agitation  to 
an  end  ;  but  it  had  alienated  from  the  British  a 
significant  section  of  the  Sikhs,  and  the  AkalTs- 
activists  of  the  Gurdwara  Reform  movement- 
emerged  as  a  powerful  party.  The  general 
awakening  brought  about  by  the  Akali 
campaign  strengthened  the  national 
movement  in  India.  The  Sikhs  too  played  in  it 
a  daring  role  far  out  of  proportion  to  their  small 


percentage  in  the  country's  population. 

The  Indian  Muslims'  demand  for  the 
recognition  of  their  separate  political  entity  was 
a  severe  challenge  to  the  Sikhs'  position  in  the 
Punjab.  The  government  set  its  seal  on  Muslim 
communalism  by  introducing  separate 
electrorates  under  the  Minto-Morley  Reforms 
of  1909,  and  by  giving  weighted  representation 
to  Muslims  in  provinces  in  which  they  were  in 
a  minority.  The  adoption  of  this  divisive 
principle  created  a  permanent  cleavage 
between  Hindus  and  Muslims.  In  1916,  the 
Indian  National  Congress  attempted  to 
appease  the  Muslim  League  by  conceding  its 
communal  claims  and  contracting  with  it  an 
agreement  which  is  known  as  the  Lucknow 
Pact.  By  this  covenant,  the  Muslims  had  their 
representation  in  the  various  legislative 
councils  specified  and,  in  the  Punjab,  they  were 
to  have  through  their  own  exclusive  electorate 
50  per  cent  of  the  Council  seats.  The  Sikhs, 
who  were  an  influential  community  in  the 
region  and  had  important  interests  at  stake, 
were  completely  ignored  in  this  League- 
Congress  compact.  Finding  themselves 
reduced  to  a  state  of  political  wilderness,  the 
Sikhs  began  to  press  for  their  own  rights.  They 
demanded  to  be  treated  in  the  Punjab  the 
same  way  as  the  Muslims  were  treated  in 
provinces  where  they  were  in  minority.  Their 
viewpoint  was  ventilated  by  the  Chief  Khalsa 
Diwan,  then  their  principal  organized  party.  Sir 
Sundar  Singh  Majlthia,  the  secretary  of  the 
Diwan,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Punjab 
Government,  on  26  December  1916,  setting  out 
the  claims  of  the  Sikh  community  for 
representation  in  the  Imperial  and  Provincial 
councils. 

In  August  1 9 1 7,  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
India,  Edwin  Samuel  Montagu,  made  his 
momentous  declaration  that  the  aim  of  British 
policy  as  regards  India  was  the  gradual 
development  of  self  governing  institutions  with 
a  view  to  the  progressive  realization  of 
responsible  government.  When  Montagu 
visited  India  that  autumn,  Maharaja  Bhupinder 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


187 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


Singh  of  Patiala  conveyed  the  Sikhs'  views  to 
him.  A  deputation  of  the  Sikh  leaders  also 
waited  on  the  Viceroy  (22  November  1917)  and 
pressed  Sikhs'  claims  to  a  one-third 
representation  in  the  Punjab  on  the  basis  of 
their  services  in  the  war. 

The  Montagu-Chelmsford  Report  issued 
in  the  spring  of  1918  reassured  the  Sikhs.  Its 
authors  disagreed  with  the  principle  of 
separate  representation  conceded  to  the 
Muslims  and  expressed  regret  that  it  could  not 
be  altered.  But  they  felt  that  what  had  been 
given  to  the  Muslims  could  not  by  any 
standards  of  fairness  be  denied  to  the  Sikhs. 

The.  Montagu-Chelmsford  proposals  were 
debated  in  the  joint  committee  of  the  Punjab 
Legislative  Council.  The  Muslim  leader,  Mian 
Fazl  Husain,  tried  to  push  through  a  resolution 
that  the  Muslim  proportion  in  the  Punjab 
Legislative  Council  be  based  on  the  Lucknow 
Pact.  Sardar  Gajjan  Singh  of  Ludhiana 
proposed  that  the  words  "subject  to  the  just 
claims  of  the  Sikhs"  be  added  to  the  resolution. 
The  innocuous  amendment  was  vigorously 
opposed  by  both  Muslim  and  Hindu  members. 
The  chairman  drew  their  attention  to  the 
injusdce  they  were  doing  to  the  Sikhs  but  in 
vain.  The  amendment  was  put  to  vote:  and,  as 
anticipated,  lost  by  six  to  two-bo th  negative 
votes  being  those  of  the  Sikhs. 

The  Government  of  India  Act  of  1 9 1 9  did 
not  give  the  Sikhs  the  33  per  cent  represen- 
tation that  they  had  expected.  Under  the  new 
constitution  the  Punjab  Legislative  Council 
would  comprise  93  members,  of  whom  15  were 
to  be  Sikhs  elected  by  Sikh  constituents  ;  the 
Central  Assembly  was  to  have  145  members,  of 
whom  three  were  to  be  Sikhs  ;  the  Council  of 
States  would  have  60  members,  of  whom  one 
was  to  be  a  Sikh.  The  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan  made 
a  last  effort  to  influence  the  British  government 
to  revise  its  decision.  A  delegation  consisting 
of  Sewaram  Singh,  Shivdev  Singh  Uberoi, 
Sohan  Singh  of  Rawalpindi  and  Ujjal  Singh 
arrived  in  London  a  week  after  the  joint 
Parliamentary  Committee  had  made  its  report. 


The  only  satisfaction,  they  could  derive  was  the 
knowledge  that  the  committee  had  increased 
Sikh  representation  in  the  Punjab  by  two. 

The  first  elections  under  the  Act  took 
place  in  1920.  The  Unionist  Party,  a 
combination  of  Muslims  and  Hindus 
representing  agricultural  interests,  came  to 
power.  Sundar  Singh  Majithia,  a  representative 
of  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan,  was  nominated  to 
the  governor's  executive  council  and  entrusted 
with  the  care  of  revenue  matters.  Some  Akalis, 
who  were  elected  to  the  legislature  a  few  years 
later,  held  aloof,  although  the  Unionist  Party's 
policies  benefited  the  Sikh  peasantry. 

Much  the  same  political  pattern 
continued  on  the  introduction  of  provincial 
self-government  under  the  Government  of 
India  Act  of  1935.  After  the  elections  in  the 
winter  of  1936-37,  the  Unionists  under  Sir 
Sikandar  Hayat  Khan  formed  the  government 
and  Sir  Sundar  Singh  Majithia,  whose  party, 
now  known  as  the  Khalsa  National  Party,  had 
won  about  half  the  33  Sikh  seats,  accepted 
office  as  revenue  minister  ;  but  most  of  the 
other  Sikh  members,  Akalis,  Congress  Sikhs 
and  independents,  joined  the  Opposition. 

During  the  second  of  the  Round  Table 
Conferences  that  preceded  the  passing  of  the 
1935  Act  the  Sikh  representatives,  Ujjal  Singh 
and  Sampuran  Singh,  had  pressed  for 
weightage  giving  them  30  per  cent 
representation  in  the  Punjab  and  5  per  cent  at 
the  Centre,  with  at  least  one  Sikh  member  in 
the  Central  cabinet.  Alternatively,  they 
suggested  a  realignment  of  the  boundaries  of 
the  Punjab  whereby  the  two  Muslim  majority 
divisions  of  Rawalpindi  and  Multan,  with  the 
exception  of  the  colony  districts  of  Lyallpur  and 
Montgomery,  would  be  detached  and  included 
in  the  North-West  Frontier  Province.  If  this 
were  done,  the  Sikhs  would  not  ask  for  any 
weightage  in  the  remaining  areas,  as  the 
Muslim  and  Hindu  population  there  would  be 
about  equal  and  the  Sikhs  would  hold  the 
balance.  Little  heed  was  paid  to  this  proposal. 
The  cry  of  Pakistan  had  not  yet  been  raised 


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188 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


and  no  one  was  disposed  to  consider  a  division 
of  the  Punjab  for  the  benefit  of  the  Sikhs.  By 
the  British  government's  Communal  Award, 
the  Sikhs  were  granted  only  a  marginal  increase 
in  their  weightage  in  the  Punjab  -33  seats  out 
of  a  total  of  175-  but  they  were  assured  some 
representation  in  the  Federal  Legislature  and 
in  the  North-West  Frontier  Province. 

Sir  Sikandar's  Unionist  ministry  took 
office  under  the  1 935  Act  in  the  spring  of  1 937. 
Within  a  very  short  space  of  time  there  was  a 
radical  and  unforeseen  change  in  the  political 
situation.  At  the  Round  Table  Conferences  the 
idea  of  Pakistan  had  been  mentioned  only  to 
be  derided  ;  but  in  1938  the  Muslim  League, 
under  MA.  Jinnah's  leadership,  began  to  revive 
it  and  in  March  1940  passed  at  Lahore  a 
resolution  demanding  independent  sovereign 
Muslim  States  in  the  Muslim  majority  areas  of 
India,  including  most  of  the  Punjab. 
Furthermore,  in  the  autumn  of  1938  Sikandar 
Hayat  Khan,  feeling  that  all  Muslims  must  stand 
together  against  the  threat  of  Hindu 
domination  in  a  prospective  Federal 
Government,  had  joined  the  League  With  all 
his  Muslim  followers  ;  and  so,  though  they  still 
remained  members  of  the  Unionist  Party,  as 
members  of  the  League  they  all  became 
outwardly  committed  to  the  demand  for 
Pakistan.  Sikandar  himself  was  no  believer  in 
Pakistan  and  assured  the  Hindu  and  Sikh 
supporters  of  the  Unionist  Party  that  complete 
separation  of  the  Hindu  and  Muslim  provinces 
of  India  into  independent  sovereign  States  was 
not  intended.  But  Jinnah  displayed  no 
intention  of  budging  his  ground,  and  the  Sikhs 
saw  themselves  faced  with  the  threat  of 
becoming  a  small  minority  in  a  large  Muslim 
State  ;  for  this  would  be  their  fate  if  the  Punjab 
were  included  in  Pakistan,  as  Jinnah 
demandedr  Rather  than  accept  this  fate,  the 
Sikhs'  inclination  was  to  demand  the  partition 
of  the  Punjab. 

At  about  this  time  effective  leadership  of 
the  Sikhs  passed  to  the  Akalis,  for  the  Khalsa 
National  Party,  which  had  been  steadily  losing 


influence,  was  further  weakened  by  the  death 
early  in  1941  of  Sundar  Singh  Majithia.  The 
Akalis  had  always  been  somewhat  isolated-anti- 
British  and  in  opposition  to  the  anglophile 
Unionist  government  of  the  Punjab.  They  now 
felt  themselves  to  be  in  need  of  friends,  more 
especially  as  soon  after  the  passing  of  the 
Pakistan  resolution  there  was  another  threat 
to  Sikh  interests-  a  proposal  to  stop  all  further 
recruitment  of  Sikhs  to  the  armed  forces.  This 
was  the  outcome  of  signs  of  disaffection  among 
Sikh  troops  in  the  early  months  of  the  War,  for 
which  the  Akalis'  own  unsettling  influence  on 
the  Sikh  peasantry  was  partly  responsible.  The 
proposal,  ultimately  dropped,  alarmed  the 
Akalis,  who  were  keenly  conscious  of  the  value 
to  the  Sikhs  of  their  position  in  the  army,  and 
they  decided  that  they  must  modify  their 
opposition  to  the  Unionist  government  and 
their  hitherto  lukewarm  attitude  to  the  war 
effort.  They  took  part,  therefore,  in  the 
organization  of  a  Khalsa  Defence  of  India 
League  to  stimulate  Sikh  recruitment;  and  in 
June  1942  they  entered  into  a  regular  pact  with 
Sikandar's  Unionist  government  and  an  Akali 
nominee,  Sardar  Baldev  Singh,  became  a 
minister.  This  pact  lasted  throughout  the  rest 
of  the  War  and  represented  an  accord  between 
Sikhs  and  Punjabi  Muslims  which  it  was  hoped 
might  prove  an  obstacle  to  Jinnah's  demand 
for  a  sovereign  Pakistan  and  stave  off  the 
danger  of  a  partition  of  the  Punjab. 

Over  the  next  few  critical  years,  Sikhs  were 
rallying  under  the  Akali  banner  though  there 
were  elements  among  them  who  were 
supporters  of  the  Congress  and  of  the 
Communist  Party.  But  in  1942  at  the  time  of 
the  Cripps'  Mission  almost  all  Sikh  leaders  were 
united  in  their  opposition  to  Pakistan  and  in 
their  determination  to  resist  the  separation  of 
the  Punjab  from  the  rest  of  India.  They 
welcomed,  of  course,  like  other  Indians,  the 
Cripps'  offer  of  virtual  independence  at  the 
end  of  the  War ;  but  they  objected  to  the  right 
conceded  by  the  Cripps'  proposals  to  an 
individual  province  to  opt  out  of  the  projected 


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189 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


Indian  Union.  This  seemed  to  them  to  amount 
to  an  acceptance  of  Pakistan  ;  and  it  was 
undoubtedly  a  success  forjirmah,  for  it  was  the 
first  public  admission  by  the  British  of  the 
possibility  that  India  might  be  divided.  It  was 
followed  immediately  after  Cripps'  departure 
by  Rajagopalachari  submitting  to  the  All-India 
Congress  Committee  a  resolution  that  the 
principle  of  Pakistan  should  be  conceded.  To 
the  Sikhs,  who  had  always  thought  that  the 
Congress  could  be  relied  on  to  stand  firm 
against  any  dismemberment  of  India, 
Rajagopalachari's  resolution  came  as  a  rude 
shock;  and  ,  though  it  was  rejected  and 
Rajagopalachari  himself  resigned  from  the 
Congress,  it  was  an  indication  to  them  of  a 
possible  Congress  weakening  over  the  issue. 
Shortly  afterwards,  the  Congress  leaders  by 
launching  the  Quit  India  movement 
condemned  themselves  to  jail  for  most  of  the 
rest  of  the  War,  leaving  Jinnah  a  free  field  in 
which  to  carry  on  his  Pakistan  propaganda.  He 
steadily  strengthened  his  hold  over  the  Muslims 
and  gained  ever  wider  support  for  his  demand 
for  Pakistan.  In  1944,  he  expelled  from  the 
League  Sir  Khizar  Hayat  Khan  Tiwana  who 
shared  Sikandar's  views  about  Pakistan  and  on 
his  death,  in  1942,  had  succeeded  him  as 
premier  of  the  Punjab.  Khizar  was  able  to  retain 
the  loyalty  of  most  of  the  supporters  in  the 
provincial  assembly,  but  a  rift  opened  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Muslim  Unionists  and  it  became 
doubtful  whether  the  Punjabi  Muslims  would 
resist  the  lure  of  Pakistan.  In  the  same  year 
Rajagopalachari  provided  further  evidence  that 
the  Congress  might  not  stand  firm  on  the  unity 
of  India.  He  persuaded  Mahatma  Gandhi  to 
offer  Jinnah  a  Pakistan  consisting  of  contiguous 
Muslim-majority  areas  in  the  northwest  and 
northeast  of  India.  Jinnah  rejected  this  offer 
of  a  'moth-eaten'  Pakistan,  but  the  Sikhs  were 
very  indignant  at  the  offer  being  made  at  all. 
Claiming  that  the  Sikhs  we  re,  like  the  Muslims, 
a  separate  natiom,  they  began  to  talk  of 
demanding  an  independent  sovereign  Sikh 
State.  This  was  to  have  boundaries  roughly  the 


same  as  those  proposed  for  the  Punjab  by  the 
Sikh  representatives  at  the  Second  Round 
Table  Conference  and  would  include  the  whole 
of  the  Lahore  Division  and  the  colony  districts 
of  Lyallpur  and  Montgomery.  The  idea  of 
pressing  for  such  a  State  had  been  simmering 
in  the  minds  of  some  of  the  Akali  leaders  ever 
since  the  League's  Pakistan  resolution  was 
passed  ;  but  most  of  them  recognized  that  it 
was  impracticable,  for  the  Sikhs  were  not  in  a 
majority  in  any  definable  area  and  the  Muslims 
could  not  be  expected  meekly  to  surrender 
areas  where  they  were  in  a  majority.  The 
demand  was  not  therefore  formally  put  forward 
at  this  stage. 

By  the  end  of  the  War,  Jinnah  appeared 
to  have  gained  the  allegiance  of  the  great 
majority  of  Muslims  and  this  was  confirmed 
by  the  elections  held  during  the  cold  weather 
of  1945-46.  Except  in  the  North-West  Frontier 
Province,  the  League  everywhere  won  almost 
all  the  Muslim  seats.  For  the  Sikhs  its  most 
significant  success  was  in  the  Punjab  where  the 
once  powerful  Unionist  Party  with  which,  since 
the  Sikandar-Baldev  Singh  pact,  most  of  the 
Sikhs  had  been  in  alliance,  was  virtually  wiped 
out,  and  the  League  emerged  as  the  largest 
single  party.  The  Sikhs,  in  order  to  demonstrate 
their  solid  opposition  to  Pakistan,  had  all 
joined  together  with  the  exception  of  the 
Communists  to  fight  the  elections  as  a  single 
party  under  the  auspices  of  the  Panthic 
Pratrnidhi  Board.  This  was  every  where 
successful  and  the  Communist  Sikhs,  who 
supported  Pakistan,  were  eliminated.  The 
League,  despite  its  electoral  success,  did  not 
command  a  majority  in  the  provincial  assembly 
and  without  the  suport  of  some  other  groups, 
which  it  failed  to  obtain,  was  unable  to  form  a 
ministry  in  the  Punjab.  So  Khizar.  with  the 
backing  of  the  Panthic  party,  led  by  Baldev 
Singh,  and  of  the  Congress,  continued  as 
premier.  But  noiw  that  his  Muslim  Unionists 
were  reduced  to  a  mere  handful,  the  Unionist- 
Sikh  alliance  could  no  longer  be  a  defence 
against  the  Muslim  demand  for  Pakistan. 


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190 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


The  Labour  Government  which  took 
office  in  England  in  July  1945  was  determined 
to  transfer  power  to  Indian  hands  as  soon  as 
possible  ;  but  the  Hindu-Muslim  cleavage  over 
Pakistan  stood  in  the  way.  In  the  hope  of 
resolving  the  differences  a  Cabinet  Mission 
(the  Secretary  of  State  for  India,  Pethick- 
Lawrence,  along  with  Sir  Stafford  Cripps  and 
A.V.  Alexander)  came  out  to  India  in  March 
1946  and  started  interviewing  representatives 
of  all  major  parties  and  interests.  The  Sikh 
representatives,  Master  Tara  Singh,  Giani 
Kartar  Singh  and  Harnam  Singh  (a  Lahore 
lawyer) ,  and  Baldev  Singh,  who  was  interviewed 
separately,  said  that  they  stood  for  a  united 
India,  but  if  it  was  to  be  divided  then  they  would 
want  a  separate  Sikh  State,  which  Giani  Kartar 
Singh  explained  to  mean  "a  province  where 
the  Sikhs  were  in  a  dominant  or  almost  a 
dominant  position,"  and  this  should  be  free  to 
federate  either  with  Hindustan  or  Pakistan.  So 
as  to  bring  most  of  the  Sikhs  within  it,  the 
boundaries  of  this  province  were  to  be  much 
the  same  as  proposed  by  the  Sikhs  before  and 
would  include  considerable  Muslim-majority 
areas  ;  but  the  Sikhs  argued  that  population 
was  not  the  only  factor  to  be  considered  and 
that  the  Sikhs'  large  holdings  of  land  in  the 
areas  they  claimed  must  also  be  taken  into 
account.  They  also  suggested  that  there  should 
be  a  transfer  of  population  under  government 
auspices  and  said  that  within  five  or  ten  years 
nearly  all  the  Sikh  population  could  be 
concentrated  in  the  proposed  Khalistan.  The 
Central  Akali  Dal  ( Baba  Kharak  Singh's  group) 
presented  a  separate  memorandum  on  behalf 
of  their  party.  It  drew  attention  to  the  faulty 
compilation  of  census  figures  which  made  the 
Muslims  a  majority  community  in  the  Punjab. 
It  opposed  the  partition  of  the  Punjab  and 
reiterated  the  demands  that  had  been  made 
by  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan  many  times  since 
the  introduction  of  democratic  institutions,  viz. 
33%representation  in  the  Punjab,  5%  in  the 
Centre,  one  Sikh  member  in  the  Central 
Cabinet.  In  addition,  it  demanded  an  8% 


representation  in  the  Constituent  Assembly  (as 
recommended  by  the  Sapru  Committee),  a 
permanent  14%  Sikh  quota  in  the  defence 
services  ;  Sikh  representation  in  U.P.,  Sindh, 
Bihar,  Bengal  and  Bombay  and  an  increase  in 
Sikh  representation  in  the  North-West  Frontier 
Province.  The  Central  Akali  Dal  supported 
joint  electorates  with  reservation  of  seats  for 
minorities  and  the  setting  up  of  special 
tribunals  for  the  protection  of  minorities. 

The  Mission  did  not  countenance  the 
Sikhs'  demand  for  a  separate  autonomous 
State,  though  it  did  recognize  their  strong 
feeling  against  being  subjected  to  the  Muslim 
rule  and  their  desire  to  keep  the  community 
together.  Moreover,  they  had  been  convinced 
by  their  other  numerous  interviews  that, 
outside  the  supporters  of  the  Muslim  League, 
there  was  an  almost  universal  desire  to  preserve 
the  unity  of  India.  They  rejected,  therefore,  a 
Pakistan  of  six  provinces  as  claimed  byjinnah, 
since  this  would  place  substantial  minorities, 
particularly  the  Sikhs,  under  Muslim  rule.  They 
also  rejected,  as  didjinnah  himself,  a  truncated 
Pakistan  of  contiguous  Muslim-majority  areas, 
involving  a  radical-partition  of  the  Punjab.  This, 
they  believed,  would  be  contrary  to  the  wishes 
of  most  of  the  people  and  would  of  necessity 
divide  the  Sikhs,  leaving  substantial  bodies  of 
them  on  both  sides  of  the  border.  Having 
rejected  Pakistan,  they  put  forward  a  scheme 
for  an  All-India  union  limited  to  defence, 
foreign  affairs  and  communications  within 
which  the  provinces  claimed  for  Pakistan  could 
be  formed  into  sub-federations  ;  and  they 
suggested  a  procedure  for  forming  on  this  basis 
a  three-tier  constitution-  Provinces,  Groups  of 
provinces  and  Union.  A  Constituent  Assembly, 
elected  by  the  provincial  legislatures,  would 
divide  up  into  three  sections,  one  representing 
the  six  Hindu-majority  provinces  and  the  two 
others  the  Pakistan  provinces  in  the  northwest 
and  northeast  of  India.  These  sections,  meeting 
separately,  would  draw  up  constitutions  for  the 
provinces  included  in  them  and  decide 
whether  a  Group  should  be  formed  and  with 


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191 


SIKHS  AND  THK  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


what  subjects.  All  the  sections  would  then  meet 
together  to  frame  the  Union  Constitution. 

The  Muslim  League  and  the  Congress 
accepted  this  scheme;  the  latter,  however,  with 
reservations.  Sikhs  were  united  in  rejecting  it. 
Complaining  that  they  had  been  included, 
without  safeguards,  in  a  Muslim  Group  of 
provinces  where  they  would  be  in  a  hopeless 
minority,  they  declined  to  elect  representatives 
to  the  Constituent  Assembly  and  prevailed  on 
Baldev  Singh  to  refuse  an  invitation  to  serve  in 
an  Interim  Government  that  the  Viceroy  was 
trying  to  form.  The  Mission  felt  their  fears  to 
be  exaggerated,  and,  in  reply  to  an  indignant 
letter  from  Master  Tara  Singh,  the  Secretary 
of  State  pointed  out  that  of  the  various 
alternatives  open  to  the  Mission  their  scheme 
was,  from  the  Sikh  point  of  view,  the  best.  They 
had  escaped  inclusion  in  a  sovereign  Muslim 
State  and  also  escaped  division  through  a 
partition  of  the  Punjab.  Eventually,  the  Sikhs 
were  persuaded  by  the  Congress  to  take  part 
in  the  Constituent  Assembly  and  Baldev  Singh 
became  defence  minister  in  an  Interim 
Government  which  Jawaharlal  Nehru,  on  the 
Viceroy's  invitation,  formed  on  2  September 
1946.  Some  hope  was  also  held  out  to  them 
that,  by  agreement  between  the  Congress  and 
the  League,  they  would  be  allowed  in  the 
section  in  which  they  were  included  the  same 
power  of  vetoing  a  resolution  raising  any  major 
communal  issue  as  under  the  Mission's  scheme 
had  been  granted  to  the  Muslims  in  the  Union 
Constituent  Assembly.  By  this  time,  however, 
Sikh  objections  to  the  Mission's  scheme  were 
becoming  somewhat,  academic,  as  the.  chances 
were  receding  that  it  would  ever  be  put  into 
operation. 

The  Congress'  acceptance  of  th  e  Mission's 
scheme  had  been  ambiguous,  for  they  persisted 
in  an  interpretadon  of  its  provisions  regarding 
the  sections  and  the  grouping  of  provinces 
which  the  Mission  had  declared  to  be 
erroneous.  At  a  meeting  in  Bombay  on  29  July 
1946  the  Council  of  the  League  withdrew  their 
previous  acceptance  of  it  and  decided  that  a 


programme  of  'Direct  Action'  should  be 
prepared  for  the  achievement  of  Pakistan. 
Jinnah  also  declined  to  collaborate  in  the 
Interim  Government.  The  immediate  sequel 
to  the  Bombay  resoludon  was  an  outbreak  of 
communal  rioting  on  an  unprecedented  scale 
in  Calcutta  on  16  August  fixed  by  the  League 
as  Direct  Action  Day.  This  was  followed  in 
October  by  Muslim  assaults  on  Hindus  in  East 
Bengal,  which  in  turn  provided  a  large-scale 
massacre  of  Muslims  by  Hindus  in  Bihar.  In  the 
hope  of  easing  the  communal  tension  by 
bringing  the  League  into  the  Interim 
Government  the  Viceroy,  Lord  Wavell,  himself 
entered  into  negotiations  with  Jinnah  and,  at 
the  end  of  October,  five  League  nominees 
joined  the  government  on  the  understanding 
that  the  League  would  rescind  the  Bombay 
resolution  and  take  part  in  the  work  of  the 
Constituent  Assembly. 

After  the  League's  entry  into  the 
government  there  was  a  lull  in  communal 
rioting,  but  Jinnah  was  unwilling  to  reconsider 
the  Bombay  resolution  without  an  assurance 
that  the  Mission's  scheme  would  be  worked  in 
the  manner  the  Mission  intended;  and  this 
assurance  the  Congress  were  unwilling  to  give, 
for  they  stuck  to  their  own  interpretation  of 
the  scheme.  The  main  point  now  at  issue  was 
whether  in  the  sections  the  voting  regarding 
the  provincial  consdtudons  and  the  formadon 
of  groups  should  be  by  provinces,  as  the 
Congress,  with  the  full  concurrence  of  the 
Sikhs,  contended  (which  would  almost 
certainly  preclude  the  formadon  of  groups), 
or  by  simple  majority  vote,  as  the  League 
claimed.  After  discussions  in  London,  to  which 
at  the  beginning  of  December  1946  the  leaders 
of  both  pardes  along  with  Sardar  Baldev  Singh, 
as  a  representative  of  the  Sikhs,  were  invited, 
the  British  government  issued  a  statement 
upholding  the  latter  interpretation.  The  All- 
India  Congress  Committee  accepted  this 
interpretadon,  but  with  the  qualification  that 
there  must  be  no  compulsion  for  a  province 
or  part  of  the  province  and  that  the  rights  of 


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192 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


the  Sikhs  should  not  be  jeopardized.  Jinnah 
was  not  persuaded  to  modify  his  stand  and,  on 
31  January  1947,  the  Working  Committee  of 
the  League  declined  to  recommend 
reconsideration  of  the  Bombay  resolution  and 
called  on  the  British  government  to  dissolve 
the  Constituent  Assembly,  which  had  met  in 
December  without  League  representatives. 

The  British  government,  realizing  that 
some  fresh  initiative  was  now  required, 
annnounced  on  20  February  that  Lord 
Mountbatten  would  replace  Lord  Wavell  as 
Viceroy  and  that,  come  what  may,  they  would 
trasfer  power  to  Indian  hands  not  later  than 
June  1948.  They  instructed  Mountbatten  to  try 
to  preserve  the  unity  of  India  on  the  basis  of 
the  Mission's  plan,  but  if  by  1  October  this 
proved  to  be  impossible,  to  report  what  steps 
should  be  taken  for  handing  over  power  by  the 
date  fixed.  The  League  had  now  firmly  rejected 
the  Mission's  plan,  and  if  civil  war  was  to  be 
averted  the  only  solution  to  which  all  parties 
might  be  induced  to  agree,  was  truncated 
Pakistan  of  contiguous  Muslim-majority  areas, 
involving  the  partition  of  Bengal  and  the 
Punjab  and  the  division  of  the  Sikhs.  Though 
Jinnah  had  previously  rejected  it,  he  realized 
that  this  was  the  most  he  could  get  and  was 
content  to  take  it  rather  than  have  no  sovereign 
Pakistan  at  all.  The  Congress  had  always  said 
that  they  would  not  contemplate  compelling 
the  people  of  any  part  of  the  country  to  remain 
in  India  against  their  will,  and  in  face  of 
Jinnah's  obduracy  were  now  ready  to  let  him 
take  the  areas  which  on  a  population  basis  he 
could  indisputably  claim.  The  Sikhs  who  would 
suffer  most  if  the  Punjab  was  partitioned  on 
this  basis,  since  this  would  divide  them  leaving 
some  two  million  out  of  about  5-1/2  million 
on  the  Pakistan  side  of  the  border,  were 
insistent  on  partition  rather  than  that  the 
whole  Sikh  community  should  be  included  in 
Pakistan.  So  Mountbatten  had  no  great 
difficulty  in  securing  the  acquiescence  of  all 
three  parties,  the  Congress,  the  League  and 
the  Sikhs,  in  a  plan  for^  dividing  the  country, 


and  proceeded  with  the  utmost  speed  to  carry 
it  out. 

Jinnah's  original  aim  had  been  to  include 
in  Pakistan  the  whole  of  the  Punjab  except  for 
some  Hindi-speaking  districts  of  the  Ambala 
division.  His  only  way  of  achieving  this  aim 
would  have  been  to  conciliate  the  Sikhs,  the 
most  compact  and  militant  minority.  Some  of 
the  Akalis,  notably  Giant  Kartar  Singh,  were  not 
wholly  averse  to  the  Sikhs  throwing  in  their  lot 
with  Pakistan,  provided  they  could  get  good 
terms.  It  would  avert  the  danger  of  division, 
and  in  Pakistan  the  Sikhs,  because  they  were 
so  distinct  from  the  Muslims,  would 
unquestionably  retain  their  identity  and  as  a 
well-organized  minority  could  have  some 
political  weight.  The  Sikh  Communists,  who 
favoured  joining  Pakistan,  suggested  that 
within  it  a  small  Sikh-dominated  province 
should  be  created,  consisting  of  five  central 
Punjab  districts  plus  the  Sikh  Princely  states. 
Giani  Kartar  Singh  would  have  wanted  to  add 
to  this  at  least  the  Lahore  and  the  Sheikhupura 
districts  and  one  colony  district,  Montgomery, 
and  would  also  have  demanded  weightage  for 
the  Sikhs  in  the  Pakistan  services  and  a 
favoured  position  in  the  army.  But  Jinnah, 
though  he  said  that  he  intended  to  give  to  Sikhs 
anything  they  asked  for  within  reason,  never 
troubled  to  ascertain  what  they  wanted  or 
made  them  any  concrete  proposals.  Then  early 
in  March  1947  events  occurred  that 
determined  the  Sikhs  that  in  no  circumstances 
would  they  allow  themselves  to  be  included  as 
community  in  a  Muslim-dominated  Pakistan. 
In  a  widespread  outbreak  of  communal  rioting 
throughout  the  province,  touched  off  by  the 
resignation  of  Khizar's  government  and  a  belief 
among  Hindus  and  Sikhs  that  a  League 
ministry  might  take  its  place  pockets  of  Sikhs 
in  the  Rawalpindi  and  Attock  districts  were 
barbarously  attacked  by  Muslim  mobs,  their 
houses  pillaged  and  set  on  fire  and  themselves 
murdered  or  compelled  to  fly  for.  their  lives. 
After  these  atrocities  which  the  League  leaders 
signally  failed  to  condemn,  Jinnah  continued 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


193 


SIKHS  AND  THE  TRANSFER  OF  POWER 


to  express  a  desire  for  a  settlement  with  the 
Sikhs ;  but  Baldev  Singh  and  Giant  Kartar  Singh 
both  said  that  there  could  be  no  discussion  with 
him  on  the  basis  of  the  Sikhs  being  included 
in  Pakistan,  and  Master  Tara  Singh  declared 
that  he  could  have  nothing  further  to  do  with 
the  Muslim  League. 

The  Sikh  leaders  were  as  determined  to 
keep  their  community  together  as  to  avoid  its 
inclusion  in  Pakistan,  and  with  this  in  view 
urged  that  in  partitioning  the  Punjab 
population  should  not  be  the  sole  criterion  but 
that  weight  should  also  be  given  to  such  factors 
as  ownership  of  property,  the  Sikhs'  stake  in 
the  canal  colonies  and  the  existence  of 
important  Sikh  shrines  in  west  of  Lahore.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  satisfy  them  by  giving 
instruction  to  the  Boundary  Commission, 
appointed  at  the  end  of  June  1947  as  part  of 
Mountbatten's  partition  plan,  that  in  laying 
down  the  line  of  division  on  the  basis  of 
contiguous  majority  areas  of  Muslims  and  non- 
Muslims,  should  also  take  into  account  "other 
factors." 

A  memorandum  was  presented  to  the 
Boundary  Commission  by  thirty-two.  Sikh 
members  of  the  Punjab  Legislative  Assembly 
arguing,  mainly  on  the  basis  of  these  other 
factors,  that  the  boundary  should  be  drawn 
along  the  Chenab  and  thus  keep  over  90  per 
cent  of  the  Sikhs  in  eastern  Punjab.  But  few 
Sikh  leaders  really  expected  that  regard  for 
other  factors  would  lead  the  Commission  to 
make  an  award  so  favourable  to  them;  and 
whereas  the  Congress  and  League  leaders 
publicly  pledged  themselves  to  accept  its  award, 
Sikh  leaders  declined  to  do  so  and  many  of 
thern  openly  declared  that  they  would  resist  it, 
if  it  was  not  to  their  liking.  Giani  Kartar  Singh 
warned  the  Governor  of  the  Punjab,  Sir  Evan 
Jenkins,  that  there  would  be  tears  and 
bloodshed  if  the  boundary  problem  was  not 
suitably  solved,  and  stressed  the  need  for  a 
large-scale  exchange  of  population  as  he  had 
earlier  suggested  to  Mountbatten. 

Early  in  August,  communal  riots  erupted 


in  the  Amritsar  district,  and  these  increased  in 
scale  and  number  as  15  August,  the  date  fixed 
for  the  transfer  of  power,  approached.  Muslims 
made  reprisal  attacks  on  Sikh  villages  in  the 
Lahore  district,  as  the  Sikh  attacks  had 
generally  been  in  revenge  for  the  earlier 
Muslim  onslaughts  on  Sikhs  in  the  Rawalpindi 
district. 

As  had  been  expected,  the  Boundary 
Commission  fixed  the  line  of  division  down  to 
the  centre  of  the  Punjab,  leaving  about  2 
million  Sikhs  on  the  Pakistan  side  of  the  border. 
If  the  small  Sikh  community  was  to  survive  as 
an  intergal  whole,  as  the  Sikh  leaders  desired, 
these  had  to  move,  and  soon  after  15  August 
large  number  of  Sikh  colonists  in  the 
Montgomery  district  and  smaller  number  in 
the  colony  areas  of  Multan  and  Bahawalpur 
state,  left  their  villages  as  though  at  the  word 
of  command  and  trekked  into  eastern  Punjab. 
But  not  all  the  Sikhs  on  the  Pakistan  side  of 
the  border  moved  so  quickly  or  got  off  so 
lightly.  Those  who  moved  after  1 5  August  faced 
murder  and  despoliation.  The  other  side  of  the 
Punjab  where  Muslims  were  in  a  minority  was 
also  engulfed  in  violence.  The  Sikhs  as  a 
community  were  the  worst  sufferers,  for 
Muslims  made  Sikhs  rather  than  Hindus  the 
principal  target  of  attack  ;  but  they  were 
successful  in  realizing  their  aim  of  retaining 
unbroken  the  community's  cohesion. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Moon,  Sir  Periderel,  Divide  and  Quit.  London, 
1961 

2.  Menon,  V.P.,  Transfer  of  Power  in  India.  Bombay, 
1957 

3.  Azad,  Abul  Ka'laim,  India  Wins  Freedom.  Bombay, 
1959 

4.  Sarhadi,  Ajit  Singh,  Punjabi  Suba.  Delhi,  1970 

5.  Kirpal  Singh,  The  Partition  of  the  Punjab.  Patiala, 
1972 

6.  Arnbedkar,  B.BL.,  Pakistan  or  the  Partition  of 
India.  Bombay,  1946 

7.  Ashraf,  M.,  Cabinet  Mission  and  After.  Lahore, 
1946 


SIKHS'  REIATIONS  WITH  HILL  STATES 


194 


SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  HILL  STATES 


8.  Nanda.J.,  Punjab  Uprooted.  Bombay,  1948 

9.  Ray,  Satya  M.,  Partition  of  the  Punjab.  Bombay, 
1965 

10.  Khushwant  Singh,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol. II. 
Princeton,  1966 

1 1 .  Gopal  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikh  People  (1469- 
1978).  Delhi,  1979 

12.  Harbans 'Singh,    The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs- 
Delhi,  1983 

S.P.M. 

SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  HILL  STATES 
lying  between  the  Gariga  and  the  Chenab  rivers 
from  the  time  of  the  Gurus  to  the  reign  of 
Maharaja  Ranjlt  Singh  fluctuated  from  guarded 
friendship  to  open  hostility.  Guru  Nanak  (1469- 
1539)  and  later  his  son,  Baba  Sri  Chand,  had 
preached  the  Sikh  tenets  in  the  hill  tract  east 
of  the  Punjab  proper.  Under  the  order  of  Guru 
AmarDas  (1479-1574),  his  nephew,  Savan  Mall, 
had  gone  to  Haripur  (Guler)  state,  to  preach 
as  well  as  to  send  down  the  River  Beas  timber 
needed  for  the  new  habitation  being  raised  at 
Goindval.  Guru  Hargobind  (1595-1644)  came 
in  contact  with  some  of  Che  chiefs  of  these 
Rajput  states  in  the  Gwalior  Fort  where  he, 
along  with  them,  was  held  captive  under  the 
orders  of  Emperor  Jahahgir.  He  also  helped 
Dharam  Chand,  a  prince  of  Handur 
(Nalagarh)  to  regain  his  throne  after  his  release 
from  Gwalior.  He,  through  his  son,  Baba 
Gurditta  (1613-38),  founded  the  township  of 
Kiratpur  in  Kahlur  (Bilaspur)  state  to  which 
place  he  himself  repaired  in  1635.  Kiratpur 
remained  the  seat  of  the  Gurus  until  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  founded,  in  1655,  ChakkNanaki,  later 
renamed  Anandpur.  The  rulers  of  Kahlur 
treated  the  Gurus  with  reverence  until  Raja 
Bhim  Chand,  who  ruled  from  1665  to  1692, 
became  jealous  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  royal 
style  and  growing  repute.  The  Guru  withdrew 
temporarily  from  Anandpur,  and  accepting,  in 
1685,  the  invitation  of  the  friendly  ruler  of 
Sirmur,  took  up  residence  in  his  territory.  Raja 
Bhim  Chand  forced  upon  him  a  battle  which 
was  fought  at  Bhahgani,  1 1  km  northeast  of 


his  new  abode,  Paonta,  on  18  September  1688. 
The  Raja  and  his  allies  were  repulsed.  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  returned  to  Anandpur  later  in 
1688.  Bhim  Chand  made  his  peace  with  him. 
Guni  Gobind  Singh  in  fact  took  sides  with  him 
in  his  battle  against  a  Mughal  commander 
fought  at  Nadaun  on  20  March  1691.  Bhim 
Chand  was  succeeded  in  1692  by  his  son,  Ajmer 
Chand,  who,  intent  on  evicting  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  from  his  territory,  revived  the  old 
animosity.  In  alliance  with  some  other  hill 
monarchs  and  soliciting  help  from  Emperor 
Aurahgzlb,  he  attacked  Anandpur  successively 
in  1700,1703  and  1705.  The  last  assault  took 
the  form  of  a  protracted  siege,  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  eventually  evacuating  the  Fort.  The  hill 
chiefs  and  the  imperial  troops  came  in  pursuit 
up  to  Chamkaur. 

Guru  Gobind  Singh,  before  his  death  at 
Nanded  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Godavari  in 
Maharashtra  in  November  1708,  deputed 
Banda  Singh  Bahadur  (1670-1716)  to  chastise 
the  faujdar  of  Sirhind  and  the  hill  chieftains 
for  their  part  in  the  persecution  of  the  Sikhs. 
Banda  Singh  during  his  whirlwind  campaign 
sacked  Sirhind  and  reduced  the  hill  states. 
Following  a  period  of  sustained  persecution, 
the  Sikhs  emerged  as  a  political  power.  They 
reconquered  Sirhind  in  January  1664  and 
struck  coins  at  Lahore  in  the  following  year. 
Their  raids  into  the  Gang  Doab  and  beyond 
beginning  in  1764  brought  the  people  to 
submission  and  they  agreed  to  pay  rakhi  or 
protection  moriey  to  them  twice  a  year.  The 
Raja  of  the  Himalayan  state  of  Garhwal  bought 
peace  by  paying  to  the  Sikhs  an  aqnual  tribute 
of  4,000  rupees.  As  George  Forster,  A  Journey 
from  Bengal  to  England,  testifies,  only  two  Sikh 
horsemen  were  enough  to  overawe  a  Garhwal 
officer  into  readily  paying  the  tribute.  Raja  of 
Sirmur  paid  as  tribute  Rs  2,000  per  annum  to 
the  Bharigi  Sardars  of  Buria  regularly  until. 1809 
when  this  state  passed  under  British  prot<  ction. 
The  first  Sikh  chief  to  invade  Kahgra  hill  states 
was  Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ramgarhia,  who 
reduced  Kahgra,  Nurpur  and  Chamba  to 


SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  JATS  OF  BHARATPUR 


195 


SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  JATS  OF  BHARATPUR 


tributary  states,  yielding  together  about 
2,00,000  rupees  annually.  Kahgra,  the  strongest 
of  the  hill  states,  was  ruled  by  Raja  Sahsar 
ChandKatoch  from  1775  to  1823.  In  1783,Jassa 
Singh  helped  by  the  Kanhaiya  sard'ar,  Jai  Singh, 
besieged  Kahgra  Fort  which  had  been  in 
Mughal  possession  since  1619.  The  Fort  was 
ultimately  occupied  by  the  Kanhaiyas  in  1783. 
In  1803-04,  Sahsar  Chand  twice  invaded  Sikh 
territories  in  the  region  of  Hoshiarpur  and  Bij- 
vara  but  was  pushed  back  by  Maharajii  Ranjit 
Singh  (1780-1839)  ,  who  occupied  the  Kahgra 
Fort  itself  on  24  August  1809.  All  the  hi  ll  states 
north  of  the  River  Sutlej  accepted  his 
suzerainty,  and  he  appointed  Desa  Singh 
Majithia  as  his  nazim  or  governor  of  the 
territory. 

Jammu  was  the  principal  state  lying 
between  the  Rivers  Ravi  and  Chenab.  Its  most 
famous  ruler  was  Ranjit  Dev  who  ruled  from 
1750  to  1781.  He  became  a  tributary  of  Sardar 
Jhanda  Singh  of  the  Bhahgi  misl  in  1770. 
During  the  time  of  his  successor,  Brij  Raj, 
Jammu  was  sacked  twice  by  Mahari  Singh 
Sukkarchakkia,  father  of  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh.  Brij  Raj  was  killed  in  battle  in  1787,  and 
his  son,  Sampuran  Dev,  made  a  complete 
submission  to  the  Sikhs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Hutchison,  J.,  and  J. Ph.  Vogel,  History  of  the 
Punjab  Hill  States.  Lahore,  1933 

2.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1978-82 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Cha  ndigarh, 
1966 

4.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,  Life  and  Times  of  Ranjit 
Singh.  Nabha,  1977 

H.R.G. 

SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  JATS  OF 
BHARATPUR.  Hindu  Jats,  who  "have  ethnic 
affinity  with  the  Sikh  Jatts  of  the  Punjab,  had 
emerged,  like  the  Sikhs,  as  a  new  political 
power  in  the  region  south  of  Delhi.  Their  first 
revolt  in  1669  under  their  leader  Gokul  was 


ruthlessly  suppressed  by  the  Mughal  authority, 
but  they  soon  found  another  leader  in  Raja 
Ram  who  continued  the  struggle  till  his  death 
in  July  1688.  Churaman  (d.  1721),  his  younger 
brother  and  successor  to  leadership,  was  an 
astute  politician.  He  professed  allegiance  to 
Emperor  Bahadur  Shah-I  (1707-12)  and 
received  from  him  mansab  of  1500  zat  and  500 
sowar.  He  joined  the  imperial  campaign  against 
the  Sikhs  at  Sadhaura  and  Lohgarh  in  1710. 

Suraj  Mall,  the  adopted  son  of 
Churaman's  son,  Badan  Singh,  was  the  real 
founder  of  the  Jat  state  of  Bharatpur.  He  was 
killed  on  25  December  1763  in  a  batde  near 
Delhi  against  Najib  ud-Daulah,  the  Ruhila 
chief  who  had  been  appointed  Mir  Bakhshi  and 
Regent  at  Delhi  by  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  after 
the  batde  of  Panipat  (1761).  Suraj  Mall's  son 
and  successor  Jawahar  Singh  (d.  1768), 
appealed  to  the  Sikhs  for  help.  The  latter 
responded  immediately.  40,000  of  them  under 
the  overall  command  of  Sardar  Jassa  Singh 
Ahluvalia  crossed  the  Yamuna  on  20  February 
and  plundered  the  country  around  it.  Najib 
ud-Daulah  rushed  back  to  save  his  own 
territories  and  the  immdediate  pressure  on  the 
Jats  was  removed. 

Jawahar  Singh  now  made  preparations  to 
avenge  his  father's  death.  Besides  his  own  army, 
he  hired  25,000  Maratha  cavalry  and  decided 
to  engage  some  Sikhs  also,  and  fixed  an 
interview  with  the  Sikh  sardars  encamped  at 
Barari  Ghat  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Yamuna, 
20  km  north  of  Delhi.  He  forded  the  Yamuna 
on  an  elephant  and  was  led  on  foot  into  an 
assembly  of  about  100  Sikh  sardars.  The 
meeting  began  with  ardas,  the  supplicatory 
Sikh  prayer,  in  which  they  pleaded,  "Jawahar 
Singh,  son  of  Suraj  Mall  and  a  devotee'of  Guru 
Nanak,  has  sought  refuge  with  Khalsa  jio 
desiring  redress  for  his  father's  blood.  So  help 
us  God!"  Jawahar  Singh  enlisted  15,000  Sikhs. 
The  fighting  went  on  for  20  days.  Najib  was 
defeated  and  forced  to  retire  into  the  Red  Fort 
on  9 January  1765.  Within  a  month  the  Ruhilas 
of  Najib  ud-Daulah  suffered  another  defeat  at 


SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITHJATS  OF  BHARATPUR        196         SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  MUGHAL  EMPERORS 


the  hands  of  the  Sikhs  in  the  Nakhas  or  horse- 
market  and  in  Sabzi  Mandi.  Just  at  this  time 
news  arrived  of  a  fresh  invasion  of  the  Punjab 
by  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  the  Sikhs  hastening 
back  to  protect  their  own  homeland. 

Jawahar  Singh's  Maratha  allies  later  went 
over  to  aid  his  western  neighbour,  Raja  Madho 
Singh  of  Jaipur,  taking  sides  also  with  his 
stepbrother,  Nahar  Singh,  who  was  in 
independent  possession  of  Dholpur.  Jawahar 
Singh  engaged  25,000  Sikhs  under  the 
command  of  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia  to  help  him 
in  his  campaign  against  Jaipur,  but  the  Rajput 
ruler  made  his  peace  with  him.  He  then  took 
into  his  pay  a  fresh  force  of  7,000  Sikhs  and 
attacked  Nahar  Singh,  who  called  in  the 
Marathas  to  his  help.  The  Sikhs  defeated  the 
Marathas  in  a  fierce  batde  fought  on  13-14 
March  1766.  Nahar  Singh  took  refuge  with 
Madho  Singh  of  Jaipur.  Jawahar  Singh  seized 
Dholpur  and  the  Sikhs  captured  several 
hundred  horses  of  the  defeated  Marathas. 
Madho  Singh  of  Jaipur  attacked  Bharatpur  in 
December  1767.  Jawahar  Singh  again  engaged 
10,000  Sikhs  to  fight  for  him,  but  was  defeated 
on  29  February  1768  with  a  heavy  loss  of  life. 
He  enrolled  another  10,000  Sikhs  making  a 
total  of  20,000  at  7,00,000  rupees  per  mensem. 
As  he  again  advanced  to  meet  Madho  Singh, 
the  latter  redred  without  giving  a  fight. 

Jawahar  Singh  was  assassinated  in  June 
1768.  His  younger  brother,  Rata'n  Singh,  was 
also  murdered  in  April  1769.  His  two  brothers, 
Naval  Singh  and  Ranjit  Singh,  contested  the 
succession.  The  former  occupied  Bharatpur 
while  the  latter  invited  the  Sikhs  for  help.  The 
Sikhs  arrived  near  'Aligarh  on  26 January  1770. 
Naval  Singh  proceeded  to  check  their  advance, 
but  fled  in  panic  without  firing  a  shot.  The 
Sikhs  chased  him  as  far  as  Chunar  where  Walter 
Reinhard  (1720-78),  a  European  adventurer 
commonly  known  as  Samru,  tried  to  bring 
about  peace.  A  fortnight's  negotiations 
commencing  on  8  February  1770  ended  in 
smoke  and  the  Sikhs  marched  back  plundering 
Jat  villages  on  the  way.  Naval  Singh,  regrouping 


his  troops,  followed  them.  The  Sikhs  suddenly 
turned  back  on  24  February  1770  and 
surrounded  the  Jat  advance  guard  under  Rene 
Madec  (1736-84),  another  European  adventurer, 
and  Gopal  Rao  Maratha.  In  the  battle  that 
followed,  almost  the  entire  Maratha  cavalry  was 
cut  to  pieces  and  Gopal  Rao  was  wounded. 
Three  of  Rene  Madec's  six  companies  were 
completely  wiped  out.  On  the  approach  of  the 
main  body  of  the  Jats,  the  Sikhs  withdrew. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhaiigu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Gand-a  Singh,  Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia. 
Patiala,  1969 

4.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1978-82 

H.R.G. 

SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  MUGHAL 
EMPERORS.  The  janam  sakhis,  traditional 
accounts  of  the  life  of  Guru  Nanak  (1469-1539), 
describe  a  meeting  between  him  and  Babar 
(1483-1530),  founder  of  the  Mughal  dynasty, 
who  was  impressed  by  the  former's  spiritual 
manner.  Four  of  the  Guru's  sabdas  included 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  allude  to  the  havoc 
and  misery  Babar's  invasion  brought  in  its  train. 
According  to  Sikh  tradition,  Emperor 
Humayuh  (d.  1556),  while  fleeing  to  Iran  in 
1540,  waited  upon  Guru  Ahgad  (1506-52)  at 
Khadur  to  seek  his  blessing.  Akbar  (1542-1605) , 
liberal  in  his  religious  policy,  treated  Guru 
Amar  Das  (1479-1574),  Guru  Ram  Das  (1534- 
81)  and  Guru  Arjan  (1563-1606)  with 
reverence.  His  son  and  successor,  Jahahgir 
(1569-1627),  was  not  as  open-hearted.  He  had 
Guru  Arjan  executed  and  Guru  Hargobind 
(1595-1644)  imprisoned  for  a  time,  though 
later  he  adopted  a  friendly  attitude  towards  the 
latter.  Guru  Hargobind  gave  a  mardal  turn  to 
the  career  of  the  Sikh  community,  and  there 
occurred  in  his  lifetime  armed  encounters  with 


SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  MUGHAL  EMPERORS        197        SIKHS'  REIATIONS  WITH  MUGHAL  EMPERORS 


the  imperial  troops.  Emperor  Shah  Jahan's 
eldest  son,  Dara  Shukoh,  was  known  to  be  an 
admirer  of  Gurii  Har  Rai.  Dara  lost  to 
Aurahgzib  in  the  battle  of  succession. 
Aurahgzib,  emperor  from  1658  to  1707, 
summoned  Guru  Har  Rai  to  Delhi  probably  to 
explain  his  alleged  support  to  Dara.  The  Guru 
did  not  go  himself  but  sent  his  son,  Ram  Rai, 
who  won  the  Emperor's  favour  by  deliberately 
misreading  a  verse  by  Guru  Nanak  to  please 
the  king  for  which  he  was  anathematized  by 
his  father.  Guru  Har  Rai's  successor,  Guru  Har 
Krishan  (1656-64),  was  also  summoned  by  the 
Emperor  to  Delhi  where  he  died  of  smallpox. 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  (1621-75),  Nanak  IX,  was 
executed  in  Delhi  under  Aurahgzib's  orders. 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  (1666-1708)  was  forced  to 
remain  in  a  constant  state  of  warfare  owing  to 
the  intolerance  of  the  Empieror.  He  addressed 
a  strong  letter  of  protest  and  admonition  in 
Persian  verse  to  Aurahgzib  who  invited  him  for 
personal  parleys.  But  the  Emperor  died  before 
the  two  could  meet.  The  next  Emperor,  Bahadur 
Shah  I,  displayed  friendly  respect  towards  the 
Guru  and  relations  between  the  Sikhs  and  the 
State  would  have  taken  a  positive  turn  but  for 
the  sudden  death  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh. 

Guru  Gobind  Singh  shortly  before  his 
death  vested  the  guruship  in  the  Granth  or  the 
Holy  Book  and  the  Panth  or  the  community  as 
a  whole,  ending  the  line  of  living  Gurus.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Mughal  empire,  following 
the  death  of  Aurahgzib,  started  disintegrating. 
There  were  rebellions  everywhere,  and  outlying 
provinces  had  become  virtually  independent. 
Emperors  at  Delhi  came  and  went  in  quick 
succession,  the  throne  changing  hands  eight 
times  between  1707  and  1720.  Sikhs  rose  in 
rebellion  under  the  leadership  of  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur  (1670-1716),  and  Emperor  Bahadur 
Shah  issued,  on  10  December  1710,  a  general 
warrant  for  the  faujdars  to  "kill  the  worshippers 
of  Nanak  [i.e.  Sikhs]  wherever  found." 
Persecution  of  the  cruellest  kind  was  let  loose 
upon  the  Sikhs,  who  yet  rose  again  and  again 
with  redoubled  strength  until  in  the  late  1760's 


they  became  sovereign  masters  of  the  country 
between  the  Indus  and  the  Yamuna.  They  took 
full  advantage  of  the  disorder  caused  by  foreign 
invaders,  Nadir  Shah  and  Ahmad  Shah  Abdali. 
Shah  'Alam  II  (acc.  1759,  d.  1806)  was  emperor 
only  in  name.  Following  the  murder  of  his 
father,  'Alamgir  II,  on  29  November  1759,  he 
had  fled  from  Delhi,  crowned  himself  in  the 
camp,  and  lived  at  Allahabad  up  to  1771, 
returning  to  Delhi  thereafter  as  a  protege  of 
Mahadji  Scindia,  the  Maratha  chief  of  Gwalior. 
The  Sikhs  had  established  themselves  in  the 
Sirhind  province  up  to  Karnal  and  Panipat 
beyond  which  lay  the  crown-lands  of  the 
Emperor  on  both  sides  of  the  Yamuna.  These 
territories  became  a  perpetual  raiding  ground 
of  the  Sikhs.  Even  the  imperial  capital  was  not 
beyond  their  reach.  In  January  1774,  they 
sacked  Shahdara  and  in  July  1775  they  raided 
Pahargahj  and  Jaisiiighpura.  Their 
depredations  extended  beyond  Delhi  as  far  as 
'Aligarh  and  Farrakhabad.  The  Sikhs  entered 
the  Red  Fort  on  11  March  1783,  the  Emperor 
and  his  courtiers  hiding  themselves  in  their 
private  apparunents.  At  the  Emperor's  request, 
Begam  Samrui  persuaded  the  Sikhs  to  retire 
from  Delhi  and  spare  the  crown-lands.  It  was 
agreed  that  only  Sairdar  Baghel  Singh  of  the 
Karorsihghia  misl  with  4,000  men  would 
remain  in  the  capital,  with  Sabzi  Mandi  as  his 
headquarters.  He  was  allowed  to  build  seven 
gurdwaras  at  places  sacred  to  the  Sikhs.  To 
meet  the  expenses  of  his  troops  and  of  the 
construction  of  gurdwaras,  he  was  permitted 
to  charge  six  annas  in  a  rupee  (37.5%)  of  the 
income  from  octroi  duties  in  the  capital.  In 
1787,  the  Sikhs  aided  Ghulam  Qadir  Ruhila  to 
capture  Delhi.  Mahadji  Scindia  expelled  the 
Ruhila  chief  from  Delhi  and  reasserted  his 
authority  over  the  Emperor  in  October  1788. 
He  tried  without  much  success  to  placate  the 
Sikhs,  who  had  resumed  their  attacks  on  the 
crown-lands,  which  came  to  an  end  only  after 
the  Maratha 's  defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  British 
and  the  establishment  of  British  supremacy  at 
Delhi  in  1803. 


SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  NAWAli  OF  OUDH 


198 


SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  NAWAli  OF  OUDH 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bharigu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Sharma,  Sri  Ram,  Religious  Policyof  the  Mughal 
Emperors.  Bombay,  1962 

4.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikh  Gurus. 
Delhi,  1978 

5.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

6.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

7.  Gopal  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikh  People  (1469- 
1978).  Delhi,  1979 

H.R.G. 

SIKHS'  RELATIONS  WITH  NAWAB  OF 
OUDH.  For  a  whole  decade  prior  to  1 774,  Sikhs 
had  been  regularly  raiding  and  pillaging  upper 
Gariga-Yamuna  Doab  and  Ruhilkhand 
bordering  on  Oudh.  Yet  they  had  not  entered 
the  territory  of  the  Nawab,  Shuja'  ud-Daulah, 
who  had  become  an  ally  of  the  British  since 
his  defeat  in  the  battle  of  Buxar  (22  October 
1764).  With  British  help  he  conquered 
Ruhilkhand  in  1774,  thus  eliminating  the 
buffer  between  himself  and  the  Sikhs.  Zabita 
Khan,  the  defeated  Ruhila  chief,  invited  the 
Sikhs  in  1776  to  join  him  m  attacking  the 
imperial  domains.  Asaf  ud-Daulah,  who 
became  Nawab  of  Oudh  at  the  death,  on  26 
January  1775,  of  his  father,  Shuja'  ud-Daulah, 
began  wooing  the  Sikhs  in  order  to  win  them 
over  against  Zabita  Khan.  The  Sikhs  were 
offered  7,00,00  rupees  immediately  for  the 
alliance  and  a  similar  amount  after  the  Ruhila 
chief  had  been  expelled  from  his  possessions 
in  the  Gang  Doab.  The  Sikhs,  however,  decided 
not  to  betray  their  old  friend,  Zabita  Khan. 
They  carried  out  raids  across  the  Gaftga  in  the 
area  of  Bijnore,  Najibabad  and  Anupshahr  in 
1778  and  again  in  1780.  Some  skirmishes  took 
place  between  them  and  the  troops  of  Oudh. 

In  the  beginning  of  1785,  a  30,000  strong 
Sikh  force  under  Baghel  Singh,  Gurdit  Singh 


and  Jassa  Singh  Ramgarhia,  entered  the  Gang 
Doab  and  pillaging  towns  on  their  line  of 
march  crossed  the  Gariga  into  the  country  of 
Oudh.  On  14  January  1785,  they  attacked 
Chandausi,  a  market  town,  and  after 
plundering  it  for  two  days  recrossed  the  Ganga 
at  the  news  of  the  approach  of  Oudh  troops 
reinforced  by  a  British  contingent  of  infantry, 
cavalry  and  artillery.  They  attempted  further 
raids  into  Ruhilkhand  on  29 January  and  again 
on  5  February,  but  failed  in  face  of  increased 
vigilance  of  the  Oudh  and  British  troops  at  all 
fords  and  ferries. 

By  a  treaty  concluded  between  Mahadji 
Scindia  and  the  Sikhs  on  9  May  1785,  the  latter 
agreed  not  to  attack  the  territories  of  the 
Nawab  of  Oudh.  Oudh  was  virtually  a  Bridsh 
protectorate  controlled  through  the  Residency 
at  Lucknow.  The  Bridsh  policy  as  regards  the 
Sikhs  was  to  repel  them  if  they  invaded  Oudh 
territory,  but  to  leave  them  alone  otherwise. 
When  on  3  January  1791,  a  British  officer, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Robert  Stuart,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Sardar  Bhariga  Singh  of  Thanesar  who 
demanded  a  large  ransom  for  his  release,  the 
Nawab  of  Oudh  volunteered  help  to  Mahadji 
Scindia  to  checkmate  the  Sikhs,  b  offer 
was  ignored  by  both  the  British  and  the  Marathas. 

In  1794,  a  feud  arose  in  the  ruling  family 
of  Rampur  in  Ruhilkhand  which  had  been 
allowed  in  1774  to  remain  a  separate  state 
feudatory  to  the  Nawab  of  Oudh.  The  Nawab 
wanted  to  recognize  the  usurper,  Ghulam 
Muhammad,  in  consideration  of  a  handsome 
bribe  but  was  not  permitted  to  do  so  by  the 
British.  Jassa  Singh  Ramgarhia  offered  to 
support  Ghulam  Muhammad  with  30,000  Sikh 
soldiers  for  an  appropriate  amount.  The 
Nawab,  in  order  to  counteract  the  move  of  the 
Ramgarhia  chief,  opened  negotiations  with 
some  other  Sikh  Sardars  who  showed  a 
willingness  to  help.  But  he  could  not  setde 
terms  without  the  approval  of  the  British  and 
Ghulam  Muhammad  did  not  have  enough 
money  to  attract  Jassa  Singh  Ramgarhia.  So 
nothing  came  out  of  these  negotiations. 


SIKH  YUDDHER  ITIHAS 


199 


SIKl.lGAR  SIKHS 


In  1795,  the  Sikhs  sought  Nawab  of 
Oudh's  permission  to  visit  Nanak  Mata,  their 
holy  shrine  situated  near  Pilibhit.  The  British 
Resident  atLucknow,  George  Frederick  Cherry, 
advised  the  Nawab  to  put  off  the  Sikhs:  asking 
them  to  postpone  the  visit  to  the  following  year. 
That  is  the  last  kno  wn  point  of  con  tact  between 
the  Sikhs  and  the  Nawab. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bharigu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachih  Panlh  Prakash. 
Am  ri  tsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Kapur,  Prithipal  Singh,  Sardar  Jassa  Singh 
Ramgarhia.  Amritsar,  1957 

4.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  Histor)'  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1978-82 

5.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

H.R.G. 

SIKH  YUDDHER  ITIHAS  O  MAHARAJA 
DULEEP  SINGH,  by  Barodakanta  Mitra,  is  a 
brief  narrative  in  Bengali  of  the  fall  of  the  Sikh 
kingdom  and  of  the  career  of  the  deposed 
sovereign  Duleep  Singh.  Published  in  Calcutta 
in  AD  1893,  the  monograph  made  use  of  the 
official  records  and  other  primary  sources, 
besides  relying  heavily  on  a  number  of 
secondary  works  such  as  those  of  Cunningham, 
Bell,  Smyth  and  Steinbach.  Broadly,  the  volume 
can  be  divided  into  two  sections,  the  first 
dealing  with  the  Anglo-Sikh  wars  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  author,  marked  the  "most 
decisive  event"  in  the  nineteenth  century 
history  of  India,  and  the  second  devoted  to  the 
life  of  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh.  Mitra  attributes 
the  outbreak  of  hostilities  between  the  British 
and  the  Sikhs  to  the  excessive  concentration 
of  the  military  power  of  the  former  along  the 
Sutlej  and  other  acts  of  provocation  such  as 
the  appointment  to  the  frontier  of  Major 
George  Broadfoot,  knewn  for  his  anti-Sikh  bias. 
He  holds  the  East  India  Company  responsible 
for  violating  the  treaty  of  friendship  with  the 


Lahore  kingdom.  In  the  description  of  the 
batUes,  he  contrasts  Lai  Singh's  treacherous 
role  at  Mudki  with  the  determined  heroism  of 
Sham  Singh  Atarivala  at  Sabhraoh.  The  teaty 
of  Bharoval  ending  the  war  is  considered  just, 
so  also  the  administration  of  the  British 
Resident  at  Lahore.  The  author  is  however 
critical  of  the  policy  of  Lord  Dalhousie  and 
blames  the  British  for  delaying  military 
intervention  against  the  Multan  mutineers. 
The  annexadon  of  the  Punjab  is  described  as 
contravening  all  norms  of  polidcal  morality. 

Maharaja  Duleep  Singh's  life  is  delineated 
in  considerable  detail,  drawing  upon  Lady 
Login's  account  as  well  as  upon  contemporary 
newspapers  such  as  The  Englishman,  Moscow 
News  and  The  Times  of  London.  The 
monograph  comes  to  a  close  with  the 
Maharaja's  revolt  against  the  British,  his 
political  activities  in  different  European  capitals 
and  his  sorrowful  end  in  a  Paris  hotel  in  1893. 

H.B. 

SIKLIGAR  SIKHS  constitute  that  section  of 
lohars  or  ironsmiths  who  once  specialized  in 
the  craft  of  making  and  polishing  weapons. 
Sikligar  is  derived  from  Persian  saql,  lit. 
polishing,  furnishing,  making  bright  (a  sword), 
the  term  saqlgar  meaning  a  polisher  of  swords. 
In  medieval  India,  Sikligars  were  in  great 
demand  for  manufacturing  spears,  swords, 
shields  and  arrows.  Some  of  them  later  learnt 
even  to  make  matchlocks,  muskets,  cannon  and 
guns.  Traditionally  treated  as  of  a  low  caste, 
Sikligars  first  came  in  contact  with  Sikhism 
during  the  time  of  Guru  Hargobind  (1595- 
1644)  who  had  initiated  the  practice  of  arms 
among  Sikhs.  The  advent  of  modern  weapons 
and  industrial  technology  has  hit  the  Sikligars 
hard  economically.  Engaged  in  the  pursuit  of 
an  obsolete  occupation,  they  are  now  a  poor 
and  backward  people  forming  one  of  the 
scheduled  castes  as  defined  under  the  Indian 
Constitution.  Also  known  as  gaddi-lohd  -s  they 
roam  about  in  small  groups  carrying  their 
•  meagre  possessions  on  specially  designed  carts 


SILOANI 


200 


S1MI5HARO 


(gaddi,  in  north  Indian  dialects)  and  making 
and  selling  small  articles  like  knives,  sickles, 
betel-nut  cutters,  sieves,  locks,  buckets  and  toys 
which  they  manufacture  from  waste-metal.  The 
influence  of  Sikhism  is  still  clearly  discernible 
in  the  dress  and  social  customs  of  some  of  the 
Sikligars.  The  males,  especially  those  of  the 
older  generation,  wear  their  hair  long.  Their 
women-folk  wear  saivar  (loose  trousers)  and 
kamiz  (shirt)  like  Punjabi  women  or  lahinga 
(skirt)  and  choli  (bodice)  like  Rajasthani 
women,  but  the  use  of  dhoti  and  sari  is  rare. 
The  newly  born  child  is  on  the  fourth  day 
administered  amrit  by  five  Sikhs;  reladves  and 
friends  assemble  in  sangat  where  karah  prasad 
is  distributed.  A  special  share  of  karah  prasad 
is  sent  to  any  member  who  keeps  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  or  any  breviary  of  gurbani  at 
home.  Sikligar  Sikhs  of  Central  and  South 
India  have  great  faith  in  Takht  Sachkhand  Sri 
Hazur  Sahib  at  Nanded,  which  they  visit 
regularly.  On  the  annual  Takht  ishnan  (lit. 
bath  ceremony)  at  the  Takht  Sahib,  it  is  the 
special  privilege  of  Sikligar  Sikhs  to  clean  and 
oil  the  old  weapons  preserved  there  as  sacred 
relics. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Rose,  H.A.,  ed.,  A  Glossary  of  the  Tribes  and 
Castes  of  the  Punjab  and  North-West  Frontier 
Province.  Lahore,  1911-19 

N.S.A. 

SlLOANI,  village  9  km  from  Raikot  town  ('30"- 
39'N,  75"-37'E),  is  sacred  to  the  memory  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh,  who  visited  the  place 
travelling  through  the  Malva  after  the  battle 
of  Chamkaur  in  December  1705.  Gurdwara 
Beri  Sahib  Patshahi  Dasvih  commemorates  the 
spot  where  Guru  Gobind  Singh  alighted  for  rest 
under  a  beri  tree.  It  is  here  that  Rai  Kalha,  the 
chief  of  Raikot,  first  met  the  Guru.  The  Rai 
was  camping  at  Siloani  which  formed  part  of 
his  territory.  Guru  Gobind  Singh  was  still 
dressed  as  a  Muslim  divine.  When  he  disclosed 
his  identity,  Rai  Kalha  felt  very  happy  and 


escorted  him  to  his  own  town  of  Raikot. 

The  original  Mahji  Sahib  at  Siloani  is  a 
small  domed  room,  near  the  beri  tree,  later 
extended  by  adding  a  rectangular  hall  and  a 
verandah  in  front.  Another  room  as  an 
extension  to  the  hall  was  added  in  1967.  The 
hall  and  the  sanctum  have  now  a  mosaic  floor 
inset  with  multicoloured  geometrical  designs. 
The  Gurdwara  is  managed  by  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  through  a 
local  committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tiratb  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduariah.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

M.G.S. 

SIMBHARO,  village  16  km  from  Patiala,  claims 
a  historical  shrine  known  as  Gurdwara  Sahib 
Patshahi  Nauvih  (Deri  Sahib).  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  is  said  to  have  stayed  in  this  village 
while  travelling  through  this  area.  An  old  Mahji 
Sahib  which  marked  the  site  where  he  had 
halted,  was  recently  replaced  by  a  modern 
gurdwara  constructed  by  Sant  Hazura  Singh. 
A  new  flag  mast  was  raised  on  14  December 
1978.  The  sanctum  inside  the  rectangular  divan 
hall  has  a  small  conical  dome  over  it.  The 
sarovar  is  within  the  Gurdwara  compound.  The 
shrine  is  managed  by  Sant  Hazura  Singh.  Large 
gatherings  take  place  on  every  full-moon  day. 
An  important  festival  observed  is  the  annual 
fair  held  on  the  full-moon  day  of  the  month  of 
Magh  (January). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darslian. 
Amiiisar,  1923 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduai  iaii.  Amritsar, 
n.d 


SIMON  COMMISSION 


201 


SIMON  COMMISSION 


4.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavan  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

M.G.S. 

SIMON  COMMISSION,  designated  after  the 
name  of  its  chairman,  Sir  John  Simon  (1873- 
1954),  was  constituted  in  1927  as  a  royal 
parliamentary  commission.  As  proposed  by  the 
Viceroy,  Lord  Irwin  (later  Halifax),  all  of  its 
seven  members  were  British,  selected  from 
among  the  members  of  the  two  Houses  of 
Parliament.  However,  only  the  chairman  of  the 
Commission  was  at  the  time  of  his  appointment 
a  statesman  of  the  first  rank  who  was  well  known 
in  India.  The  other  members  of  the 
Commission  were  :  Baron  Strathcona,  Edward 
C.G.  Cadogan,  and  George  R.  Lane  Fox,  all 
three  Conservatives;  Viscount  Burnham,  a 
Unionist ;  and  Vernon  Hartshorn  and  Clement 
R.  Attlee,  Socialist  or  Labour.  Another 
Labourite,  Stephen  Walsh,  initially  accepted 
appointment  but  was  too  ill  to  serve  and  so 
was  replaced  by  Hartshorn  before  the 
Commission  commenced  its  work.  Although 
Attlee  was  not  well  known  to  India  at  the  time, 
two  decades  later  he  would  lead  the  British 
government  during  the  period  when  India 
gained  independence.  Two  members, 
Strathcona  and  Burnham,  represented  the 
House  of  Lords  on  the  Commission,  while  all 
the  others  were  from  the  House  of  Commons. 

Although  it  took  until  23-24  No  vember  for 
the  Commission  to  receive  formal  parliamentary 
approval  of  its  personnel  and  royal  assent  which 
were  required  for  it  to  be  duly  constituted 
under  English  law,  in  India  Lord  Irwin 
announced  its  appointment  on  8  November 
1927.  Its  members  and  staff  came  ashore  at 
Bombay  for  a  short  preliminary  tour  of  India 
on  3  February  1928,  leaving  for  London  again 
on  31  March.  A  second  and  more  thorough  tour 
of  India  lasted  from  11  October  1928  to  13 
April  1929.  The  next  year,  after  its  deliberations 
were  completed  at  home  in  England,  in  May 
the  Commission 'is  findings  were  put  into  a  formal 
report  to  Parliament.  Then  on  10  to  24  June 


1930  they  were  published  in  London  in  two 
separate  volume  s,  the  first  a  survey  of  the  situation 
in  India  (Cmd.  3568)  and  the  second  the 
commission's  recommendations  (Cmd.  3569) . 

The  Simon  Commission  became  the  focus 
of  public  discussion  in  India  as  soon  as  the 
Viceroy  announced  its  formation.  Whether  to 
boycott  it  or  to  co-operate  with  it  became  the 
most  pressing  political  question.  The  main 
objection  to  co-operation  was  that  India  was 
not  represented  on  the  Commission  ;  also  that 
it  had  been  empowered  to  proceed  indepen- 
dendy  rather  than  charged  to  work  in  close 
consultation  with  Indian  political  leaders.  On 
12  November  1927,  the  Working  Committee 
of  the  Indian  National  Congress  resolved  that 
all  parties  should  abstain  from  co-operating 
with  the  Commission,  and  virtually  all  Indian 
leader^  and  organizations  initially  adopted  this 
policy.  When  the  Commission  arrived  in  India 
it  was  faced  by  an  all-ndia  hartal,  black  apparel 
and  flags,  and  signs  reading  "Simon  go  back." 
Boycott  demonstrations  remained  a 'dramatic 
presence  throughout  both  tours  by  the 
Commission  leading  to  police  action  at  several 
places  that  injured  many  protesters.  But 
unanimity  of  support  for  the  boycott  strategy 
was  broken,  just  a  few  days  following  the  Congress 
resolution,  by  the  Punjab  Muslim  League.  It 
resolved  to  co-operate  with  the  Commission. 
So  did  the  Punjab  Provincial  Hindu  Sabha.  In 
March  1928  the  Punjab  Legislative  Council 
nominated  a  committee  with  Ujjal  Singh  as  its 
secretary  to  report  to  the  Commission. 

Throughout  the  period  from  1927  to 
1930,  there  was  a  broad  range  of  Sikh  opinion 
about  what  strategy  to  adopt  in  response  to  the 
Simon  Commission,  and  it  varied  with  changes 
in  the  political  situation.  Sikhs  in  the  Congress- 
like Sardul  Singh  Caveeshar,  Amar  Singh 
Jhabal,  and  Mahgal  Singh  Gill-  were  obliged 
to  boycott.  But  many  others  accepted  the 
boycott  in  order  to  participate  in  the  All-Parties 
Conference,  which  began  its  proceedings  in 
February  1928  as  a  Congress  alternative  to  the 
Commission.  The  Conference  was  a  response 


SIMON  COMMISSION 


SIMON  COMMISSION 


to  the  challenge  to  India  made  by  Lord 
Birkenhead  when  he  moved  the  Statutory 
Commission  Bill  in  Parliament.  The  challenge, 
met  in  the  Nehru  Report  that  was  published 
in  August  and  debated  in  December  1928,  was 
to  write  a  national  constitution  for  India 
independently  of  the  British.  Leaders  of  the 
Shicomani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee, 
the  ShiromanI  Akali  Dal,  and  the  Central  Sikh 
League  joined  the  boycott  on  that  basis,  and 
convened  an  All  Parties  Sikh  Conference  in 
Amritsar  on  30  January  1928  at  which  about 
150  prominent  Sikhs  were  selected  delegates 
to  the  national  conference.  Before  the  end  of 
the  year,  however,  Sikh  dissatisfaction  with  the 
terms  of  the  Nehru  Report  called  into  question 
the  boycott  strategy,  too. 

Already  at  the  beginning  of  1928,  Sikhs 
who  were  early  to  decide  to  co-operate  had 
formed  the  Central  Sikh  Association  as  a 
coalition  organized  to  represent  Sikh  interests. 
In  May,  the  Sikhs  placed  a  memorandum  of 
representation  before  the  Commission,  signed 
by  Sundar  Singh  Majithla,  Shivdev  Singh 
Oberoi,  Harbahs  Singh  of  Atari,  Raghbir  Singh 
Sandhavalia\  and  Mohan  Singh  Rais  of 
Rawalpindi.  The  memorandum  said:  "While 
anxious  to  maintain  their  individuality  as  a 
separate  community,  they  [the  Sikhs]  are  always 
ready  to  co-operate  with  their  sister 
communities  for  the  development  of  a  united 
nation.  They  would,  therefore,  be  the  first  to 
welcome  a  declaration  that  no  considerations 
of  caste  or  religion  shall  affect  the  matter  of 
organisation  of  a  national  government  in  the 
country.  They  are  prepared  to  stand  on  merit 
alone  provided  they,  in  common  with  others, 
are  permitted  to  grow  unhampered  by  any 
impediments,  in  the  way  of  reservation  for  any 
other  community."  Then  in  November  a 
delegation  of  nine  from  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan 
appeared  before  the  Commission  at  Lahore, 
where  Sundar  Singh  Majithla,  Bhai  Jodh  Singh, 
Ujjal  Singh  and  the  other  delegates  responded 
to  questions  put  by  the  commissioners.  The 
delegation  reaffirmed  that  Sikhs  had  been  a 


distinct  community  since  the  time  of  the  Gurus, 
and  their  distinctiveness  was  acknowledged  by 
the  Montagu-Chelmsford  Report.  They 
proposed  30  per  cent  representation  for  Sikhs 
in  the  Punjab  legislature  by  reservation  or  by 
separate  electorates.  In  March  1929,  at  Delhi, 
thirty-six  from  among  the  original  delegation 
of  about  150  Sikhs  gave  a  banquet  in  honour 
of  the  commissioners,  at  which  t  hey  again  drew 
their  attention  to  the  need  for  a  political 
framework  which  would  safeguard  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  Sikh  community. 

The  report  of  the  Simon  Commission 
published  in  1930  satisfied  neither  those  who 
had  been  steadfast  in  support  of  boycott  nor 
those  who  had  taken  trouble  to  represent  Sikh 
interests  to  the  Commission.  The  Commission 
proposed  to  introduce  dyarchy  at  the  centre 
and  to  advance  from  dyarchy  to  fully 
responsible  government  in  the  provinces,  but 
with  little  improvement  of  the  Sikh  position 
other  than  calling  into  question  the  statutory 
majority  for  Muslims  in  the  Punjab.  Since  the 
Simon  Report  did  not  provide  a  new  way  to 
resolve  the  question  of  communal 
representation  and  since  it  did  not  answer  the 
question  of  dominion  status  which  led  the 
Congress  to  launch  a  major  campaign  of  Civil 
Disobedience  in  March,  only  a  fresh  initiative 
could  open  the  way  to  progress  on  the  outstanding 
constitutional  issues.  This  came  from  the 
Viceroy,  against  the  resistance  of  the  Commission. 
What  Lord  Irwin  announced  the  previous 
October  and  reaffirmed  in  the  summer  of  1930 
was  a  Round  Table  Conference,  at  which  the 
Simon  Commission  Report  would  in  no  way 
limit  free  constitutional  discussion.  Here  was  a 
fresh  initiative  which  had  the  effect  of  setting 
aside  the  Commission's  findings,  even  though 
an  impasse  developed  later  which  led  to  the 
Communal  Award  diat  was  incorporated  into  the 
Government  of  India  Act  of  1935. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sarhadi,  Ajit  Singh,  Punjabi  Suba.  Delhi,  1970 

2.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol. 


SINGAPORE  SIKH  MISSIONARY  TRACT  SOCI KTY  203 


SINGH 


Princeton,  1963 
3.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Siklis.  Delhi, 
1983 

'  4.  Gopal  Singh,  A  History  of the  Sikh  People  (1469- 
1978).  Delhi,  1979 

5.  Gurmit  Singh,  History  of  Sikh  Struggles.  Delhi, 
1989-92 

6.  Tuteja,  K.L.,  Sikh  Politics.  Kurukshetra,  1984 

7.  Gulati,  K.C.,  Akalis  Past  and  Present.  Delhi,  1974 

G.R.T. 

SINGAPORE  SIKH  MISSIONARY  TRACT 
SOCIETY,  renamed  Sikh  Missionary  Tract 
Society,  Malaya,  in  1941  and  Sikh  Missionary 
Society,  Malaya,  in  1946,  when  it  was  reactivated 
after  having  remained  dormant  during  the  war 
in  the  East,  was  registered  on  9  March  1940, 
with  its  offices  at  175,  Queen  Street,  Singapore. 
The  founder  was  Bhag  Singh,  an  English 
teacher,  admired  among  the  local  community 
for  his  mastery  of  Sikh  music.  The  Society 
aimed  at  the  spread  of  knowledge  about 
Sikhism  and  propagation  of  gurbani,  providing 
especially  opportunities  for  Sikh  children  to 
learn  Punjabi.  During  the  first  year  of  its 
existence,  it  published,  for  free  distribution,  a 
total  of  26,000  copies  of  tracts  on  Sikhism  in 
Punjabi,  English  and  Tamil.  Between  1946  and 
1965,  it  had  published  1,00,000  copies  covering 
thirty  titles,  including  two  in  the  Chinese 
language,  Written  by  eminent  Sikh  scholars 
such  as  Professor  Teja  Singh,  Professor  Puran 
Singh  and  Dr  Ganda  Singh,  these  tracts  were 
widely  circulated.  The  Society  also  engaged 
preachers  who  travelled  throughout  Malaya 
making  speeches  at  public  meetings  Punjabi 
classes  were  held  for  Sikh  children,  introducing 
them  to  Sikh  Scriptural  texts. 

The  Society  still  operates  though  its 
activity  is  now  restricted  mainly  to  Singapore. 

Mv.S. 

SINGARU,  BHAI,  and  his  brother  Jaita,  both 
brave  soldiers,  received  initiation  at  the  hands 
of  Guru  Arjan.  The  Guru  directed  them  to  be 
in  attendance  upon  his  son,  Hargobind.  They 


continued  to  serve  the  latter  and  were  happy 
to  see  him  installed  as  Guru  in  1606.  According 
to  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Gran  th,  they  were  once  on  a  visit  to  their  native 
village  when  they  were  given  by  a  yogi  ash  of 
mercury  supposed  to  turn  base  metal  into  gold. 
They  brought  it  as  an  offering  for  Guru 
Hargobind.  The  Guru,  however,  cast  the  ash 
into  the  pool,  saying :  "This  is  mere  charlatanry 
for  one  who  has  reduced  his  ego  to  ashes.  The 
ash  of  mercury  might  transform  copper  into 
gold,  but  the  reduction  of  ego  transforms  man 
into  God."  Bhai  Sirigaru  and  his  brother  ranked 
among  the  prominent  Sikhs  of  the  time.  They 
also  look  pan  in  Gum  Hargobind's  batdes  with 
the  Mughal  troops. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Ainritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SINGH,  from  Sanskrit  sinha  for  lion,  is  an 
essential  component  of  the  name  for  a  Sikh 
male.  Every  Sikh  male  name  must  end  with 
'Singh'.  Historically,  this  was  so  ordained  by 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  on  the  Baisakhi  day,  30 
March  1699,  when  he  inaugurated  the  Khalsa, 
introducing  a  new  form  of  initiatory  rites, 
khande  di  pkhul.  The  five  Sikhs  who  from 
among  the  assembly  had  on  that  day  offered 
their  heads  one  after  the  other  responding  to 
the  Guru's  successive  calls  were  the  first  Sikhs 
who  were  administered  by  him  the  vows  of  the 
Khalsa.  They  were  to  adopt  the  five  prescribed 
emblems,  including  Jcesa  or  unshorn  hair  and 
share  a  common  end-name  'Singh'  in  token 
of  having  joined  the  self-abnegating,  martial 
and  casteless  fellowship  of  the  Khalsa.  After 
initiation,  Daya  Ram  had  become  Daya  Singh, 
Dharam  Das  Dharam  Singh,  Muhkam  Chand 
Muhkam  Singh,  Himmat  Rai  Himmat  Singh 
and  Sahib  Chand  Sahib  Singh.  Guru  Gobind 
Singh,  who  had  himself  initiated  at  the  hands 


SINGH 


204 


SINGHA 


of  these  five,  received  the  name  of  Gobind  Singh. 

Every  male  Sikh  has  since  carried  'Singh' 
as  part  of  his  name.  This  was  a  way  of 
inculcating  among  the  Sikhs  a  spirit  of 
brotherhood  as  well  as  of  valour.  Wearing  the 
distinctive  symbols  and  clad  and  armed  like  a 
soldier  with  a  flowing  beard  and  a  neatly  tied 
turban  on  his  head,  a  Singh  had  been  set  high 
ideals  to  live  up  to.  As  subsequent  events 
proved,  Sirighs  became  a  strong  cohesive  force 
admired  even  by  their  enemies  for  their 
qualities  of  courage  and  chivalry.  For  example, 
Qazi  Nur  Muhammad,  who  came  in  Ahmad 
Shah  Durrani's  train  during  his  seventh 
invasion  of  India  (1764-65),  in  his  poetic 
account  of  the  campaign  in  Persian,  refers  to 
the  Sirighs  in  rude  and  imprecatory  language, 
but  cannot  at  the  same  time  help  proclaim  their 
many  virtues.  In  section  XLI  of  his  poem,  he 
says:  "Singh  is  a  title  (a  form  of  address  for 
them).  It  is  not  just  to  call  them  'dogs'  (his 
contumelious  term  for  Sihghs).  If  you  do  not 
know  the  Hindustani  language,  (I  shall  tell  you 
that)  the  word  Singh  means  a  lion.  Truly,  they 
are  like  lions  in  battle  and,  in  times  of  peace, 
they  surpass  Hatim  (in  generosity).  . .  Leaving 
aside  their  mode  of  fighting,  hear  ye  another 
point  in  which  they  excel  all  other  fighting 
people.  In  no  case  would  they  slay  a  coward, 
nor  would  they  put  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a 
fugitive.  They  do  not  plunder  the  ornaments 
of  a  woman...  They  do  not  make  friends  with 
adulterers  and  housebreakers." 

As  a  rule,  all  Sikhs  other  than  Sahajdharis 
are  named  Sihghs  even  before  the  formal 
initiation  through  khande  di pahul  takes  place. 
While  'Sikh'  is  a  spiritual  appellation,  'Singh' 
has  socio-political  overtones  in  addition.  In 
practice  all  Sihghs  are  Sikhs  with  the  discipline 
enjoined-upon  them  by  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
added.  In  sentiment,  however,  they  are  closer 
to  the  community  as  a  whole  and  more  active 
socially  and  politically.  Their  special  status  is 
recognized  legally  as  well.  Under  the  Sikh 
Gurdwaras  Act,  1925,  and  the  Delhi  Sikh 
Gurdwaras  Act,  1971,  while  all  adult  Sikhs  are 


eligible  to  be  registered  as  voters  for  election 
to  the  respective  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committees,  only  amritdhari Sikhs,  i.e.  Sihghs, 
are  qualified  for  the  membership  of  these 
statutory  bodies.  Similarly,  Sikh  rahit  maryada 
or  code  of  conduct  published  by  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  makes  a 
distinction  between  shakhsi  rahini or  individual 
conduct  and  panthic  rahini  or  corporate 
conduct.  While  the  former  applies- to  all  Sikhs, 
the  Sihghs  must  conduct  themselves,  in 
addition,  according  to  the  panthic  rahini. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Kahn  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurrnar  Martnnd.  Amritsar.  1962 

2.  Kapur  Singh,  Parasarapiaina  [Reprint].  Amritsar, 
1989 

G.S. 

SINGHA,  a  Brahman  purohit  or  family  priest 
of  the  Sodhi  clan,  became  a  disciple  of  Guru 
Hargobind  (1595-1644).  Bhai  Sihgha  was, 
along  with  Babak  the  musician,  sent  to  escort 
the  Guru's  daughter,  Bibi  Viro,  who  on  the  eve 
of  her  marriage  had  accidendy  been  left  behind 
in  Amritsar  when  the  family  was  evacuated  to 
the  village  ofjhabal  at  the  time  of  the  attack  in 
1629  by  the  Mughal  commander,  Mukhlis 
Khan.  She  was  brought  out  safely  through  the 
Mughal  lines.  Early  next  morning  Bhai  Sihgha, 
at  the  head  of  500  Sikhs,  was  sent  forward  to 
meet  the  host  as  the  Sikh  warrior,  Bhai  Bhanu, 
had  been  slain  fighting  against  the  vanguard. 
As  says  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur  Pratap 
Suraj  Granth,  a  shot  from  Muhammad  'Ali,  the 
Mughal  officer  opposite  him,  wounded 
Sihgha's  horse.  The  animal  fell  down  along 
with  his  rider,  but  Sihgha  recovering  his 
composure,  shot  an  arrow  at  Muhammad  'Ali, 
killing  him  instantaneously.  Bhai  Sihgha  now 
became  the  target  of  the  enemy's  attack  and 
fell  a  martyr  in  the  unequal  contest. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurbilas  Patshani  Chhevin.  Patiala  ,  1970 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 


SINGHA,  15HA1 


205 


SINGH  SAliHA  MOVKMKNT 


Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Giiin  Singh,  GianI,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
f Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

B.S. 

SINGHA,  BHAI.  During  his  travels  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  once  stopped  in  Khiva,  according  to 
the  Siikhl  Pothi,  with  a  farmer  named  Siiigha. 
Siiigha  offered  water,  grass  and  fodder  for  the 
Guru's  animals.  As  he  got  up  to  depart,  the 
Guru  spoke,  "Why  are  you  leaving  ?  What  is 
the  hurry?"  He  answered  that  there  was  a 
shagan  come  for  his  son's  engagement.  The 
Guru  said,  'You  are  now  apprenticed  to  the 
Guru's  service.  You  have  now  to  fulfil  a  dual 
responsibility.  From  now  on  you  will  be  entitled 
to  a  double  share." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Attar  Singh,  Ma7va  Desh  Ratan  di  Saklti  Pothi. 
Amritsar,  1950 

2.  Kalin  Singh,  Bhai,  Gururshabad  Ratanakar 
Mahan  Kosh.  Patiala,  1981 

Gn.S. 

SINGHPURA,  a  village  5  km  south  of  Baramula 
(34"-13'N,  74"-23'E)  in  Kashmir  valley,  claims 
a  historical  shrine,  Gurdwara  Chheviii  Patshahl 
Tharha  Sahib,  dedicated  to  Guru  Hargobind 
(1595-1644),  whose  visit  it  commemorates. 
According  to  local  tradition,  a  Muslim  Faqir, 
Bahlol,  served  the  Guru  here  and  received  his 
blessing.  A  memorial  platform  (tharha,  in 
Punjabi)  established  here  was  later  developed 
into  a  gurdwara.  The  present  building,  a  marble- 
floored  domed  room  with  a  covered  circumam- 
bulatory  passage,  was  raised  by  the  Sikh  poet 
and  savant  Bhai  Vir  Singh  during  the  1930's. 
The  Gurdwara  was  formerly  under  the  control 
of  the  Chief  Khalsa  D'iwan,  but  is  now  managed 
by  the  Jammu  and  Kashmir  Gurdwara  Prabandhak 
Board  through  its  district  unit  at  Baramula. 

Gn.S. 


SINGH  SABHA  MOVEMENT,  a  reform 
movement  among  the  Sikhs  which  assuming  a 
critical  turn  in  the  seventies  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  became  a  vitally  rejuvenating  force  at 
a  time  when  Sikhism  was  fast  losing  its 
distinctive  identity.  Following  closely  upon  the 
two  successive  movements,  Nirahkari  and 
Namdhari,  it  was  an  expression  of  impulse  of 
the  Sikh  community  to  rid  itself  of  the  base 
adulterations  and  accretions  which  had  been 
draining  away  its  energy,  and  to  rediscover  the 
sources  of  its  original  inspiration.  It  was, 
however,  quite  different  from  its  precursors  in 
source,  content  and  outcome.  The  Nirahkari 
and  Namdhari  movements  were  inspired  by 
individual  holy  men  who,  unhappy  at  the 
dilution  of  Sikh  doctrine  and  practice,  desired 
to  set  right  some  of  the  aberrations  purely 
religious  in  nature,  and  who  ended  up  in 
founding  their  separate  sects.  The  Singh 
Sabhas,  on  the  other  hand,  arose  out  of  a 
common  awareness  of  the  danger  to  the  very 
existence  of  the  Sikhs  as  a  separate  religious 
community.  It  was  led  by  men  deeply  religious 
but  with  no  claims  to  divine  knowledge  and 
no  ambitions  for  exalted  priesthood.  In 
contrast  with  the  earlier,  exclusively  sectarian 
cults,  the  Singh  Sabha  movement  possessed  a 
mass  appeal  and  base.  It  influenced  the  entire 
community  and  reorientated  its  outlook  and 
spirit.  The  stimulus  it  provided  has  shaped  the 
Sikhs'  attitude  and  aspiration  over  the  past 
more  than  one  hundred  years. 

Like  other  Indian  reform  movements  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  the  Singh  Sabha  was 
the  result  of  the  Sikh  intelligentsia's  contact 
with  western  education  and  institutions.  The 
transfer  of  political  power  to  the  British  in  1849 
led  to  the  transformation  of  the  world  in  which 
the  Sikhs  and  other  Punjabis  had  lived.  The 
British  differed  from  past  rulers  in  that  their 
presence  affected  major  changes  in  Punjabi 
society  and  culture.  The  most  obvious 
innovations  arose  from  the  administrative 
structures  and  the  political  orientation 
underlying  them.  Within  two  decades,  the 


SINGH  SABHA  MOVKMKNT 

colonial  power  introduced  a  new  bureaucratic 
system  complete  with  western  style  executive 
and  judicial  branches  necessitating  emphasis 
on  western  education  and  attainment  of  skills 
required  for  new  occupations  such  as  law, 
administration  and  education.  Considering  the 
Sikhs  as  an  important  element  in  their  colonial 
strategy  and  the  centrality  of  religion  in  the 
Sikh  society,  the  ruler  took  particular  care  to 
control  the  central  Sikh  institutions  notably 
those  at  Amritsar  and  Tarn  Taran.  British 
officers  headed  management  committees, 
appointed  key  officials,  and  in  general 
provided  grants  and  facilities  to  insure 
continued  Sikh  sympathy  for  the  raj.  At  the 
same  time,  however,  the  government  also 
patronized  and  assisted  the  rapid  spread  of 
Christian  missionary  activities,  thus  introducing 
yet  another  element  in  the  mosaic  of  Punjab's 
religious  patterns.  The  challenge  of  western 
science,  Christian  ethics  and  humanitarianism 
had  provided  self-examination  and 
reinterpretation  of  religious  belief  and  praxis. 
The  result  was  the  rise  of  numerous  reform 
movements  which  even  with  their  professed 
approach  to  liberalism  and  universal 
humanism  remained  essentially  communal 
competing  for  conversions  to  their  respective 
creeds.  In  the  Punjab  the  Hindu  Brahmo 
Samaj,  Dev  Samaj  and  Arya  Samaj,  and  the 
Muslim  'AJigarh  movement  of  Sayyid  Ahmad 
and  Ahmadiyah  movement  of  Qadiah  were 
quite  active.  For  the  Sikhs,  strangely  somnolent 
since  the  forfeiture  of  political  authority, 
besides  the  awareness  of  rapid  depletion  in 
their  numbers  and  of  general  laxity  in  religious 
observance  among  themselves,  two  other 
motivating  factors  were  at  work  :  a  reaction  to 
what  was  happening  in  the  neighbourly 
religious  traditions  and  the  defensiveness 
generated  by  Chrisian  proselytization  and  the 
odium  thcologicum  started  by  Hindu  critics 
especially  the  Arya  Samajists. 

The  Christian  missionary  activity 
commenced  in  the  Punjab  along  with  the 
advent  of  the  British  rule.  Even  while  Ranjit 


SINGH  SAUHA  MOVKMKNT 

Singh  ruled  in  Lahore,  an  American 
Presbyterian  Mission  had  been  set  up  at 
Ludhiana  close  to  the  Sikh  frontier.  With  the 
abrogation  of  Sikh  rule  in  1849,  the  Ludhiana 
Mission  extended  its  work  to  Lahore.  Amritsar, 
the  headquarters  of  the  Sikh  faith,  became 
another  major  seat  of  Church  enterprise  with 
branches  at  Tarn  Taran,  Ajnala  andjandiala. 
The  United  Presbyterian  Mission  was  active  in 
Sialkot.  Other  organizations,  notably  the 
Cambridge  Mission,  the  Baptist  Mission  and  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  entered  the  field  and  were 
amply  rewarded  with  converts,  mostly  from  the 
lowest  stratum  of  society.  The  rate  of  conversion 
was  not  alarmingly  high.  Yet  there  were 
instances  which  aroused  community's  concern. 
In  1853,  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh,  the  last  Sikh 
sovereign,  who  had  come  under  British 
tutelage  at  the  tender  age  of  eight,  accepted 
the  Christian  faith-a  conversion  hailed  as  "the 
first  instance  of  the  accession  of  an  Indian 
prince  to  the  cummunion  of  the  Church."  The 
Sikh  ruler  of  Kapurthala  invited  the  Ludhiana 
Mission  to  set  up  a  station  in  his  capital,  and 
provided  funds  for  its  maintenance.  A  few  years 
later  the  Kapurthala  ruler's  nephew,  Kahvar 
Harnam  Singh,  converted  a  Christian.  The 
Ludhiana  Mission  noted  in  its  annual  report 
for  1862  :  "Until  the  Rajah  of  Kapurthala 
invited  missionaries  to  his  capital  no  instance 
had  occurred  in  India  in  which  the  progress  of 
the  Gospel  had  been  fostered  by  a  ruler." 

Besides  conversions  to  Christianity  there 
were  reversions  from  Sikhism  back  to 
Sanatanist  Hinduism  at  such  a  large  scale  that 
the  fact  was  noted  in  the  government's  annual 
report  for  1851-52  : 

The  Sikh  faith  and  acclesiastical  polity  is 
rapidly  going  where  the  Sikh  political 
ascendancy  has  already  gone.  Of  the  two 
elements  of  the  old  Khalsa,  namely,  the 
followers  of  Nanuck,  the  first  prophet,  and 
the  followers.of  Guru  Govind  Singh,  the 
second  great  religious  leader,  the  former 
will  hold  their  ground,  and  the  hitter  will 
lose  it.  The  Sikhs  of  Nanuck,  a  comparatively 


''06 


SINCiH  SABHA  MOVEMENT 


207 


SINGH  SABHA  MOVEMENT 


small  body  of  peaceful  habits  and  old 
family,  will  perhaps  cling  to  the  faith  of 
their  elders  ;  but  the  Sikhs  of  Govind  who 
are  of  more  recent  origin,  who  are  more 
specially  styled  the  Singhs  or  "Lions",  and 
who  embraced  the  faith  as  being  the 
religion  of  warfare  and  conquest,  no 
longer  regard  the  Khalsa  now  that  the 
prestige  has  departed  from  it. 
These  menjoined  in  thousands,  and  they 
now  desert  in  equal  numbers.  They  rejoin 
the  ranks  of  Hinduism  whence  they 
originally  came,  and  they  bring  up  their 
children  as  Hindus.  The  sacred  tank  at 
Amritsar  is  less  thronged  than  formerly, 
and  the  attendance  at  the  annual  festivals 
is  diminishing  yearly.  The  initiatory 
ceremony  for  adult  persons  is  now  rarely 
perfomed. 
And  again  in  the  report  for  1855-56  : 

This  circumstance  strongly  corroborates 
what  is  commonly  believed,  namely  that 
the  Sikh  tribe  is  losing  its  numbers  rapidly. 
Modern  Sikhism  was  little  more  than  a 
political  association  (formed  exclusively 
from  among  Elindus),  which  men  would 
join    or    quit    according    to  the 
circumstances  of  the  day.  A  person  is  not 
born  Sikh,  as  he  might  be  born  a 
Muhammadan  or  born  a  Hindu  ;  but  he 
must  be  specially  initiated  into  Sikhism. 
Now  that  the  Sikh  commonwealth  is 
broken  up,  people  cease  to  be  initiated 
into  Sikhism  and  revert  to  Hinduism.  Such 
is  the  undoubted  explanation  of  a 
statistical  fact,  which  might  otherwise 
appear  to  be  hardly  credible. 
The  resulting  cultural  upheaval  affected 
the  Sikhs  from  1860  onward.  Despite  th  eir  early 
education  in  gurdwara  schools  or  through 
instruction  by  gianis  (Sikhs  learned  in  religious 
lore)  or  local  teachers,  an  emerging  Sikh 
intelligentsia  began  to  study  western  subjects 
and  joined  in  associations  that  discussed 
religious  and  social  issues.  In  Lahore,  for 
example,  several  Sikhs  were  members  of  Dr. 


G.W.  Leitner's  orientalist  Ahjuman-i-Punjab, 
set  up  in  1865,  where  they  became  skilled  at 
literary  criticism  and  debate  over  historical 
issues.  Debates  were  held  on  whether  Urdu  or 
Hindi  was  the  more  appropriate  language  to 
replace  Persian  as  official  language.  Punjabi  in 
Gurmukhl  script  was  ignored  even  by  the 
Punjab  Education  Department  as  a  mere 
dialect  without  a  written  literature.  The 
Oriental  College  established  at  Lahore  in  1864 
to  encourage  oriental  studies  had  courses  in 
Sanskrit,  Urdu  and  Persian  but  not  in  Punjabi. 
Some  Sikh  members  of  Ahjuman-i-Punjab  like 
Raja  Harbahs  Singh  and  Rai  Mul  Singh  pleaded 
the  cause  of  Punjabi  but  without  success  until 
Sardar  Attar  Singh  of  Bhadaur  presented  a  list 
of  389  books  written  on  different  subjects  in 
Gurmukhi  script  and  collected  in  his  personal 
library.  Dr.  Leitner  was  convinced  and  he  not 
only  introduced  Punjabi  as  a  subject  in  the 
Oriental  College  but  also  got  it  introduced  in 
the  Pahjab  University  of  which  he  was  the  first 
Registrar ;  but  that  was  later  in  1877. 

What  really  shook  the  Sikhs  out  of  their 
slumber  were  two  incidents  that  occurred  one 
after  the  other  in  early  1873.  In  February  1873, 
four  Sikh  pupils  of  the  Amritsar  Mission 
School— Aya  Singh,  Atar  Singh,  Sadhu  Singh 
and  Santokh  Singh  —  proclaimed  their 
intention  to  renounce  their  faith  and  become 
Christians.  This  shocked  Sikh  feelings.  The 
boys  had  hardly  been  persuaded  by  their 
parents  and  other  wise  men  not  to  carry  out 
their  intention  when  another  provocation 
followed.  One  Pandit  Shardha  Ram  of  Phillaur, 
who  had  been  engaged  by  the  British  to  write 
a  history  of  the  Sikhs,  came  to  Amritsar  and 
began  a  series  of  religious  discourses  in  Guru 
Bagh  in  the  Darbair  Sahib  complex.  During  his 
narrat  ion  of  Guru  Nanak's  life  story  he  garbled 
certain  facts  and  spoke  disrespectfully  of  the 
Sikh  Gurus  and  their  teachings.  Some  Sikh 
young  men  in  the  audience  objected  and 
challenged  the  speaker  to  a  debate.  The  Pandit 
quietly  disappeared  from  Amritsar  but  not 
without  leaving  some  leading  Sikhs  thinking. 


SINGH  SABHA  MOVEMENT 


208 


SINGH  SABHA  MOVEMENT 


Sardar  Thakur  Singh  Sandhaiivalia  (1837-87), 
Baba  Khem  Siiigh  Bedl  (1832-1905),  Karivar 
Bikrarna  Siiigh  (1835-87)  of  Kapurthala  and 
Giani  Gian  Singh  (1824-84)  of  Amritsar 
convened  a  meeting  in  Guru  Bagh,  Amritsar, 
on  30  July  1873.  It  was  decided  to  form  an 
association  which  should  adopt  measures  to 
defend  the  Sikh  faith  against  the  onslaught  of 
Christian  missionaries  and  others.  The  name 
proposed  for  this  body  was  Sri  Guru  Singh 
Sabha.  Its  first  formal  meeting  took  place  in 
front  of  the  Akal  Takht  on  1  October  1973.  It 
was  attended  by  priests  of  different  gurdwaras, 
gianis,  representatives  of  Udasi  and  Nirmala 
sects  and  members  of  other  classes  of  the  Sikli 
society.  Sardar  Thakur  Siiigh  Sandharivalia  was 
appointed  its  chairman,  Giani  Gian  Siiigh 
secretary,  Sardar  Amar  Singh  assistant  secretary 
and  Bhai  Dharam  Siiigh  of  Buiiga  Majithiah 
treasurer.  The  main  objects  of  the  Siiigh  Sabha 
were  (i)  to  propagate  the  true  Sikh  religion 
and  restore  Sikhism  to  its  pristine  glory;  (ii)  to 
edit,  publish  and  circulate  historical  and 
religious  books  ;  (iii)  to  propagate  current 
knowledge  using  Punjabi  as  the  medium  and 
to  start  magazines  and  newspapers  in  Punjabi ; 
(iv)  to  reform  and  bring  back  into  the  Sikh 
fold  the  apostates;  and  (v)  to  interest  the  high- 
placed  Englishmen  in  and  ensure  their 
association  with  the  education  programme  of 
the  Sabha.  It  was  the  Siiigh  Sabha's  policy  to 
avoid  criticism  of  other  religions  and  discussion 
of  political  matters. 

In  1877,  Punjabi  was  introduced  in  the 
Oriental  College.  Bhai  Harsa  Siiigh,  a  granthi 
of  Darbar  Sahib,  Tarn  Taran,  was  the  first 
teacher  and  Bhai  Gurmukh  Siiigh,  who  was 
later  to  be  one  of  the  central  figures  of  the 
Siiigh  Sabha  movement,  one  of  the  first  batch 
of  students.  Bhai  Gurmukh  Siiigh,  after 
completion  of  his  own  course,  was  appointed 
to  teach  Punjabi  and  mathematics  in  the 
Paiijab  University  College.  He  got  some  leading 
Sikh  citizens  of  Lahore,  such  as  Diwan  Biita 
Siiigh  and  Sardar  Mehar  Siiigh  Chawlii, 
interested  in  the  Siiigh  Sabha  work.  As  a  result 


Sri  Guru  Siiigh  Sabha,  Lahore,  was  set  up  on 
2  November  1879.  It  started  holding  weekly 
meetings.  Diwan  Buta  Siiigh  as  president,  Bhai 
(also  known  as  Professor)  Gurmukh  Singh  as 
secretary  and  Bhai  Harsa  Siiigh,  Rim  Siiigh  and 
Karam  Siiigh  as  members  formed  its  working 
committee.  The  movement  picked  up 
momentum  and  Siiigh  Sabhas  appeared  at 
many  places  not  only  in  the  Punjab  but  also  in 
several  other  parts  of  India  and  abroad  from 
London  in  the  west  to  Shanghai  (China)  in  the 
East. 

Siiigh  Sabha  General  (renamed  Khalsa 
Diwan  soon  after)  was  set  up  on  11  April  1880, 
as  a  coordinating  body  at  Amritsar.  Raja  Bkiram 
Siiigh  of  Faridkot  and  the  Lieut-Governor  of 
Punjab  were  its  patrons,  Baba  Khem  Siiigh  Bedi 
president,  Sardar  Man  Singh,  sarbarah  or 
manager  of  Darbar  Sahib,  vice-president,  Bhai 
Gurmukh  Siiigh  of  Lahore  chief  secretary  and 
Bhai  Ganesha  Singh  secretary.  The  Diwan 
opened  Khalsa  schools  for  general  education 
and  floated  papers  and  periodicals  to 
propagate  Singh  Sabha  ideology  as  well  as  its 
religious  activities.  But  ideological  differences 
soon  arose  between  the  president  and  the  chief 
secretary.  The  former,  supported  by  the  priestly 
class,  considered  Sikhs  as  a  part  of  the  Hindu 
community  and  did  not  favour  a  total  break 
with  old  established  social  customs  and 
practices.  Himself  being  a  direct  descendant 
of  Guru  Nanak,  he  claimed  special  position  of 
reverence  for  himself  as  well  as  for  all  members 
of  clans  to  which  the  Gurus  had  belonged.  Bhai 
Gurmukh  Siiigh,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a 
progressive  reformist  believing  Sikhism  to  be 
a  separate  sovereign  religion  having  equality 
of  all  believers  without  distinction  of  caste  or 
status  as  its  basic  social  creed.  The  result  was 
the  setting  up  of  a  separate  Khalsa  Diwan, 
Lahore,  on  10-11  April  1886  under  the 
presidentship  of  Sardar  Attar  Singh  Bhadaur 
with  Proressor  Gurmukh  Siiigh  as  secretary. 
The  Amritsar  Khalsa  Diwan  re-organized  itself 
as  a  bicameral  body  consisting  of  Mahan  Khand 
comprising  the  aristocracy,  and  Saman  Khand 


SINGH  SABHA  MOVEMENT 


209 


SINGH  SABHA  MOVEMENT 


representing  the  commonalty  of  believers  and 
the  priestly  class.  Some  smaller  organizations 
were  also  active  for  achieving  the  aims  of  the 
movement.  Gurmat  Granth  Pracharak  Sabha, 
Amritsar,  established  on  8  April  1885  was 
engaged  in  research  and  publication  of  books 
on  ideological  and  historical  topics.  Khalsa 
Tract  Society  came  into  existence  through  the 
efforts  of  Bhai'Vlr  Singh  in  1894.  Shuddhi 
Sabha  for  conversions  and  reconversions  into 
Sikhism  was  founded  in  April  1893  by  Dr.  Jai 
Singh.  Among  the  local  Singh  Sabhas,  the  one 
at  Bhasaur  was  the  most  active  under  its  leading 
light,  Babu  Teja  Singh.  Among  individual 
scholars,  Giani  Gian  Singh,  the  historian,  and 
Pandit  Tara  Singh  Narotam  were  the  most 
prominent. 

Both  the  Diwans,  despite  mutual 
bickerings  and  even  litigation,  worked  for  the 
same  aims  with  the  same  programmes,  but  the 
Khalsa  Diwan  Lahore  soon  stole  a  march  over 
its  rival  in  popularity  by  virtue  of  its 
progressivism  and  the  total  dedication  and 
hard  work  of  Bhai  Gurmukh  Singh  who  had 
enlisted  the  help  of  two  other  colleagues, 
equally  dedicated  and  industrious.  Theynvere 
Giani  Ditt  Singh  and  Bhai  Jawahir  Sing  h  Kapur. 
The  former  as  editor  of  and  chief  contributor 
to  the  Diwan's  weekly  newspaper,  the  Khalsa 
Akhbar.  made  it  a  forceful  medium  for  the 
propagation  of  the  Diwan's  ideology.  Giving  his 
judgement  in  a  defamation  case  against  Giani 
Ditt  Singh,  the  district  judge  of  Lahore,  R.L. 
Harris,  observed  in  February  1888  that 

(a)  The  Lahore  faction  had  about  30  Singh 
Sabhas  attached  to  it,  while  the  Amritsar 
faction  had  about  six  or  seven  Singh 
Sabhas  including  Rawalpindi,  Feirozepore 
and  Faridkot. 

(b)  The  Lahore  party  comprised  enlightened 
educated  men  who  are  freeing  themselves 
from  the  thraldom  of  priesthood  by 
seeking  to  purge  their  religion  of  all  the 
grossness  that  has  clung  to  it  by  the  devices 
of  the  priesdy  class  .  .  .  represented  by  the 
Bedi  Guru  or  Sodfai  class  .  .  .  their 


opponents  are  naturally  the  priestly  class 
who  would  like,  if  possible,  to  maintain 
their  sway  over  the  conscience  of  men, 
though  it  might  be  at  the  expense  of  the 
true  spiritual  and  religious  growth  ;  and 
so  we  find  Bedi  Khem  Singh,  as  the  head 
of  the  priestly  class,  in  league  with  Raja  of 
Faridkot,  opposing  and  trying  to  stifle  the 
spirit  of  reformation. 
The  most  hotly  contested  argument  within  the 
Singh  Sabha  movement  was  whether  Sikhs  were 
Hindus.  The  Sanatanists,  or  the  conservatives 
of  the  Amritsar  Diwan,  saw  Sikhism  as  an 
offshoot  of  a  broadly  defined  Hinduism. 
Examples  from  the  Adi  Granth  and  accom- 
panying literature  were  used  to  "prove"  that 
the  Gurus  had  no  intention  of  separating  Sikhs 
from  their  Hindu  roots,  and  had  in  fact  revered 
Hindu  gods  and  scriptures.  In  this  the 
conservatives  were  enthusiastically  supported 
by  the  Arya  Samajists.  On  the  other  side,  the 
Tat  Khalsa  or  the  progressive  Khalsa  Diwan 
Lahore  made  "Ham  Hindu  Nahlii"  (we  are  not 
Hindus)  their  battle  cry.  They  too  used  quotes 
from  the  Scripture  and  historical  analysis  to 
combat  what  was  seen  as  the  most  dangerous 
threat  to  Sikh  survival.  The  tract  warfare  over 
the  issue  was  heated  and  prolonged.  Scores  of 
tracts  and  booklets  on  the  subject  appeared, 
the  most  reasoned  and  convincing  of  which  was 
Bhai  Kahn  Singh  Nabha's,  Ham  Hindu  Nahln, 
first  published  in  1898. 

Another  bone  of  contention  between  the 
two  Diwans  was  of  relatively  less  importance. 
Both  had  been  convassing  government's 
support  for  the  opening  of  a  Khalsa  College. 
Khalsa  Diwan  Amritsar  had  mooted  the 
suggestion  as  early  as  1883  but  inter-DIwan 
disputes  hindered  progress.  Ultimately  when 
Khalsa  Diwan  Lahore  succeeded  in  enlisting 
the  support  of  the  government  as  well  as  of 
the  Sikh  aristocracy,  and  an  establishment 
committee  was  set  up  in  1890  under  the 
chairmanship  of  the  Director,  Public 
Instruction,  Punjab,  Colonel  W.R.M.  Holroyd, 
succeeded  the  following  year  by  Dr  W.H. 


SINGH  SABHA  MOVEMENT 

Rattigan,  with  Sardar  Attar  Singh  Bhadaur  as 
vice-chairman  and  W.  Bell  of  the  Government 
College,  Lahore,  as  secretary,  there  was 
wrangling  over  the  location  of  the  college.  At 
last  the  protagonists  of  Amritsar  won  the  day 
and  the  foundation  of  the  college  was  laid  by 
the  Lieut-Governor  of  the  Punjab  on  5  March 
1892. 

Mutual  recriminations  indulged  in  by  the 
two  Diwans  had  led  neutrally  inclined  elements 
to  voice  the  need  for  uniting  the  different 
sections  under  a  central  organization.  The  idea 
met  with  reverberating  support  at  a  large 
gathering  of  Sikhs  in  Malval  Buriga  at  Amritsar 
on  12  April  1900.  The  conference  unanimously 
voted  for  the  establishment  of  a  new  Khalsa 
Diwan,  supreme  in  the  affairs  of  the 
community,  and  formed  a  committee  to  draw 
up  t  he  constitution  of  such  a  unitary  body.  This 
was  also  necessitated  by  the  fact  that  death  had 
denuded  the  old  Diwans  by  snatching  many 
of  their  leading  lights  within  a  short  period  at 
the  turn  of  the  century.  Sardar  Thakur  Singh 
Sandharivalia  and  Kaiivar  Bikrama  Singh  had 
already  died  in  1887.  Now  came,  in  quick 
succession,  the  deaths  of  Sardar  Attar  Singh  of 
Bhadaur  and  Dr.  Jai  Singh  (June  1896),  Raja 
Bikram  Singh  of  Faridkot  (August  1898), 
Professor  Gurmukh  Singh  (September  1898) 
and  Giani  Ditt  Singh  (September  1901).  The 
responsibility  of  leading  the  Singh  Sabha 
movement  was  therefore  taken  over  by  the  new 
organization,  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan,  formally 
established  at  Amritsar  on  30  October  1902. 
Bhai  Arjan  Singh  of  Bagariah  was  elected  its 
first  president,  Sardar  Sundar  Singh  Majithla 
secretary  and  Sodhi  Sujan  Singh  additional 
secretary.  Membership  was  open  to  all 
amhtdhari  Sikhs,  i.e.  those  who  had  received 
the  rites  of  the  Khalsa  initiation,  and  who  could 
read  and  write  Gurmukhi.  Members  were  also 
expected  to  contribute  dasvandh  or  one  tenth 
of  their  annual  income  for  the  common  needs 
of  the  community.  The  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan 
adopted  all  the  aims  and  programmes  of  the 
old  Khalsa  Diwan,  viz.  insistence  on  separate 


SINGH  SAIJHA  MOVEMENT 

identity  of  the  Khalsa  Panth,  spreading  the 
teaching  of  the  Gurus  as  well  as  general 
education  on  modern  lines,  disseminations  of 
information  on  traditional  and  on  current 
issues  and  safeguarding  the  political  rights  of 
the  Sikhs  by  maintaining  good  relations  with 
the  government  and  Sikh  rulers.  It  carried  out 
its  mission  with  the  help  and  cooperation  of 
the  local  Singh  Sabhas  most  of  whom  sought 
affiliation  with  the  new  Diwan,  and  of  eminent 
individuals  such  as  Bhai  Vir  Singh,  Bhal  Mohan 
Singh  Vaid,  Bhai  Takht  Singh,  Babu  Teja  Singh, 
Bhai  Kahn  Singh  and  Bhai  Jodh  Singh.  Its 
earliest  success  came  in  the  conversion  of  35 
persons  including  a  Muslim  family  of  six  in  a 
largely  attended  divan  (religious  assembly) 
held  through  the  efforts  of  Babu  Teja  Singh, 
at  Bakapur,  village  near  Phillaur  in  Jalandhar 
district,  on  13-14  June  1903.  Next  came  the 
passing  of  the  Anand  Marriage  Act,  1909, 
which  gave  legal  validity  to  the  exclusively  Sikh 
ceremony  of  marriage.  The  Bill  was  piloted  in 
the  Imperial  Legislative  Council  successively  by 
Tikka,  heir  apparent,  Ripudaman  Singh  of 
Nabha,  and  Sardar  Sundar  Singh  Majithia. 
Another  milestone  in  the  social  history  of  the 
Sikhs  was  the  establishment  of  the  Sikh 
Educational  Conference  held  annually  since  its 
inception  in  1908  to  the  present  day  under  the 
Educational  Committee  of  the  Chief  Khalsa 
Diwan.  Some  of  the  other  achievements  of  the 
Diwan  were  the  removal  of  idols  from  the 
compound  of  the  Darbar  Sahib,  Amritsar 
(1905) ,  and  the  preparation  of  a  common  code 
of  conduct  for  the  Sikhs  laying  down  in  detail 
the  way  the  Sikhs  should  perform  their 
religious-ceremonies  (1916). 

For  over  a  decade,  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan 
consolidated  its  position  and  had  remarkable 
success  at  fostering  Sikh  identity  and 
strengthening  Sikh  institutions.  From  1914 
onward,  however,  the  organization  began  to 
lose  its  hold  on  and  popularity  with  the  Sikh 
masses.  Loyalty  to  the  government  in  order  to 
seek  favours  for  the  community  was  one  of  the 
bases  of  the  strategy  of  the  Diwan  as  had  been 


210 


SINGH  SABHA  MOVEMENT 


211 


SINGH  SA14HA  MOVEMENT 


the  case  with  the  old  Khalsa  Diwans  of  Lahore 
and  Amritsar,  but  the  climate  in  the  country 
had  started  changing  since  the  advent  of  the 
twentieth  century  so  that  the  pro-government 
policy  of  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan  became 
increasingly  suspect  in  view  of  its  soft  stance 
during  the  peasant  unrest  of  1906-07  and  the 
Rikabgahj  agitation  in  1914,  open 
denunciation  of  the  Ghadar  activists  (1915- 
16),  and  over-enthusiasm  for  Sikh  recruitment 
bordering  on  virtual  conscription  during  the 
Great  War  (1914-18). 

Moreover,  although  the  Singh  Sabha 
movement  had  done  a  tremendous  lot  to 
revitalize  the  religious  spirit  of  the  Sikhs,  it  had 
done  precious  little  to  cleanse  the  rot  that  had 
set  in  the  Sikh  religious  places.  While  the 
masses,  now  better  aware  of  their  true  religious 
past,  were  becoming  more  and  more  impatient 
of  the  management  of  gurdwaras  under  a 
corrupt  and  degenerate  priesthood  secure 
under  legal  protec  tion,  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan 
continued  to  pursue  the  path  of  helpless 
inactivity  for  fear  of  British  displeasure.  A  single 
instance  will  illustrate  the  point.  Khalsa  Diwan 
Majha,  one  of  the  several  regional 
organizations  for  management  reform  in 
religious  places  had  been  established  in  1904. 
The  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan,  pleading  Fanthic 
unity,  asked  it  to  affiliate  with  the  central  body. 
It  obeyed  ;  but  watching  impatiently  over  the 
years  the  indifference  of  the  central  leadership, 
it  revived  itself  as  an  independent  body  in 
March  1919.  Afew  days  later,  on  13April  1919, 
occurred  the  Jalliahvala  Bagh  massacre  which 
radically  changed  the  political  as  well  as 
religious  scenario  in  which  the  Chief  Khalsa 
Diwan  became  practically  irrelevant,  and  the 
central  stage  was  occupied  by  the  Gurdwara 
Reform  movement.  The  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan 
is,  however,  still  active,  especially  in  the 
educational  field,  and  enjoys  the  affiliation  of 
a  large  number  of  local  Si  hgh  Sabhas. 

The  main  motivation  of  the  Singh  Sabha 
movement  was  search  for  Sikh  identi  ty  and  self- 
assertion.  The  entire  period  can  be  interpreted 


and  understood  in  terms  of  this  central 
concern.  Under  this  Singh  Sabha  impulse,  new 
powers  of  regeneration  came  into  effect  and 
Sikhism  was  reclaimed  from  a  state  of  utter 
ossification  and  inertia.  Its  moral  force  and 
dynamic  vitality  were  rediscovered.  The  Sikh 
mind  was  stirred  by  a  process  of  liberation  and 
it  began  to  look  upon  its  history  and  tradition 
with  a  clear,  self-discerning  eye.  What  had 
become  effete  and  decrepit  and  what  was 
reckoned  to  be  against  the  Gurus'  teachings 
was  rejected.  The  purity  of  Sikh  precept  and 
practice  was  sought  to  be  restored.  Rites  and 
customs  considered  consistent  with  Sikh 
doctrine  and  tradition  were  established.  For 
some,  legal  sanction  was  secured  through 
government  legislation.  This  period  of 
fecundation  of  the  spirit  and  of  modern 
development  also  witnessed  the  emergence  of 
new  cultural  and  political  aspirations.  Literary 
and  educational  processes  were  renovated. 
Through  a  strong  political  platform,  the  Sikhs 
sought  to  secure  recognition  for  themselves, 

The  most  important  aspects  of  the  Singh 
Sabha  movement  were  educational  and  literary. 
By  1900,  orphanages,  a  system  of  Sikh  schools, 
institutions  for  training  preachers  and  granthis, 
and  other  self-strengthening  efforts  gained 
broad  support  from  Sikhs  in  the  Punjab  and, 
especially,  migrant  communities  abroad.  In 
northwest  Punjab  Baba  Khem  Singh  Bedi  took 
a  prominent  part  in  building  Khalsa  schools. 
Sikh  schools  were  also  built  in  Amritsar,  Lahore, 
Firozpur  and  in  some  villages  such  as  Kairoh, 
Gharjakh,  Chuhar  Chakk,  and  Bhasaur.  One 
of  the  best  known  institutions  was  the  Sikh 
Kanya  Maha  Vidyalaya  of  Firozpur  founded  by 
Bhai  Takht  Singh.  The  teaching  of  Gurmukhi 
and  Sikh  scriptures  was  compulsory  in  these 
Khalsa  schools. 

The  impetus  given  to  education  in  its  turn 
stimulated  the  publication  of  books,  magazines, 
tracts,  and  newspapers.  The  earliest  venture  in 
Punjabi  journalism  was  the  Lahore  Khalsa 
Diwan's  Punjabi  weekly  .Khalsa  Akhbar.  In  1899, 
the  Khalsa  Samachar  was  founded  and  soon 


SINGH  SAGAR 


212 


SINGH  SAGAR 


became  the  leading  theological  journal  of  the 
community.  Its  circulation  increased  under  the 
editorship  of  Bhai  Vir  Singh,  who  rose  to 
prominence  as  a  novelist,'  poet  and 
commentator  of  scriptural  writings.  The  Khalsa 
Advocate  (English)  later  became  the 
spokesman  of  the  Chief  Khalsa  Dlwan. 

A  large  number  of  books  on  Sikhism,  both 
in  Gurmukhi  and  English,  were  published.  Of 
the  Gurmukhi,  GianI  Gian  Singh's  Panth 
Prakash  and  Twarikh  Guru  Kiialsa  and  Kahn 
Singh's  voluminous  encyclopaedia  of  Sikh 
literature  (Gurushabad  Ratanakar  Mahan 
Kosh)  were  of  lasting  significance.  Max  Arthur 
Macauliffe's  monumental  work  on  the  life  and 
teachings  of  the  Sikh  Gurus  and  the  Faridkot 
Tika,  an  exegesis  of  the  entire  Guru  Granth 
Sahib,  were  also  published  during  this  time. 

The  Singh  Sabha  movement  checked  the 
relapse  of  the  Sikhs  into  Hinduism.  Large 
number  of  Hindus  of  northern  and  western 
Punjab  and  Sindh  became  sahajdhari Sikhs  and 
the  sahajdharis  were  encouraged  to  become 
the  Khalsa. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jagjit  Singh,  Singh  Sabha  Lahir.  Ludhiana,  1974 

2.  Ashok,  S.S.,  Pahjab  dian  Lahirah.  Patiala,  1974 

3.  Ganda  Singh  (ed.) ,  "The  Singh  Sabha  and  other 
Socio-Religious  Movements  in  the  Punjab"  in 
The  Punjab:  1850-1925 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

5.  Chandhar,  Gurmukh  Singh,  My  Attempted 
Excommunication.  Lahore,  1898 

6.  Barrier,  N.G.,  Sikhs  and  their  Literature,  Delhi, 
1970 

7.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Major,  "Singh  Sabha  Lahir"  in 
Nanak  Prakash  Patrika.  Patiala,  Dec.  1988 

N.G.B.,  Nz.S. 

SINGH  SAGAR,  by  Vir  Singh  Bal,  is  a  versified 
account  of  the  life  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  The 
author,  not  many  details  of  whose  career  are 
known,  was  born  to  Bhai  Bakht  Singh  towards 
the  end  of  eighteenth  century.  He  was  a  poel  at 


the  court  of  Maharaja  Karam  Singh  ( 1 797-1 845) 
of  Patiala  and  wrote  several  books,  including 
Kissa  Hir  Rahjha,  Bara  Maha,  GurKIrat  Prakas, 
Gopi  Chand  Vairkg  Shatak,  Sudha  Sindhu 
Ramayana.  The  Singh  Sagarwas  written  in  1884 
lik/AD  1827  at  Patiala.  The  work,  two  manuscript 
copies  of  which  are  extant-  one  preserved  in 
the  Motibagh  Palace  at  Patiala-  has  since  been 
published  (1986)  by  the  Punjabi  University. 
The  book,  a  sequel  to  the  author's  Gur  KJrat 
Prakas  that  deals  with  the  lives  of  the  first  nine 
of  the  Sikh  Gurus,  is  primarily  based  on 
Bachitra  Natak,  Sri  Gur  Sobha  and  Sukha 
Singh's  Gurbilas  Dasviii  Patshahi.  It  is  divided 
into  fourteen  cantos  called  tararigs,  each 
treating  of  a  particular  episode  from  the  Guru's 
life.  The  first  tarang  deals  with  the  birth  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  and  the  following  two  narrate 
his  journey  through  Lakhnaur  (2)  and 
Makhoval  (3).  The  martyrdom  of  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  is  dealt  with  in  the  fourth  tararig, 
followed  by  a  description  of  the  splendour  of 
the  Guru's  court  (5),  chastisement  of  the 
masands  (6),  Guru's  arrival  at  Paonta  Sahib  (7) 
and  his  return  to  Anandpur  (8).  The  following 
five  cantos  deal  with  different  battles  such  as 
that  of  Nadaun  (9),  Husaini  (10),  Chamkaur 
Sahib  (11-12)  and  Muktsar  (13).  The  concluding 
tarang  narrates  the  Guru's  departure  to  the 
South  and  his  arrival  at  Nanded.  While  selecting 
the  episodes  the  poet  has  omitted  many 
important  ones,  his  major  concern  being  with 
bringing  out  the  Guru's  martial  prowess  and 
heroism.  The  dominant  mood  of  the  poem  is 
thus  chivalry  (wr  rasa),  with  several  subordinate 
ones  to  support  it ;  doha  and  chaupai  are  the 
metres  used  more  frequendy,  some  other  metres 
employed  being  Rasaval,  Bhujahg,  Bhujang- 
Prayat,  Padhari,  Arill,  Svaiyya,  Soratha,  Jhulana, 
Raval,  Sarikh-nari,  Madhubhar,  Vijaya,  Manohar, 
Totak,  Kabitt,  and  Tilka.  The  language  is  Braj, 
with  an  admixture  of  Punjabi  vocabulary.  Arabic 
and  Persian  words  appear  in  the  original,  too. 
Figures  of  speech  borrowed  generally  from 
everyday  life  embellish  the  verse. 

R.SJ. 


S10K.K 


213 


S1RHIND 


SlOKE,  or  Sihoke,  village  in  Daska  subdivision 
of  Sialkot  district  in  Pakistan,  had  a  Sikh  shrine, 
Gurdwara  Chhotii  Nankana,  commemorating 
Guru  Nanak's  visit.  At  the  time  of  his  visit,  the 
village  was  known  as  Bharoval  and,  according 
to  local  tradition,  he  put  up  here  with  a  devotee 
named  Bhal  Rupii.  The  Gurdwara,  about  one 
kilometre  soutwest  of  the  village,  was  affiliated 
to  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee,  Amritsar,  until  1947  when  it  was 
abandoned  in  the  mass  exodus  following  the 
partition  of  the  Punjab. 

M.G.S. 

SIRHALI  KALAN,  commonly  pronouned 
Sarhali  Kalah  (3I°-17'N,  74"-56'E),  a  village 
6  km  east  of  Patti  in  Amritsar  district  of  the 
Punjab,  is  sacred  to  Guru  Aijan  (1563-1606), 
who  once  stayed  here  for  a  while  along  with 
his  family.  Gurdwara  Chubachcha  Sahib 
commemorating  the  visit  stands  inside  the 
village.  Its  present  building,  constructed  during 
the  1950's  by  followers  of  Sant  Gurmukh  Singh 
Seva-vale,  has  in  the  basement  a  chubachcha,  a 
circular  masonry  trough  used  for  storing  water, 
which  marks  the  site  where  the  Guru  had  stayed 
and  which  gives  the  shrine  its  name.  The 
sanctum  is  a  raised  platform  at  the  far  end  of 
the  marble-floored  hall  built  over  the 
Chubachcha  Sahib.  Above  the  sanctum  is  a 
domed  room  topped  by  a  gilded  pinnacle. 
Guru  ka  Lahgar  and  residential 
accommodation  are  in  the  backyard  of  the  one- 
acre  compound.  The  Gurdwara  owns  25  acres 
of  arable  land  and  is  administered  by  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
through  a  local  committee. 

BIBLOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh.  Gurduariah.  Amritsar, 
n.cl 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

Gn.S. 


SIRHIND  (30"-37N,  76"-23E),  pronounced 
Sarhind,  an  ancient  town  lying  along  the  Grand 
Trunk  Road  (now  renamed  Sher  Shah  Suri 
Marg)  midway  between  Ludhiana  and  Ambala, 
derives  its  name  probably  from  Sairindhas,  a 
tribe  that  according  to  Varahamihira  (AD  505-87), 
Brihat  Samhita,  once  inhabited  this  part  of  the 
country.  According  to  Heuin  Tsang,  the 
Chinese  trave  ller  who  visited  India  during  the 
seventh  century,  Sirhind  was  the  capital  of  the 
district  of  Shiko-tu-lo,  or  Shatadru  (the  River 
Sudej),  which  was  about  2000  li  or  533  km  in 
circuit.  The  Shatadru  principality  subsequently 
became  part  of  the  vast  kingdom  called  Trigat 
of  which  Jalandhar  was  the  capital.  At  the  dme 
of  the  struggle  between  the  Hindushahi  kings 
and  the  Turkish  rulers  of  Ghazni,  Sirhind  was 
an  important  outpost  on  the  eastern  frontier 
of  the  Hindushahi  empire.  With  the 
contraction  of  their  territory  under  the 
Ghaznivid  onslaught,  the  Hindushahi  capital 
was  shifted  in  1012  to  Sirhind,  where  it 
remained  till  the  death  of  Trilochanpal,  the  last 
ruling  king  of  the  dynasty.  At  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  centu:ry,  the  town  was  occupied  by  the 
Chauhans.  During  the  invasions  of  Muhammad 
Ghori,  Sirhind,  along  with  Bathinda, 
constituted  the  most  important  military  outpost 
of  Prithvi  Raj  Chauhan,  the  last  Rajput  ruler 
of  Delhi.  Under  the  Slave  kings,  Sirhind 
constituted  one  of  the  six  territorial  divisions 
of  the  Punjab..  In  the  time  of  Emperor  Akbar 
the  rival  towns  of  Sunam  and  Samana  were 
subordinated  to  it  and  included  in  what  was 
called  Sirhind  sarkar  of  the  Subah  of  Delhi. 
Under  the  Mugjials  Sirhind  was  the  second 
largest  city  of  the  Punjab  and  the  strongest 
fortified  town  between  Delhi  and  Lahore.  The 
town  also  enjoyed  considerable  commercial 
importance.  According  to  Nasir  'Alt  Sirhindi, 
Tarikh-i-Nasiri,  Sirhind  at  that  time  possessed 
buildings  which  had  no  parallel  in  the  whole 
of  India.  Spread  over  an  area  of  3  kos  (10  km 
approximately)  on  the  banks  of  the  River 
Haiisala  (now  known  as  Sirhind  Nala),  it  had 
many  beautiful  gardens  and  several  canals. 


SIRHIND 


214 


SIRHIND 


Emperor  Jahahgir,  who  made  several  visits  to 
Sirhind,  refers  in  his  memoirs  to  the  captivating 
beauty  of  its  gardens. 

The  jurisdiction  of  Sirhind  sarfcar 
extended  to  Anandpur  which  was  the  seat  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  in  the  closing  decades  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  At  the  instance  of  one 
of  the  hill  rulers,  Raja  Ajmer  Chand,  Wazir 
Khan,  the  faujdar  of  Sirhind,  despatched  some 
troops  along  with  a  couple  of  artillery  pieces 
to  reinforce  the  hill  army  attacking  Anandpur. 
An  inconclusive  encounter  took  place  on  13- 
14  October  1700.  Guru  Gobind  Singh  after  a 
brief  interval  returned  to  Anandpur  but  had 
to  quit  it  again  on  5-6  December  1705  under 
pressure  of  a  prolonged  siege  by  the  hill  chief 
supported  by  Sirhind  troops.  Under  the  orders 
of  the  faujdar,  Nawab  Wazir  Khan,  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  two  younger  sons,  aged  nine 
and  seven,  were  cruelly  done  to  death. 
According  to  Sikh  tradition,  they  were  enclosed 
alive  in  a  wall  in  Sirhind  and  executed  as  the 
masonry  rose  up  to  their  necks.  Sirhind  was 
for  this  reason  the  accurst  city  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Sikhs.  Mobilized  under  the  flag  of  Banda 
Singh  Bahadur  after  the  death  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  in  November  1708,  they  made  a  fierce 
attack  upon  Sirhind.  The  Mughal  army  was 
routed  and  Wazir  Khan  killed  in  the  battle  of 
Chappar-Chiri  fought  on  12  May  1710.  Sirhind 
was  occupied  by  the  Sikhs  two  days  later,  and 
Bhai  Baj  Singh  was  appointed  governor.  The 
town  was,  however,  taken  again  by  the  imperial 
forces. 

In  March  1748,  Sirhind  was  seized,  but 
only  temporarily,  by  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  the 
Afghan  general  of  Nadir  Shah  who  succeeded 
his  master  in  the  possession  of  the  eastern  part 
of  his  dominions.  But  the  Durrani  was  defeated 
by  the  Mughal  rulers  of  Delhi  who  reoccupied 
the  town,  although  the  invader  reconquerred 
it  during  his  fourth  invasion  during  1756-57. 
Early  in  1758,  the  Sikhs,  in  collaboration  with 
the  Marathas,  sacked  Sirhind,  drove  Prince 
Taimur,  son  of  Ahmad  Shah  and  his  viceroy  at 
Lahore,  out  of  the  Punjab.  Ahmad  Shah 


defeated  the  Marathas  at  Panipat  in  January 

1 761 ,  and  struck  the  Sikhs  a  severe  blow  in  what 
is  known  as  Vadda  Ghallughara,  the  Great 
Massacre,  that  took  place  on  5  February  1762. 
Sikhs  rallied  and  attacked  Sirhind  on  17  May 

1762,  defeating  its  faujdar,  Zain  Khan,  who 
purchased  peace  by  paying  Rs  50,000  as  tribute 
to  the  Dal  Khalsa.  A  more  decisive  battle  took 
place  on  14  January  1764  when  Dal  Khalsa. 
under  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia,  made  another 
assault  upon  Sirhind.  Zain  Khan  was  killed  in 
action  and  Sirhind  was  occupied  and  subjected 
to  plunder  and  destruction.  The  booty  was 
donated  for  the  repair  and  reconstruction  of 
the  sacred  shrines  at  Amritsar  demolished  by 
Ahmad  Shah.  The  territories  of  the  Sirhind 
sarkar  were  divided  among  the  leaders  of  the 
Dal  Khalsa,  but  no  one  was  willing  to  lake  the 
town  of  Sirhind  where  Guru  Gobind  Singh's 
younger  sons  were  subjected  to  a  cruel  fate.  By 
a  unanimous  will  it  was  made  over  to  Buddha 
Singh,  descendant  of  Bhai  Bhagatu,  who  soon 
after  (2  August  1764)  transferred  possession 
to  Sardar  Ala  Singh,  founder  of  the  Patiala 
family.  Sirhind  thereafter  remained  part  of  the 
Patiala  territory  until  the  state  lapsed  in  1948. 

Maharaja  Karam  Singh  of  Patiala  (1813- 
45)  had  gurdwaras  constructed  in  Sirhind  in 
memory  of  the  young  martyrs  and  their 
grandmother,  Mala  Gujari.  He  changed  the 
name  of  the  nizamat  or  district  from  Sirhind 
to  Fatehgarh  Sahib,  after  the  name  of  the 
principal  gurdwara.  Besides  the  Sikh  shrines, 
Sirhind  has  an  important  Muslim  monument— 
Rauza  Sharif  Mujjadid  Alf  Sani,  the  mausoleum 
of  Shaikh  Ahmad  Sirhindi  (1569-1624),  the 
fundamentalist  leader  of  the  orthodox 
Naqshbandi  school  of  Sufism.  There  are  a 
number  of  other  tombs  in  the  compound 
mostly  of  the  members  of  Shaikh  Ahmad's 
house. 

See  FATEHGARH  SAHIB,  GURDWARA 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshalu  10,  c.d.  Shamsher 
Singh  Ashok.  Patiala,  1968 


SI  HI  RAG  A  KIVAIl^ 


215 


S1ROPA 


2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  GianI,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Narotam,  Tara  Siiigh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

5.  Ganda  Singh,  Sardar  Jassa  Siiigli  Ahluvalia. 
Patiala,  1969 

0.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Chandigarh, 
1966 

7.  Gixpta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Siklis.  Delhi, 
1978-82 

M.S.  A. 

SIR!  RAGA  Kl  VAR,  by  Guru  Ram  Das,  is  one 
of  the  twenty-two  vars  entered  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  It  occurs  in  Sin  raga  from  which 
it  derives  its  title.  This  raga,  known  lor  its 
musical  grace  and  delicacy,  is  sung  both  in 
winter  (January-February)  and  in  summer 
(May-June)  just  before  the  rains  set  in,  the  time 
for  recitation  being  a  little  before  sunset.  The 
Var  comprises  twenty-one  pauris  or  stanzas, 
each  preceded  by  two  slokas  except  the 
fourteenth  which  is  preceded  by  three  slokas. 
Each  paun  comprises  five  lines  whereas  slokas 
vary  in  length  as  well  as  in  authorship.  All  the 
pauris  of  the  Var  are  by  Guru  Ram  Das  whereas 
of  the  total  forty-three  slokas,  seven  are  by  Guru 
Nanak,  two  by  Guru  Ahgad,  thirty-three  by 
Guru  Amar  Das  and  one  by  Guru  Arjan. 

The  Var  pays  homage  \o  the  One 
Supreme  God,  the  sole  creator  and  preserver 
of  all  that  exists  in  this  Universe.  It  is  by  His 
grace  that  men  take  to  the  remembrance  of 
His  name  and  thus  swim  across  the  worldly 
ocean.  God  created  this  earth,  the  sun  and  the 
moon  and  .the  fourteen  worlds.  Some  are 
blessed  to  earn  profit  and  they  become 
gurmukhs,  i.e.  those  with  their  faces  turned 
towards  the  Guru.  Such  persons  become 
liberated  and  suffer  no  more  in  the  cycle  of 
transmigration.  Belief  in  the  existence  of  God, 
love  for  Him,  recitation  of  His  Name  and 
realization  of  God  as  the  ultimate  end  of 


human  life  are  some  of  the  points  on  which 
the  Var  lays  emphasis.  Love  other  than  that  of 
God  is  transient  and  it  leads  one  to 
disappointment.  Apart  from  the  spiritual  and 
theological  problems  that  this  Var  takes  up,  it 
refers  to  some  social  problems  as  well.  Equality 
of  men  is  the  basic  value.  What  determines 
man's  social  status  is  not  his  birth  in  a  particular 
caste  but  his  good  or  bad  deeds.  Pride  in  caste 
is  sheer  vanity.  God  protects  all  irrespective  of 
their  caste  or  creed. 

Guru  Nanak  denounces  untouchability  as 
well  as  hypocrisy  of  the  so-called  'twice-born' 
who  draw  a  line  around  their  kitchen  to 
exclude  pollution  but  have  not  cleansed  their 
hearts  of  the  vices.  A  man  who  pretends  piety 
and  carried  evil  in  his  heart  is  severely 
condemned.  Man  is  adjured  to  choose  the 
moral  path.  Thus  will  one  overcome  ego,  the 
main  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  the 
realization  of  Truth.  The  last  stanza  of  the  Va\r 
affords  a  revelatory  glimpse.  The  Guru,  who 
calls  himself  a  dhadi  or  bard  engaged  ill 
penegyrizing  God,  has  visited  the  Divine  Portal 
and  there  received  from  Him  the  gift  of  True 
Name. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Ainritsar,  1959 

2.  Amole,  S.S.,  Bai  Varaii  Satik.  Amritsar,  1944 

3.  Narain  Siiigh,  GianI,  Bai  Varaii  Satik.  Amritsar, 
1975 

4.  Bishan  Siiigh,  Giani,  Tiki  Bai  Varaii.  Amritsar,  n.d. 

Hn.S. 

SIROPA,  a  term  adopted  from  Persian  sar-o- 
pa  (head  and  foot)  or  sarapa  (head  to  foot) 
meaning  an  honorary  dress,  is  used  in  Sikh 
vocabulary  for  a  garment,  scarf  or  a  length  of 
cloth  bestowed  on  someone  as  a  mark  of 
honour.  It  is  the  equivalent  of  khiU'al  or  robe 
of  honour  with  the  difference  that  while  a 
khill'at  is  awarded  by  a  political  superior  and 
comprises  a  whole  set  of  garments  with  or 
without  arms,  a  siropa  is  bestowed  by  a  religious 
or  social  figure  or  institution  and  may  comprise 


SIROPA 


216 


SIRSA 


a  whole  dress  or,  as  is  usually  the  case,  a  single 
garment  or  a  length  of  cloth  as  a  mark  of 
recognition  of  piety  or  as  an  acknowledgement 
of  unswerving  devotion  to  a  moral  or 
philanthropic  purpose. 

The  use  of  the  term  may  be  traced  to 
certain  hymns  of  the  Gurus  where  the  exact 
words  used  are  kapra  (garment  or  cloth), 
patola  (scarf)  and  sirpau  (saropa,  dress  of 
honour),  and  they  signify  the^  bestowal  of 
honour  as  well  as  protection  of  honour.  For 
example,  Guru  Nanak  sang,  sachi  sifat  salah 
kapra  pa/a- 1  received  by  His  grace  the  garment 
signalling  me  to  sing  His  praise  (c;g,  150).  And 
Guru  Arjan  said,  prem  patola.  tai  sahi  dita 
dhakan  ku  pad  meri  -  O  Lord,  thou  hast 
invested  me  with  the  scarf  of  love  to  save  my 
honour  (GG,  520).  In  another  hymn  he  sang, 
suni pukar  samarth  suami bandhan  kad  savare/ 
pahiri  sirpau  sevak  jan  mele  nanak  pragat 
pahare-  Responding  to  my  humble  plaint  the 
all-powerful  Lord  has  cut  asunder  all  of  our 
shackles.  Upon  his  servants  he  has  conferred 
robes  of  honour  (GG,  31).  Yet  in  another  place: 
bhagat jana  ka  lugara  odbi  nagan  na  hoi/ sakat 
sirpau  resmi  pahirat  pad  khoi-  devotees  of  God 
are  not  naked  even  in  torn  rag.  One  who  is 
attached  to  maya  loses  his  honour  clad  even  in 
his  silk  robes  (GG,  811). 

Siropa  should  be  distinguished  from  the 
bestowal  of  a  turban  or  gown  by  a  saint  upon  a 
disciple  as  a  mark  of  initiation  or  confirmation 
in  an  order  or  of  succession  to  its  headship. 
Siropa  among  the  Sikhs  is  a  symbol  of  honour 
or  benediction.  The  practice  can  be  traced 
back  at  least  as  far  as  Guru  Aiigad  who  bestowed 
upon  (Guru)  Amar  Das  a  scarf  every  year.  The 
latter  treated  these  scarfs  as  sacred  gifts  and 
carried  them  tied  on  his  head  one  above  the 
other. 

The  siropa  is  now  a  gift  bestowed  by  sangat 
on  behalf  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  upon 
someone  who  deserves  the  honour  by  virtue 
of  his  or  her  dedication.  It  is  almost  invariably 
in  the  form  of  a  length  of  cloth,  two  to  two- 
and-a-half  metres,  usually  dyed  in  saffron 


colour,  accompanied  by  prasad,  the 
consecrated  food  which  could  be  in  the  form 
of  karah  prasad,  sugar  crystal  or  bubbles,  or 
dry  fruit.  Siropa  is  the  highest  award  that  a  Sikh 
may  receive  in  sangat.  It  is  the  most  precious 
gift  of  the  Guru  made  through  the  sarigat.  The 
present  practice  of  giving  a  siropa  to  anyone 
who  makes  an  offering  of  or  exceeding  a 
certain  value  or  who  happens  to  be  socially  or 
politically  important  is,  strictly  speaking,  an 
aberration.  Siropa  is  earned  through  high 
merit  and  dedicadon. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1959 

2.  Kahn  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurushabad  RatanakarMahan 
Kosh.  Patiala,  1981 

M.G.S. 

SIRSA,  pronounced  Sarsa  (29"-33'N,  75°- 
04'E),  in  Haryana,  once  famous  as  a  seat  of 
Muslim  Sufis  and  anchorites  has  two  historical 
Sikh  shrines  : 

GURDWARA  CHILHA  SAHIB  PATSHAH1  1.  Guru 
Nanak  once  visited  Sirsa  and  held  discourse 
with  the  holy  men,  stressing  die  futility  of 
withdrawal  from  the  world  and  of  undergoing 
austerities.  A  small  shrine  commemorating  the 
visit  of  the  Guru  stands  near  the  Khanaqah  of 
Pahj  Pirs  in  the  north-western  corner  of  the 
town.  Two  engraved  stones  in  the  shrine  carry 
the  inscription  Chilha  Bava  Sahib  Nanak 
Dervish.  The  shrine  used  to  be  looked  after  by 
Muslim  priests  of  the  Khanaqah.  When  they 
left  after  Partititon  in  1947,  the  premises  were 
taken  over  by  the  Waqf  Board.  The  place  has 
since  been  acquired  by  the  Sikhs,  and  a  new 
complex  known  as  Gurdwara  Chilha  Sahib 
Patshahi  1  has  been  developed,  200  metres  west 
of  the  bigger  Gurdwara  in  memory  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh. 

GURDWARA  SRI  GURU  GOBIND  SlftGH  Jl.  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  stayed  at  Sirsa  on  his  way  from 
Damdama  Sahib  (Talvandi  Sabo)  to  the  South 


SITA  RAM  KOHU 


217 


SlTA  It  AM  KOHI.I 


in  1706.  He  encamped  near  a  pond  known  as 
Lakkhi  Talao.  It  was  here  thai  Dalla  Singh 
deserted  the  Guru.  From  here  the  Guru  went 
to  Khudal  to  rescue  one  Gulab  Singh, 
goldsmith,  held  in  captivity  by  the  local  Muslim 
chief.  A  gurdwara  was  later  raised  on  the  bank 
of  Lakkhi  Talao  by  Maharaja  Hira  Singh  of 
Nabha.  The  possession  of  the  gurdwa  ra  passed 
to  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  in  1928.  In  1958  Sant  Baghel  Singh, 
on  a  request  from  some  leading  Sikhs  of  the 
area,  took  up  reclamation  of  the  tank  and 
reconstruction  of  trie  Gurdwara.  The  Gurdwara 
now  consists  of  a  hall  standing  on  marbled 
platform,  with  a  ribbed  lotus  dome  on  top.  The 
entire  exterior  as  well  as  the  interior  including 
the  dome  is  covered  with  white  marble.  In  front 
of  the  platform  there  is  a  large  pavilion  with 
vaulted  roof  for  holding  larger  assemblies. 
Within  the  walled  compound  are  the  holy  tank, 
a  high  school,  a  serai,  and  a  plain  flat-roofed 
room  which  is  Baba  Baghel  Singh's  samadh. 
Guru  ka  Lahgar  is  in  a  separate  old  building. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Gianl,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Nanak  and  Origins  of  the 
Sikh  Faith,  Bombay,  1969 

4.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  Travels  &  Guru  Nanak. 
Chandigarh,  1969 

M.G.S. 

SITA  RAM  KOHLI  (1889-1962),  the  first 
Punjab  historian  to  undertake  research  in 
historical  documents  relating  to  the  Punjab, 
was  born  on  28  February  1889  at  the  ancient 
town  of  Bhera,  now  in  Pakistan.  He  passed  his 
matriculation  examination  from  the  local 
Government  High  School  and  went  to 
Government  College,  Lahore,  for  his  Master's 
degree  in  History. 

In  1913'the  University  of  the  Parijab 
invited  the  eminent  British  historian,  Ramsay 


Muir,  from  England  as  a  visiting  professor.  He 
stayed  at  Lahore  from  October  1913  to  March 
1914.  His  lectures,  discussions,  and  formal 
addresses  created  great  interest  in  the  study 
and  research  of  Punjab  history.  This  led  to  the 
establishment  of  Punjab  Historical  Society  to 
serve  as  a  forum  for  students  anfcl  researchers 
of  history,  and  of  a  journal  for  publication  of 
such  papers.  A  scholarship  of  the  value  of  Rs. 
100  per  month  named  Alexandra  Research 
Scholarship  was  also  instituted.  As  Sita  Ram  had 
shown  an  early  talent  for  historical  research, 
he  was  the  first  scholar  to  be  awarded  this 
scholarship  in  1915. 

Sita  Ram  read  closely  the  huge  mass  of 
material  of  Maharaja  Ranjh  Singh's  time  lying 
tied  up  in  red  cloth  bundles  in  the  tomb  of 
Anarkali  at  Lahore.  It  fell  to  Kohli's  lot  to 
resurrect  the  dead  documents  to  tell  their  tale 
of  past  glory.  These  records  were  in  Persian 
often  in  the  fast  running  hand,  called  shikasta. 
Sita  Ram  displayed  remarkable  perseverance 
and  industry  in  dealing  with  more  than  three 
lakh  folios  covering  the  period  of  Lahore 
Darbar  from  1811  to  1849  and  in  preparing  a 
catalogue  of  these  documents  giving  the  name 
of  the  department,  date  and  a  brief  reference 
to  the  subject-matter  in  each  case.  This  was  later 
on  published  by  die  Punjab  Government  in  two 
volumes  entided  Catalogue  of  Khalsa  Darbar 
Records. 

In  appreciation  of  his  outstanding  talent, 
the  Punjab  Government  gave  him  appointment 
as  a  lecturer  in  History  at  Government  College, 
Lahore,  in  the  Punjab  Educational  Service  in 
1919.  He  stayed  in  that  College  for  14  years. 
During  this  period  he  not  only  lectured  to 
undergraduate  and  postgraduate  classes,  but 
also  retained  his  connection  with  the  Punjab 
Government  Record  Office  of  which  he  held 
the  additional  charge  as  the  Deputy  Keeper 
of  Records.  There  he  spent  most  of  his  time 
after  college  hours  in  guiding  M.A.  students 
for  writing  dissertations  and  monographs 
which  was  a  compulsory  academic  requirement 
in  those  days. 


SlTA  UAM  KOHU 


218 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SIKHS 


In  1933,  he  was  transferred  to  Ludhiana 
where  he  was  the  Vice-Principal  under 
Principal  Harvey.  There  he  lived  in  a  portion 
of  the  same  house  as  was  occupied  a  hundred 
years  earlier  by  the  ex-rulers  of  Afghanistan, 
Shah  Zaman  and  Shah  Shuja'.  In  1940 
Professor  Kohli  was  appointed  Principal  at 
Government  College,  Hoshiarpur.  In  1944  he 
was  transferred  to  Government  College, 
Rohtak,  which  then  was  the  only  Government 
College  in  present-day  Haryana.  After  his 
retirement  from  Punjab  Government  service 
in  1946,  he  was  offered  appointment  as 
Principal,  Ranbir  College,  Sarigrur,  and  was 
given  the  additional  charge  as  Superintendent, 
Education  Department,  Jind  state,  and  a  little 
later  that  of  Secretary,  Education  Department 
of  the  state.  With  the  creation  of  PEPSU  in 
1948,  he  ceased  to  be  Secretary,  Educadon,  but 
retained  the  post  of  the  Principal  up  to 
November  1951,  when  he  finally  retired  and 
settled  at  Rohtak  in  his  newly-built  house 
named  Retreat  (Gosha-i-Afiyat).  Towards  the 
end  of  his  life  he  fell  victim  to  the  pernicious 
disease  of  Asthma,  which  uldmately  carried  him 
off  in  July  1962. 

Among  his  historical  works,  the  earliest, 
Catalogue  of  Khalsa  Darbar  Records  in  two 
volumes  is  most  famous.  The  first  volume  was 
published  is  1919.  It  gives  a  summary  of  records 
of  the  military  department  (Daftar-i-Fauj). 
Based  on  these  records  he  published  a  series 
of  articles  on  the  Army  of  Ranjit  Singh  tracing 
its  origin,  growth  and  organization  in  the 
Journal  of  Indian  History,  Madras. 

The  second  volume  came  out  in  1927.  It 
mainly  deals  with  revenue  records.  The 
manuscript  of  Diwan  Amar  Math's  Zafar 
Natnah-i-Ranjit  Singh  was  edited  by  him  and 
published  in  1928.  In  1932  he  published  a 
monograph  entitled  Trial  of  Diwan  Mul  Raj, 
the  Sikh  governor  of  Multan  province,  held 
responsible  by  the  British  Government  for  his 
soldiers'  mudny  leading  to  the  second  Sikh  war 
in  1848-49.  In  1933  Professor  Kohli  brought 
out  a  short  volume  on  Ranjit  Singh  in  Urdu 


for  the  Hindustani  Academy,  Allahabad.  Its 
material  was  drawn  from  original  records,  in 
particular  from  Sohan  Lai's  Diary  called 
'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Another  original  source 
of  Ranjit  Singh's  period  was  Guru  Khalsa  ji  ka 
Fatah  Namah  by  Ganesh  Das  published  in 
Hindi.  In  1956  he  brought  out  Shah 
Muhammad's  kissa  in  Punjabi  on  the  first 
Anglo-Sikh  war.  He  prepared  a  volume  endded 
The  Last  Phase,  1839-1849,  which  was  edited 
and  published  by  Khushwant  Singh  after  the 
death  of  the  author  under  the  new  dde,  Sunset 
of  the  Sikh  Empire. 

Professor  Kohli 's  main  field  of  historical 
research  was  the  history  of  the  Sikh  empire, 
1799  to  1849.  All  his  writings  betray  maturity 
of  judgement  and  balance.  He  has  a  simple 
and  forceful  style  of  writing.  He  possessed  a 
highly  analydcal  mind.  He  was  a  pioneer  in  the 
field  of  historical  research  in  the  Punjab. 
Professor  Kohli  served  on  a  number  of 
historical  organizations  such  as  Indian 
Historical  Records  Commission,  Indian  History 
Congress  and  Punjab  History  Conference. 
Punjabi  University,  Padala,  insdtuted  an  annual 
lecture  series  in  his  honour. 

Professor  Sita  Ram  Kohli  was  a  handsome 
and  impressive  man  to  look  at.  He  was  married 
to  the  daughter  of  an  eminent  Professor  of 
Chemistry  of  Government  College,  Lahore, 
Professor  Ruchi  Ram  Sahni.  He  lived  well  and 
was  fond  of  good  food  and  good  company.  He 
rarely  missed  his  club  and  was  an  extremely 
good  host.  He  drove  his  own  car  and 
maintained  a  lavish  table-spread.  He  spent  his 
summers  at  Gulmarg,  an  attractive  hill  city.  He 
would  inspire  his  pupils  to  read  more  and  more 
and  write  with  exactness  and  brevity. 

S.S.B. 

SKETCH  OF  THE  SIKHS,  sub-titled  "A 
Singular  Nation  who  inhabit  the  Province  of 
the  Punjab  situated  between  the  Rivers  Jumna 
and  Indus,"  by  Lt.-Col.  John  Malcolm,  was 
originally  published  in  the  Asiatick  Researches 
in  1810,  and  was  published  in  book-form  in 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SIKHS 


219 


SKETCH  OF  THE  SIKHS 


1812  and  reprinted  in  1981  by  Vinay 
Publications,  Chandigarh. 

The  book  is  divided  into  three  sections. 
The  first  section,  covering  almost  the  first  half 
of  the  book,  treats  of  the  origin  and  history  of 
the  Sikhs  from  Guru  Nanak  to  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur,  with  observations  on  their  religious 
institutions,  usages  and  manners.  The  second 
section  deals  with  the  nature  and  character  of 
the  Sikh  government  and  the  third  with  the 
religion  of  the  Sikhs.  However,  this  formal 
division  could  be  discarded  in  favour  of  a  more 
meaningful  division-the  author's  view  of  the 
Sikh  past  and  his  understanding  of  the 
contemporary  situation. 

Unlike  his  predecessors  who  had  had  no 
opportunities  "of  obtaining  more  than  very 
general  information  regarding  this 
extraordinary  race,"  leading  to  works  which 
served  "more  to  excite  than  to  gratify  curiosity," 
Malcolm  was  able  to  get  first-hand  information 
about  the  Sikhs  when  he  accompanied,  in  1805, 
Lord  Lake's  army  in  pursuit  of  Jasvant  Rao 
Holkar  into  the  Sutlej-Yarnuna  Divide.  He  also 
managed  to  collect  manuscript  copies  of 
various  religious  and  historical  works.  In  fact, 
he  was  the  first  British  writer  to  think  of  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the  Dasam  Grants,  the 
Janam  Sakhis  and-the  Varan  by  Bhai  Gurdas  as 
the  crucial  sources  of  information  regarding 
the  Sikhs  and  prefer  these  Sikh  writings  to 
Muslim  chr&nicles.  John  Leyden  translated  for 
him  the  Gurmukhi  manuscripts  into  English 
and  a  Nirmala  Sikh  in  Calcutta  is  said  to  have 
helped  in  the  interpretation  of  Scriptural  texts. 
For  the  early  eighteenth  century,  he  had  no 
Gurmukhi  documents  to  rely  upon  and 
therefore  he  depended  largely  on  Ghulam 
Husain  Khan's  Sfyar  al-Mutakhirin.  Malcolm 
himself  admits  to  his  account  being.hasty  and 
sketchy,  and  for  this  he  seeksjustification  in  its 
usefulness  "at  a  moment  when  every 
information  regarding  the  Sikhs  is  of 
importance." 

However,  this  impressionistic  and  partially 
pejorative  work,  when  studied  with  a  sifting  eye 


and  combined  with  information  from  other 
sources,  can  be  of  good  use  in  arriving  at  a 
realistic  idea  of  the  Sikh  order. 

Malcolm  regards  Sikhism,  erroneously 
though,  as  a  religious  movement  within 
Hinduism  and  its  founder  as  a  "reformer" 
rather  than  as  a  "subverter"  of  the  Hindu 
religion.  He  appreciates  Guru  Nanak's 
insistence  on  monotheism  from  a  deistic 
standpoint  and,  on  a  rationalistic  criterion  of 
tolerance,  he  admires  Guru  Nanak's  attempt 
at  conciliation  between  Hindus  and  Muslims. 
However,  he  has  not  been  able  to  comprehend 
the  principle  of  unity  of  spirit  in  the  succeeding 
Gurus,  and  his  assessment  of  the  career  and 
contribution  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  the  tenth 
and  the  last  of  them  is  depreciatory.  He  notes 
the  contrast  between  Guru  Nanak  and  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  without  taking  into  account  the 
historical  and  logical  evolution  which  took 
place  in  the  intervening  period.  The  spirit  of 
independence  and  equality  among  the  Sikhs 
is  attributed  to  the  measures  taken  by  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  Another  legacy  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh,  according  to  the  author,  was  the 
implanting  among  Sikhs  the  belief  that  they 
enjoyed  "the  peculair  care  of  God."  The 
attachment  to  this  principle  led  them  "to 
consider  the  Khalsa  (or  Commonwealth)  as  a 
theocracy." 

There  are  several  inaccuracies  in  the  book 
as  regards  Sikhs'  character,  manners  and 
customs  and  their  religious  practices  and 
concepts. 

Malcolm's  comments  on  contemporary 
Sikh  situation,  including  the  administration  of 
justice  which  he  found  in  "a  very  rude  and 
imperfect  state"  as  well  as  of  revenue  which 
seemed  to  him  the  most  indulgent,  are  both 
interesting  and  valuable.  He  remarked  how 
Sikh  chiefs  lacked  unity  among  themselves. 
Their  armies,  including  that  of  Ranjit  Singh, 
he  held  in  poor  estimate.  His  observations  on 
the  social  life  of  the  Punjab,  especially  of  the 
Sikhs,  have  considerable  historical  and 
sociological  significance. 


Sl.OKAS  OF  SHAIKH  FARlD 


220 


Sl.OKAS  OF  SHAIKH  FARlD 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Fauja  Singh,  Historians  and  Historiography  of  the 
Sikhs.  Delhi,  1978 

2.  Khurana,  Gianeshwar,  British  Historiography  on 
the  Sikh  Power  in  the  Punjab.  Delhi,  1985 

3.  Darshan  Singh,  Western  Perspective  on  the  Sikh 
Religion.  Delhi,  1991 

4.  Grewal, J.S.,  From  Guru  Nanak  to  Mahanja  Ranjit 
Singh.  Amritsar,  1972 

j.S.G 

SLOKAS  OF  SHAIKH  FARID.  Baba  Shaikh 
Farid  Ganj-i-Shakar  (1173-1264),  the  famous 
Sufi  saint  born  in  the  Punjab,  some  of  whose 
compositions  are  included  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib,  was  a  poet  whose  Punjabi  verses  form 
the  first  recorded  poetry  in  the  Punjabi 
language.  Guru  Nanak  himself  seems  to  have 
brought  to  light  these  verses  when  he  visited 
Pak  Pattan,  that  venerable  old  seal  of  Chishtl 
Sufis  where  he  met  with  Shaikh  Ibrahim,  in 
twelfth  place  from  himself.  Guru  Nanak  found 
these  lines  pregnant  with  high  moral  purpose 
and  with  deep  spiritual  insight.  He  may  have 
recorded  these  in  his  book  from  where  they 
were  transferred  to  the  Volume  which  Guru 
Arjan,  Nanak  V,  compiled.  Shaikh  Farid 's  verses 
included  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  are  hymns 
in  ragas  Asa,  Suhl  and  Gauri  ;  and  120  slokas 
covering  pages  1377  to  1384.  Some  of  the  slokas 
have  added  to  them  slokas  from  the  Gurus 
which  are  meant  to  harmonize  the  import  and 
clarify  or  supplement  the  idea  contained  in  the 
original  sloka.  The  slokas  of  Farid,  though  not 
linked  thematically  with  one  another,  describe 
in  general  the  transient  nature  of  the  world 
and  exhort  man  to  remain  detached  from  its 
false  allurements  and  to  reflect  upon  the  name 
of  God  which  is  the  only  lasting  reality.  They 
also  lay  stress  on  the  need  for  the  right  conduct 
and  moral  awareness.  The  attitude  towards  the 
Divine  is,  throughout  Farid's  compositions,  that 
of  a  loving  wife  towards  her  spouse. 

Farid  teaches  man  not  to  seek  God  in 
lonely  wastes  as  He  abides  in  the  heart  (19). 
Creator  in  the  creation  abides,  and  the  creation 


in  Him  (75).  From  this  metaphysical  thought 
of  essential  oneness  between  the  Creator-Lord 
and  the  jiva  is  derived  the  social  Ideal  of 
universal  brotherhood  of  man.  Concerning 
human  social  behaviour,  Farid's  advice  is :  speak 
never  a  rude  word  to  anyone-  the  Lord  Eternal 
in  all  abides  ;  break  no  heart-know,  each  being 
is  a  priceless  jewel ;  each  heart  is  a  jewel,  evil  it 
is  to  break  any ;  shouldst  thou  seek  to  find  the 
Beloved,  break  no  one's  heart  (129-30).  Man 
must  endeavour  to  become  a  worthy  object  of 
his  grace  because  jt  has  the  power  to  transform 
a  crow(/nanmuA/j)  into  a  swan  (gunnukti) 
(124).  Since  God  permeates  through  the 
creation,  His  concern  for  it  never  ceases  even 
though  man  becomes  forgetful  of  Him  (107). 
Farid  has  an  intense  longing  to  realize  such  an 
Omniscient  and  loving  God  :  in  separation 
from  God  my  body  burns  like  an  oven  ;  my 
bones  flame  like  firewood  ;  to  find  union  with 
the  Beloved,  could  I  walk  till  my  feet  be  tired 
when  I  would  walk  on  my  head  (119).  These 
lines  are  only  symbolic  of  Farid's  intensity  of 
yearning  for  union  with  the  Divine  and  need 
not  be  read  in  their  literal  sense  :  in  the  Sikh 
view,  torture  of  body  is  not  necessary  and  the 
Divine  can  be  realized  within  the  heart  (120). 
Farid  laughs  at  the  ignorance  of  the  peasant 
who  seeks  grapes  of  Bijavar  while  sowing  thisde, 
and  seeks  to  wear  silk  while  carding  and 
spinning  coarse  wool  (23).  In  still  more 
unequivocal  terms,  Farid  declares  that  only  our 
good  deeds  in  this  world  will  stand  by  us  in  the 
next  (100).  Apart  from  the  cultivation  of  moral 
qualities  which  help  man  on  his  way  to  God- 
reali/.ation,  man  should  also  develop  deep  and 
selfless  love.  Love  of  God  and  greed  go  not 
together :  with  greed  is  love  polluted.  Farid  calls 
such  love  frail,  as  frail  as  a  leaking  straw  roof 
against  rain  (18).  Love  for  the  Divive  can  best 
be  expressed  through  loving  actions  for 
mankind.  Farid  says :  return  thou  good  for  evil, 
in  thy  heart  bear  no  revenge  ;  thus  will  thy  body 
be  free  of  maladies  and  thy  life  have  all 
blessings  (78).  Man  is  asked  to  imbibe  humility 
like  the  earth  which  we,  while  living,  trample 


SMITH,  SIR  HARRY  GEORGE  WAKK1.YN 


SOBHA  SINGH 


upon  but  which  covers  us  when  we  are  dead 
(17).  At  another  place,  Farid  says  :  strike  not 
back  those  that  strike  thee  blows;  in  utter 
humility  and  forgiveness  turn  towards  thy  home 
(7).  Human  life  is  transitory,  and  death  is 
certain  for  all.  Man  knows  where  his 
predecessors  have  gone,  yet  lie  knows  not  of 
his  own  impending  end  (73).  Though  life's 
span  be  a  hundred  years,  in  the  end  it  will  turn 
to  dust  (41 ) .  Deadi  is  also  a  great  leveller,  prince 
and  pauper  are  treated  alike:  Those  who 
commanded  drums  to  be  beaten  for  them, 
umbrellas  to  rise  over  their  heads,  trumpets  to 
proclain  their  glory-ultimately  have  they  been 
led  to  rest  in  the  graveyard,  buried  under  the 
earth,  helpless  (45).  Death  does  not  spare  even 
the  most  revered  and  the  great,  and  the)',  also, 
must  depart  when  time  comes  (47).  Human 
body  is  subject  to  kal,  i.e.  time  and  death.  It 
decays  with  the  passage  of  time  and  becomes 
rather  frail  before  death  finally  overcomes  it. 
Talking  of  old  age,  Farid  says  that  'these  frail 
legs  of  mine  once  scoured  over  desert  and  hill, 
today  the  prayer-jug  at  hand  seems  a  hundred 
miles  removed'  (20).  Life  being  so  transient, 
man  must  never  depart  from  the  path  of  l  oving 
devotion  to  God,  whatever  the  handicaps  (25- 
26). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sii/iibAmriisar,  1959 

2.  Sahib  Siiigh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpnn. 
Jalandhar,  1962-64 

3.  Padarri,  Piara  Singh,  Bolai  Sheikh  Farid.  Fatiala, 
1978 

4.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  ed.,  Baba  Farid  :  Jivan, 
Sama  ate  Rachna..  Chandigarh,  1978 

S.S.S. 

SMITH,  SIR  HARRY  GEORGE  WAKELYN 
(1787-1860),  divisional  commander  of  the 
British  army  of  the  Sutlej,  under  Lord  Hugh 
Gongh,  in  the  first  Anglo-Sikh  war  (1845-46). 
He  was  a  veteran  of  the  Peninsular  war  and 
bad  also  taken  part  in  the  battle  of  Waterloo. 
He  saw  action  at  Ferozeshah  (21  December 


1845),  Baddoval  (21  January  1846),  and  at 
'Alival  (28  January  1846).  His  troops  were 
stationed  at  Dharamkot:  when  a  division  of  the 
Sikh  army  under  Ranjodh  Singh  Majithla 
crossed  the  Sutlej  at  Phillaur,  seriously 
threatening  Ludhiana  and  intersecting  the 
British  line  of  communication.  Harry  Smith 
advanced  towards  Jagraori  to  save  Ludhiana 
where  Brigadier  Godby  held  a  meagre  force  of 
3  battalions  of  infantry.  At  Baddoval,  Ranjodh 
Siiigh  intercepted  him,  but  by  a  dexterous 
manoeuvre,  he  extricated  himself  and 
advanced  towards  Ludhiana.  Ludhiana  was 
saved  though  the  Sikhs  claimed  a  victory  at 
Baddoval.  On  28  January,  the  British  force 
under  Harry  Smith  moving  out  of  Baddoval 
surprised  the  Sikh  army  under  Ranjodh  Singh 
and  Ajlt  Singh  of  Ladva  at  'Alival.  Soon 
afterwards,  Harry  Smith's  divisionjoined  Lord 
Cough's  army  and  on  10  February  took  part  in 
the  battle  of  Sabhraoh. 

Sir  Harry  Smith  was  created  Baronet  of 
'Alival  and,  in  1847,  was  made  governor  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  He  is  the  author  of  an 
autobiography,  which  was  edited  by  G.C.  Moore 
and  published  in  London  in  1903  under  the 
title  The  Autobiography  of  Lt.-General  Sir 
Harry  Smith,  Baronet  of  Alival  on  the  Sutlej. 
He  died  in  London  on  12  October  1860. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gough,  Sir  C.,  and  A.D.  Innes,  The  Sikhs  and 
the  Sikh  Wars.  London,  1897 

2.  Hasrat  Bikrama  Jit,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations,  1799- 
1849.  Hoshiarpur,  1968 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Private  Correspondence 
relating  to  the  Anglo-Sikh  Wars.  Amritsar,  1955 

BJ.H. 

SOBHA  SINGH,  a  grandson  of  Divan  Singh 
who  had  built  the  village  of  Qila  Divan  Singh 
in  Gurdaspur  district  during  the  early  days  of 
Sikh  power.  Divan  Siiigh  was  a  follower  of 
Chauhas  of  Rasulnagar.  Sobha  Singh's  father, 
Hukam  Siiigh  had  served  under  Mahaii  Siiigh 
Sukkaichakkia  and  afterwards  under  Maharaja 


SOBHA  SINGH 


222 


SOBHA  SINGH 


Ranjit  Singh  in  their  various  campaigns  of 
conquest  and  died  while  fighting  against  the 
Yusafzais.  Sobha  Singh  was  granted  the  villages 
of  Qila  Divan  Singh  and  Kotgarh  on  the  death 
of  his  father.  He  served  under  Misr  Divan 
Chand  in  Kashmir,  and  fought  in  various  batdes 
on  the  northwest  frontier,  including  those  of 
Ten  and  Peshawar  (1823).  He  broke  fealty  with 
the  Sikh  Darbar  and  helped  the  British  with 
supplies  in  the  Anglo-Sikh  war  of  1848-49. 
After  annexation  of  the  Punjab,  he  was  allowed 
to  maintain  his  two  villages  on  payment  of  one 
quarter  of  the  revenue. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Griffin,  Lepel,  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

2.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Delhi,  1978 

S.S.B. 

SOBHA  SINGH,  a  native  of  Doaba  region, 
joined  Bhai  Maharaj  Singh,  a  leading  figure  in 
the  1848-49  revolt,  in  his  march  to  Multan  in 
aid  of  Diwan  Mul  Raj  in  June  1848,  and 
remained  with  him  throughout  till  he  reached 
Dev  Batala,  in  the  Jammu  territory,  after  the 
battles  of  Cheliahvala  and  Gujrat.  He  again 
joined  him  at  Kurala,  in  Hoshiarpur  district  and 
assisted  him  in  enlisting  volunteers  for  the 
planned  rising. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Ahluwalia,  M.L.,  Bhai  Maharaj  Singh.  Patiala,  1972 

M.L.A. 

SOBHA  SINGH  (1901-1986),  painter,  famous 
especially  for  his  portraits  of  the  Gurus,  was 
born  on  29  November  1901  in  a  Ramgarhia 
family  of  Sri  Hargobindpur,  in  Gurdaspur 
district  of-the  Punjab.  His  father,  Deva  Singh, 
had  been  in  the  Indian  cavalry.  At  the  age  of 
15,  Sobha  Singh  entered  the  Industrial  School 
at  Amritsar  for  a  one-year  course  in  art  and 
craft.  As  a  draughtsman  in  the  Indian  army  he 
served  in  Baghdad,  in  Mesopotamia  (now 


Iraq).  He  left  the  army  to  pursue  an 
independent  career  in  drawing  and  painting. 
In  1949,  he  settled  down  in  Andretta,  a  remote 
and  then  little-known  place  in  the  Kahgra 
valley,  beginning  the  most  productive  period 
of  his  life. 

Sobha  Singh  was  skilled  in  the  western 
classical  technique  of  oil  paindng.  His  themes 
came  from  the  romantic  lore  of  the  Punjab, 
Indian  epics  and  from  the  Sikh  religious 
tradition.  His  paintings  of  Punjabi  lovers  Sohni 
and  Mahihval  and  Hir  and  Ranjha  became  very 
famous.  Sohni-Mahihval  was  rated  to  be  a  real 
masterpiece  ;  its  impact  upon  the  Punjabi 
consciousness  was  of  a  lasting  nature.  What 
gave  Sobha  Singh  the  utmost  satisfaction  was 
his  paintings  of  the  Gurus  of  the  Sikh  faith.  As 
he  put  it,  "Painting  the  Gurus  is  nearest  to  the 
ultimate  in  the  evolution  of  my  real  self."  His 
earliest  painting  in  the  series  was  of  the  birth 
of  Guru  Nanak done  in  1934.  The  child  Nanak 
was  depicted  in  Mata  Tripta's  lap,  surrounded 
by  his  sister  Nanaki  and  other  women  of  the 
family,  while  £iva,  Rama,  Sita  and  the  goddess 
Sarasvati  appeared  from  out  of  the  skies  to 
shower  flowers  on  the  holy  child.  The  motif 
clearly  bore  the  influence  of  Christian  art  of 
the  middle  ages.  The  earliest  portrait  of  Guru 
Nanak  by  Sobha  Singh  captioned  nam  khumari 
nanaka  charhi  rahe  din  rat  (Let  the  rapture  of 
the  Lord's  Name,  saith  Nanak,  keep  me  in 
inebriation  day  and  night)  was  painted  in  1937. 
The  Guru  is  shown  here  with  eyes  lowered  in  a 
mystic  trance.  Several  later  versions  of  Guru 
Nanak's  portrait  by  him  are  preserved  in  the 
Chandigarh  Museum.  The  portrait  he  made 
in  honour  of  the  500th  birth  anniversary  of 
Guru  Nanak  in  1969  won  the  widest  vogue. 
Likewise,  he  made  a  portrait  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  for  his  300th  birth  anniversary  in  1967 
which  also  became  very  popular.  Sobha  Singh 
painted  pictures  of  other  Gurus  as  well-  Guru 
Amar  Das,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  meditating  in 
his  basement  chamber  at  Baba  Bakala  and 
Guru  Har  Krishan  healing  the  sick  in  Delhi. 
Earlier  in  his  career,  he  had  attempted  a 


SO  14 HA  SINGH,  SIR 


223 


SOBHA  SINGH,  SIR 


painting  depicting  Queen  Nur  Jahaii  in  the 
presence  of  Guru  HargobincI,  but  its  prints 
were  sealed  following  a  protest  from  the 
Muslims  in  1935. 

Among  Sobha  Singh's  portraits  of 
contemporary  personalities  that  of  Norah 
Richards,  the  matriarch  of  Punjabi  theatre,  was 
done  with  a  rare  delicacy  and  feeling. 

Murals  by  him  embellish  the  art  gallery 
of  Parliament  House  in  New  Delhi.  The  panel 
depicting  the  evolution  of  Sikh  history  features 
Guru  Nanak  with  Bala  and  Mardana  on  one 
side,  and  Guru  Gobind  Singh  in  medita  tion  on 
the  other.  Sobha  Singh  also  tried  his  hand  at 
sculpture,  and  did  the  busts  of  some  eminent 
Punjabis  such  as  M.S.  Randhawa,  Priihvl  Raj 
Kapur  and  Nirmal  Chandra.  He  left  an 
incomplete  head-study  of  Amrita  Pritam,  the 
poet.  The  originals  of  his  works  are  displayed 
in  his  studio  at  Andretta. 

Much  acclaimed  and  honoured  in  his 
lifetime,  Sobha  Singh  died  in  Chandigarh  on 
21  August  1986. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Madanjit  Kaur,  Sobha  Sing]),  Painter  of  the 
Divine.  Amritsar,  1986 

S.S.Bt. 

SOBHA  SINGH,  SIR  (1890-1978),  the  single 
largest  builder  and  real  estate  owner  of  New 
Delhi,  was  the  elder  of  the  two  sons  of  Sujan 
Singh,  the  younger  one  being  Ujjal  Singh  who 
made  himself  famous  as  a  Punjab  parliamen- 
tarian. Sobha  Singh  was  born  in  the  village  of 
Hadali  in  Khushab,  district  Sargodha,  now  in 
Pakistan.  After  a  fewyears  at  school  in  Amritsar, 
he  joined  his  father's  business,  supervising  the 
laying  of  railway  tracks  and  the  digging  of 
tunnels. 

Father  and  son  shifted  to  Delhi  when  the 
Viceroy,  Lord  Hardinge,  announced  that  the 
Coronation  Durbar  for  King  George  and  the 
Queen  would  take  place  in  Delhi  in  December 
1911.  This  meant  the  shifting  of  the  Indian 
capital  from  Calcutta  to  Delhi.  Sobha  Siiigh  and 


his, father  decided  to  move  to  Delhi  as  building 
contractors.  Building  contracts  then  were  going 
abegging,  and  the  Sujan  Sihgh-Sobha  Singh 
team  were  readily  accepted  as  senior-grade 
contractors.  Plans  for  the  new  city  were  drawn 
up  immediately  after  the  Coronation  Durbar. 

Foundation  stones  had  already  been  laid 
by  the  King  and  Queen.  But  the  architects, 
Ed  ii  Lutyens  and  Herbert  Baker  at  the  head 
of  the  team  of  town  planners,  said  that  the  site 
where  the  foundation  stones  had  been  laid  was 
unsuitable  and  that  it  would  have  to  be  Raisina 
hill  and  die  village  of  Malcha.  The  first  task 
for  Sobha  Siiigh  was  to  uproot  the  foundation 
stones  under  cover  of  darkness  and  take  them 
1 1  km  across  the  city  and  replant  them  on  the 
new  sites  chosen  for  them.  Although  the  blue- 
prints submitted  by  Lutyens  and  Baker  were 
soon  approved,  the  construction  could  not  be 
taken  up  until  after  World  War  I  (1914-18). 

For  the  South  Block,  Sobha  Singh  was 
chosen  to  be  the  sole  builder.  In  addition,  he 
received  contracts  for  some  parts  of  the 
Viceregal  House  (nowRashtrapati  Bhavan)  and 
Vijaya  Chowk.  Another  major  building  that  fell 
to  his  exclusive  share  was  the  War  Memorial 
Arch  (India  Gate). 

Sobha  Siiigh  had  great  faith  in  the  future 
of  the  new  city.  Perhaps  that  is  why  while  others 
were  reluctant  to  buy  land  and  build  their  own 
houses  in  what  was  then  only  a  barren 
wasteland,  he  bought  as  much  'and  in  Delhi  as 
he  could.  He  bought  several  extensive  sites  at 
as  little  as  Rs  2  per  square  yard,  freehold.  There 
were  few  other  takers,  and  he  came  to  be 
described  as  adhi  dill!  ka  malik  (the  owner  of 
half  of  Delhi).  What  Sobha  Singh  accomplished 
in  New  Delhi  constitutes  a  very  impressive  list 
of  buildings  and  houses.  Besides,  several 
residential  and  commercial  houses  built  on  his 
own  sites,  he  raised  the  Chelmsford  Club,  A.I.F. 
A.C.'s  Hall,  Broadcasting  House  (All  India 
Radio),  the  National  Museum,  Dyal  Siiigh 
College,  T.B. Hospital,  Modern  School,  Deaf 
and  Dumb  School,  Red  Cross  Buildings  and 
Baroda  House.  Outside  Delhi,  he  built  the 


SODARU 


224 


SODHl 


High  Court  and  Medical  College  at  Nagpur  and 
the  Pasteur  Institute  at  Kasauli. 

Sobha  Singh's  success  as  a  builder  made 
him  one  of  the  wealthiest  persons  of  Delhi;  also, 
a  prominent  member  of  the  social  elite.  He 
was  only  modestly  educated.  Despite  this 
handicap,  he  became  the  first  Indian  president 
of  the  New  Delhi  Municipal  Committee.  He 
was  knighted  by  the  government  and 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Council  of  States. 
He  entertained  lavishly  and  his  guest  lists  always 
included  a  mixture  of  dignitaries  from  the  local 
circuit  as  well  as  from  the  diplomatic  corps. 
These  weekly  banquets  became  the  talk  of  the 
city.  Sobha  Singh  left  the  greater  part  of  his 
private  estate  to  a  charitable  trust  and  presided 
over  some  of  the  institutions  funded  by  it  like 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb  School  and  the  Modern 
School.  Among  his  last  bequests  was  one  for 
Bhagat  Puran  Singh's  Pihgalvara  in  Amritsar, 
home  for  lepers. 

Sir  Sobha  Singh  had  four  sons  and  a 
daughter  by  his  wife,  Lady  VIra  Bai  (Varyam 
Kaur).  Writer  and  author,  his  son  "KS"  has 
made  himself  known  the  world  over  for  his 
audacious  and  fresh  style  of  writing. 

Sir  Sobha  Singh  died  in  Delhi  on  18  April 
1978. 

K.S. 

SODARU  or  SO  DARU,  lit.  That  Door, 
implying  the  entrance  to  the  Lord's  presence, 
is  a  hymn  by  Guru  Nanak  figuring  with  slight 
orthographical  variations,  at  three  different 
places  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  ;  it  forms  part 
of  the Japu  (paun  27),  the  morning  prayer,  and 
of  the  Rahrasi,  recited  at  sunset  and  appears 
independently  in  the  Asa  musical  measure. 
Read  in  the  three  contexts,  the  hymn  unfolds 
three  different  dimensions  of  spiritual 
experience.  In  Japu  which  is  repeated  by  the 
Sikhs  as  part  of  their  morning  devotion,  So 
Dam  becomes  a  means  of  introvert  meditation; 
in  die  Rahrasi  the  introvert  God-consciousness 
gets  transformed  into  a  shared  experience ;  and 
sung  in  Raga  Asa  it  evokes  feelings  of  elation 


and  ecstasy.  The  poem  sings  in  a  variety  of 
images  the  splendour  of  the  Divine  Threshold. 
Countless  musicians  and  heavenly  deities  such 
as  Brahma,  Visnu  and  Indra,  sit  at  His  door 
and  recite  His  praises.  Likewise,  myriads  of 
siddhas,  yogis,. celibates  constandy  contemplate 
upon  His  Name.  Sages  and  seraphs  proclaim 
His  glory  as  do  the  heroes  and  mighty  warriors. 
The  entire  creation-all  the  continents,  the 
worlds  and  the  solar  systems-chant  the 
excellences  of  the  Supreme  Being  who  is 
Timeless  and  whose  Name  is  everlasting.  He  is 
the  creator  as  well  as  preserver  of  all  and  His 
will  prevails  everywhere. 

The  recurring  use  of  the  word  gavahi,  i.e. 
'are  singing.'  in  the  hymn  indicates  the 
emphasis  laid  on  the  reciting  of  God's  praise. 
This  is  what  one  is  adjured  to  take  to.  The 
Timeless  Being  is  proclaimed  to  be  self-existent. 
He  is  transcendant  as  well  as  immanent.  He  is 
nirankar,  i.e.  without  form,  yet  He  manifests 
himself  in  His  creation.  The  creation  thus 
acquires  a  divine  aspect  and  does  not  remain 
mere  maya.  To  comprehend  Him,  one  must 
be  free  from  ego  which  is  possible  only  when 
one  realizes  one's  insignificance  in  relation  to 
His  creadon.  So  Daru,  which  shows  all  existence 
in  obeisance  at  His  Threshold,  harmonizes 
man  with  the  mysdcal  rhythm  of  all  cosmos, 
awakening  in  him  consciousness  of  the  Divine. 

The  metre  and  rhyme  of  the  So  Daru 
resemble  those  of  chhant  and  var  and  the 
language  is  mainly  Punjabi,  with  some 
admixture  of  words,  both  in  their  tatsam  and 
tadbhavforms,  from  Sanskrit,  Persian  and  Braj. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1959 

2.  Solum  Singh,  The  Seeker's  Path.  Calcutta,  1959 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

H.S.B. 

SODHI,  a  sub-division  of  Sarin  group  of 
Khatris,  has  acquired  an  aura  of  exceptional 


SOHHI 


225 


SO  HAN  LAI. 


honour  among  the  Sikhs  because  seven  of  the 
ten  Sikh  Gurus  from  Guru  Ram  Das  onwards 
were  from  among  them.  Guru  Ram  Das' 
descendants  are  reverently  called  Sodhi 
Sahibzade.  Guru  Ram  Das  appointed  his 
younger  son  Arjan  to  succeed  him  as  Guru.  His 
elder  son  Prithi  Chand,  offended  by  what  he 
considered  an  unjust  confiscation  of  his  right, 
declared  himself  as  the  rightful  Guru  and 
established  a  separate  sect  called  by  the 
mainstream  Sikhs  minis  (lit.  base,  low).  Thus 
the  descendants  of  Guru  Arjan  came  to  be 
called  Sodhi  Sahibzade  of  vaddc  mel  (higher 
line)  and  those  of  Prithi  Chand  Sodhi 
Sahibzade  of  chhote  mel  (lower  line).  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  ended  the  continuation  of 
personal  guruship,  but  the  members  of  the  clan 
continued  to  enjoy  popular  esteem.  The 
principal  seats  of  Sodhis  of  vadde  mel  are  at 
Anandpur  Sahib  in  Ropar  district  and 
Kartarpur  in  Jalandhar  districts  and  those  of 
the  chhote  mel  at  Guru  Har  Sahai,  Kotha  Guru, 
Dhi Ivan  and  Muktsar,  all  in  the  Malva  region. 

Several  legends  are  current  about  the 
origin  of  the  Sodhis.  The  most  acceptable 
among  the  Sikhs  is  the  one  popularized  by 
Guru  Gobind  Singh's  long  composition, 
Bachitra  Natak,  lit.  the  wondrous  play. 
According  to  it,  Sodhis  are  linear  descendants 
of  Lava,  one  of  the  twin  sons  of  Sri  Rama 
Chandra,  while  the  equally  respected  Bedi  clan, 
to  which  belonged  Guru  Nanak,  the  founder 
of  Sikhism,  of  the  other  twin  Kusa.  In  the 
remote  past,  narrates  the  Bachitra  Natak,  there 
was  fierce  fight  betwen  the  descendants  of  Lava 
and  Kusa.  The  latter,  badly  defeated,  migrated 
en  bloc  and  found  asylum  in  Kasi,  where  they 
studied  the  four  Vedas  and  became  well-known 
as  Vedis  or  Bedis.  Later,  the  descendants  of 
Lava  also  migrated  to  Sanaudh,  a  country  which 
stretched  from  Mathura-Bharatpur  in  the  east 
t  o  Amarkot  in  the  west.  The  chief  of  the  family 
married  the  only  daughter  of  the  king  of 
Sanaudh.  Their  son,  known  as  Sodhi,  and  his 
progeny  called  the  Sodhis  ruled  over  the 
Sanaudh  country  for  a  long  time.  Generations 


later,  the  Sodhis  came  to  know  that  the 
renowned  Bedi  scholars  of  Kasi  were  their 
collaterals.  They  invited  them  to  Sanaudh  and 
honoured  them  publicly.  The  learned  Bedis 
recited  the  Vedas  and  explained  to  the  Sodhis 
the  mystical  meanings  of  the  holy  mantras.  The 
Sodhis  were  so  affected  by  the  newly  acquired 
spiritual  knowledge  that  they  lost  charm  for 
worldly  possessions  and  decided  to  retire  to 
forests  to  practise  austerities.  They  handed  over 
the  kingdom  to  the  Bedis  saying,  "We  shall  take 
back  the  kingdom  from  you  later."  This  is  the 
reason,  so  goes  the  legend,  that  the  true 
kingdom  (sachchi  patshahi)  of  the  Bedi  Guru 
Nanak  devolved  upon  the  Sodhi  Guru  Ram  Das 
and  his  successors. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ibbetson,  Denzil,  Punjab  Castes.  Lahore,  1916 

2.  Rose,  H.A.,  A  Glossary  of  the  Tribes  and  Castes 
of  the  Punjab  and  North-West  Frontier  Province. 
Lahore,  1911-19 

3..  Kiilin  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurushabad Ratanakar Mahan 

Kosh.  Patiala,  1981 
4.  Vahjara  Bedi,  S.S.,  Pahjabi Lokdhara.  VishavKosh, 

vol.  III.  Delhi,  1978 

S.S.V.B. 

SOHAN  CHAND,  son  of  Mai  Das,  a  Panvar 
Rajput,  was  a  warrior  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  According  to  Sarup  Singh 
Kaushish,  Guru  Jciari  Sakhian,  he  fell  fighting 
valiantly  in  the  batde  of  Nadaun  (20  March 
1691). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Padam,  Piara  Singh,  and  Giani  Gaija  Singh,  eds., 
Guru  kian  Sakhian.  Patiala,  1986 

Gn.S. 

SOHAN  LAL  (d.  1888),  son  of  Chhajju,  the 
goldsmith,  of  Charkhi  Dadri  in  the  princely 
state  of  Jind,  was  the  steward  of  the  estates  of 
Thakur  Singh  Sandhahvalia's  mother-in-law, 
Rani  Kishan  Kaur  of  Ballabgarh.  Thakur  Singh, 
who  had  set  up  an  emigre  government  in 


SOHAN  LALSURl 


226 


SOHANIALSURl 


Pondicherfyin  behalf  of  the  deposed  Maharaja 
Duleep  Singh,  utilized  Sohan  Lai  Vservices  to 
have  secret  letters  delivered  to  men  of 
influence  such  as  Raja  Narendra  Bahadur,  the 
Peshkar  to  the  Nizam  of  Hyderabad,  the  Rajas 
of  Nabha,  Patiala,  Jind  and  Faridkot  seeking 
their  help.  Sohan  Lai  kept  circulating  stories 
about  the  arrival  of  foreign  troops-Russian, 
Turk  and  Afghan-  to  have  Duleep  Singh 
installed  as  Maharaja  of  the  Punjab.  In  September 
1887,  Sohan  Lai  was  arrested  by  the  British.  He 
died  in  March  1888  while  still  under  detention. 

BIBLIOGRATHY 
Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  History  of  the  Freedom 
Moyementin  thePanjab  (MaharajaDuleep Singh 
Correspondence).  Patiala,  1972 

K.S.T. 

SOHAN  LAL  SURI,  vakii  or  attorney  at  the 
Lahore  court,  is  famous  for  his  monumental 
work  in  Persian,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh,  a 
chronicle  of  Sikh  times  comprising  five  daftars 
or  volumes.  Little  is  known  about  Sohan  Lai's 
early  life  except  that  he  was  the  son  of  Lala 
Ganpat  Rai,  a  munshi  or  clerk  successively 
under  Sardar  Charhat  Singh  and  Sardar  Mahaii 
Singh  of  the  Sukkarchakkia  misl.  Ganpat  Rai 
had  kept  a  record  of  important  events  of  his 
own  time  which  he  passed  on  to  his  son  around 
181 1  enjoining  upon  him  to  continue  the  work 
of  writing  a  history  of  the  Punjab.  Lala  Sohan 
Lai  who,  according  to  his  own  statement,  was 
well  versed  in  Persian,  Arabic,  mathematics, 
astronomy  and  numerology,  was  inspired  to 
take  to  historiography  by,  besides  the  example 
of  his  father,  Sujan  Rai  Bhandari's  &hu/asaf  ut- 
Twarikh  which  covers  the  period  from 
Hindushahi  rulers  of  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries  to  1704  in  the  reign  of  Aurarigzib. 
While  acknowledging  his  debt  to  Sujan  Rai 
Bhandari,  Sohan  Lai  Suri  mentions  another 
motive  that  prompted  him  to  write  his  book. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  first  daftar  of '  Umdat 
ut-rTwaribh.  he  remarked  referring  to  himself 
in  the  third  person  :  "In  fact  the  purpose  and 


reason  for  which  he  undertook  the  novel  and 
noteworthy  compilation  was  that  ever  since  the 
time  of  the  Sultanate  the  writing  of  such  works 
was  looked  upon  as  the  proof  of  literary  ability, 
which  distinguished  a  scholar  from  an  ordinary 
man.  Learned  men  received  due  recognition 
and  ncouragement  from  the  rulers  of  the 
time.  .  .  "  The  sources  for  his  voluminous 
Twarikh,  7,000  pages  of  manuscript  in  shikasta 
or  running  Persian  script  covering  the  period 
from  the  birth  of  Guru  Nanak  in  1469  to  the 
annexation  of  the  Punjab  in  1849,  are  his  own 
knowledge  of  contemporary  events,  the  notes 
bequeathed  to  him  by  his  father  and  the 
historical  or  legendary  material  bearing  on  the 
subject  available  to  him. 

Besides  his  magnum  opus,  the '  Umdat  ut- 
Twarikh.  Lala  Sohan  Lai  Suri  wrote  'Ibrat 
Namah,  lit.  an  account  that  teaches  a  lesson.  It 
is  a  small  poetical  composition  on  the  tragic 
murders  of  Maharaja  Sher  Singh,  Raja  Dhian 
Singh  and  the  Sandhahvalia  Sardars  and  their 
associates  in  September  1843.  The  title  of 
another  work  of  his,  Selections  from  Daftar  II, 
is  deceptive.  The  manuscript  contains  brief 
notes  on  courtiers,  rajas,  diwans,  learned  men, 
saints  and  ascetics  living  in  the  year  1831  ;  a 
genealogical  table  of  the  author's  family  up  to 
1836  ;  a  funeral  oration  on  the  death  of  his 
father,  an  account  of  the  cis-Sutlej  chiefs,  a 
description  of  the  institutions  of  the  English;  a 
brief  description  of  the  author's  meeting  with 
Captain  Wade,  later  Colonel  Sir  Claude  Martin 
Wade,  British  political  agent  at  Ludhiana,  and 
copies  of  certain  let  ters  and  testimonials.  He  is 
also  said  to  have  written  treatises  on  mathematics, 
asXronomy  and  geometry.  Faqir  lAziz  ud-DIn, 
Maharaja  Ranjlt  Singh's  favoured  minister, 
introduced  Sohan  Lai  to  Captain  Wade  as  a 
historian  of  the  Sikh  court.  At  Captain  Wade's 
request  the  Maharaja  allowed  Sohan  Lai  to  visit 
Ludhiana,  where  he  used  to  read  out  to  his 
host  from  the  '  Umdat  utr-Twkrikh  twice  a  week. 
He  also  presented  the  latter  with  a  copy  of  the 
work  which  is  still  preseifved  in  the  Royal  Asiatic 
•Society  Library  in  London. 


SO  HAN  SINGH,  BHAI 


227 


SOHAN  SINGH  UHAKNA,  15ABA 


After  the  annexation  of  the  Punjab  to 
British  dominions  in  1849,  Lala  Sohan  Lai  Suri 
was  awarded  a jagirworth  Rs.  1 ,000  per  annum 
in  the  village  of  Manga,  in  Amritsar  district,  to 
which  he  probably  retired  to  pass  his  remaining 
years. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Suri,  V.S.  (tr.)  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Chandigarh, 
1972-74 

V.S.S. 

SOHAN  SINGH,  BHAI  (1890-1921),  one  of  the 
Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  the  youngest  of 
the  six  children  of  Bhai  Sher  Singh  and  Mai 
Gabo  of  the  village  of  Dlhgarlah,  injalandhar 
district.  On  the  opening  of  the  Lower  Chenab 
Canal  Colony  during  the  1890's,  the  family 
migrated  to  Chakk  No.  91  Dhannuana  in 
Lyallpur  district  (now  Faisalabad  district  of 
Pakistan).  Sohan  Singh  grew  up  into  a  hefty 
young  man  with  an  uncommonly  strong 
physique.  At  the  age  of  17,  he  enlisted  in  the 
76th  Battalion,  then  stationed  at  Attock.  There 
he  took  the  vows  of  the  Khalsa  and  learnt  to 
read  and  write  Gurmukhi.  He  got  his  discharge 
in  1912  but  re-enlisted  after  the  outbreak  of 
the  Great  War  (1914-18),  this  time  in  27th 
Battalion  (later  3/15  Punjab  Regiment),  and 
served  in  France  where  his  left  arm  received 
serious  injuries  in  a  bomb  blast,  and  he  came 
home  on  a  pension  of  Rs.  8  per  month.  During 
January  1921  he  got  himself  registered  as  an 
Akali  volunteer  for  the  liberation  of  the 
Nankana  Sahib  shrine,  and  attained 
martyrdom  along  with  Bhai  Lachhman  Singh 
Dharovali's  men. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Shamsher,  Gurbajkhsh  Singh,  Shaludi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G 

SOMAN  SINGH,  BHAI  (1891-1921 ) ,  one  of  the 
Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  the  son  of  Bhai 
Kesar  Singh  and  Mai  Jivan  Kaur  of  Kaulo 


Ghakka  in  Gujrahwala  district.  The  family  later 
shifted  to  Vanotiahvali  in  the  newly  formed 
Sheikhupura  district.  Sohan  Singh  received  the 
vows  of  the  Khalsa  in  1914  at  Sri  Akal  Takht 
Sahib,  Amritsar.  He  joined  the  Indian  army  but 
soon  got  his  discharge.  Once  on  a  visit  to 
Gurdwara  Khara  Sauda,  Chuharkana,  he  learnt 
about  the  corruption  prevalent  in  the  holy 
places  under  the  control  of  mahnnts  or 
hereditary  custodians.  He  made  up  his  mind 
to  join  the  ranks  of  the  reformists.  He  had 
himself  registered  as  an  Akali  volunteer.  On 
20  February  1921,  he  fell  a  martyr  in  the  firing 
by  the  enemies  of  reform  inside  Gurdwara 
Janam  Asthan,  Nankana  Sahib. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

SOHAN  SINGH  BHAKNA,  BABA  ( 1 870-1 968) , 
founder  president  of  the  Ghadr  party  in  the 
U.S.A.,  was  the  only  son  of  Bhai  Karani  Singh, 
a  Shergilljatt  of  the  village  of  Bhakna,  16  km 
southwest  of  Amritsar.  He  was  born  in  January 
1870  at  Khutrai  Khurd,  parental  home  of  his 
mother,  Ram  Kaur,  3  km  northeast  of  Guru  ka 
Bagh  in  Amritsar  district.  He  learnt  reading  and 
writing  Punjabi  and  the  rudiments  of  Sikh  faith 
in  the  village  gurdwara  and  passed  the  fifth 
primary  class  in  Urdu  and  Persian  at  the  age 
of  16.  He  had  been  married  when  he  was  ten 
to  Bishan  Kaur,  daughter  of  Khushal  Singh,  a 
landlord  of Jandiala  in  Lahore  district,  but  the 
couple  remained  childless.  Sohan  Singh  took 
part  in  the  anti-Colonization  Bill  agitation  of 
1906-07.  Two  years  later  (3  February  1909)  he 
left  home  to  go  to  the  United  States,  reaching 
Seattle  on  the  West  Coast  on  4  April  1909.  He 
soon  found  work  as  a  labourer  in  a  timber  mill, 
under  construction  near  Seattle.  In  those  days, 
Indians  in  the  United  States  and  the 
neighbouring  Canada,  most  of  them  Sikhs  from 
the  Punjab,  suffered  severe  discrimination,  protest 
against  which  had  been  simmering.  In  the 


SOHAN  SINGH  BHAKNA,  BABA 


228 


SOHAN  SINGH  JOSH 


summer  of  1913,  representatives  of  Indians 
living  in  Canada  and  the  United  States, 
meeting  at  Stockton,  decided  to  set  up  an 
organization,  Hindustani  Workers  of  the  Pacific 
Coast  (Hindi  Pacific  Association,  for  short). 
Sohan  Singh  Bhakna  was  elected  its  president 
and  Lala  Hardayal,  intellectual  and 
revolutionary,  its  general  secretary.  A  weekly 
paper  Chadr  (lit.  rebellion,  revolt)  was 
launched  on  1  November  1913  to  propagate 
the  objective  of  the  Association,  which  plainly 
was  to  make  an  armed  rebellion  against  the 
British  in  India.  The  journal  GJjadr  imparted 
its  name  to  the  organizadon  as  well  as  to  the 
movement  itself.  The  United  States 
government,  at  the  instance  of  the  British, 
issued  arrest  warrants  against  Lala  Hardayal, 
but  the  party  succeeded  in  smuggling  him  out 
of  the  country  in  April  1914.  The  G_hadr  party, 
under  Sohan  Singh  Bhakna,  planned  an 
uprising  against  the  British  for  1917,  but 
rumours  of  a  war  in  Europe  between  England 
and  Germany  and  the  Komagata  Mara  episode 
hastened  events.  Sohan  Singh  himself 
contacted  the  returning  Komagata  Maru  at 
Yokohama  and  delivered  to  Baba  Gurdit  Singh 
a  consignment  of  arms.  As  he  learnt  there  that 
hostilities  had  actually  broken  out  on  28  July 
1914,  he  took  a  boat  to  India.  As  soon  as.  the 
ship  reached  Calcutta  on  13  October  1914, 
Sohan  Singh  was  arrested  and,  after  a  few  days' 
interrogation  at  Ludhiana,  was  sent  to  Central 
Jail,  Multan.  He  was  tried  in  what  is  known  as 
the  first  Lahore  conspiracy  case  and  was 
sentenced  to  death  with  forfeiture  of  property. 
The  death  penalty  was  later  commuted  to  life 
imprisonment  in  Andamans,  where  he  reached 
on  10  December  1915  and  where  he  undertook 
several  hunger  strikes  successively  to  secure  the 
detenues  better  treatment.  In  1921  he  was 
transferred  to  Coimbatore  jail  and  then  to 
Yervada.  Here  he  left  off  eating  food  again  to 
register  his  protest  against  Sikh  prisoners  not 
being  allowed  to  wear  turbans  and  their 
kachhahiras  or  knickers  which  were  their 
religious  obligations.  In  1927,  he  was  shifted 


to  Central  Jail,  Lahore,  where  he  again  went 
on  hunger  strike  in  June  1928  to  protest  against 
the  segregation  of  the  so-called  low-caste 
Mazhabi  Sikhs  from  other  'high-caste'  Sikhs  at 
mealtimes.  He  was  released  early  in  July  1930, 
but  he  continued  to  work  for  the  freedom  of 
the  country.  He  devoted  most  of  his  time  to 
organizing  Kisan  Sabhas  (peasants'  societies) . 
During  World  War  II  he  was  interned  in  Deoli 
Camp  Jail  (Rajasthan)  for  nearly  three  years. 
After  Independence  he  veered  decisively 
towards  the  Communist  Party  of  India.  He  was 
arrested  on  31  March  1948,  but  released  on  8 
May  1948.  However,  he  was  seized  again,  but 
jail-going  ended  for  him  finally  at  the 
intervention  of  Independent  India's  first 
Prime  Minister,  Jawaharlal  Nehru. 

Bentwith  age  and  ravaged  by  pneumonia, 
Baba  Sohan  Singh  Bhakna  died,  at  Amritsar, 
on  21  December  1968. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jas.Jaswant  Singh,  Desh  BAagatBabe.Jalandhar, 
1975 

2.  Deol,  Gurdev  Singh,  Ghadar  Part]  ate  Bharat  da 
Qaumi  Andolan.  Amritsar,  1970 

3.  Sainsara,  Gurcharan  Singh,  Ghadar  Parti  da 
Itihas.  Jalandhar,  1969 

S.SJ. 

SOHAN  SINGH  JOSH  (1898-1892),  Akali- 
tumed-Communist,  was  born»n  22  September 
1898  at  Chetanpura  in  Amritsar  district.  His 
father's  name  was  Lai  Singh.  Sohan  Singh,  who 
entered  school  rather  late,  passed  the  Middle 
standard  examination  from  Church  Mission 
School,  Majitha,  and  the  Marticulation 
examinationa  from  D.A.V.  School,  Amritsar, 
then  joining  the  Khalsa  College  at  Amritsar 
which  he  had  to  leave  soon  after  owing  to  lack 
of  financial  support.  Search  for  employment 
took  him  to  Hubh"  and  later  to  Bombay  where  he 
worked  for  a  short  while  in  a  post  office  assigned 
to  censoring  mail  in  the  Gurmukhi  script,  putting 
up  in  a  gurdwara  of  which  he  took  charge  as 
secretary.  Returning  to  his  native  village  in 


SOMAN  SINGH  JOSH 


229 


SO  HAN  SINGH,  SANT 


1918,  he  became  aschool  teacher.  Sohan  Singh 
who  had  by  now  added  the  epithet  "Josh," 
meaning  "fiery,"  to  his  najme,  jumped  into  the 
Gurdwara  Reform  movement  launched  for  the 
liberation  of  the  Sikh  shrines  from  their 
corrupt  custodians.  In  1922,  he  was  arrested 
and  sentenced  to  a  year's  imprisonment  for  his 
anti-British  speeches.  In  March  1923,  he  was 
nominated  a  member  of  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  and 
appointed  general  secretary  of  the  Shiromani 
Akali  Dal.  As  these  organizations  were  declared 
unlawful  in  October  1923,  he  was  again  taken 
into  custody,  and  released  only  in  September 
1926  after  the  enactment  of  the  Sikh  Gurdwaras 
Act  under  which  management  of  Sikh  historical 
shrines  was  to  be  entrusted  to  a  statutorily 
elected  body.  His  line  now  became  more 
radical.  In  April  1928  he  took  an  active  part  in 
establishing  the  Kirti  Kisan  Party  and  in 
December  1928  he  presided  over  the  first  All- 
India  Workers  and  Peasants  Conference  held 
at  Calcutta.  Simultaneously,  he  was  working  for 
the  Naujavan  Bharat  Sabha  set  up  by  Bhagat 
Singh  and  his  friends.  In  February  1 929,  he  was 
elected  its  president.  He  was  privy  to  all 
revolutionary  activity  undertaken  by  the 
organization  as  a  consequence  of  which  he  was 
arrested  in  the  Meerut  conspiracy  case  in 
March  1929,  serving  five  years  in  jail.  He  was 
among  the  pioneers  of  the  Communist 
movement  in  the  Punjab  and  was  the  first 
member  of  the  party  to  be  elected  to  the 
Punjab  Legislative  Assembly  on  Congress 
nomination  at  the  1937  elections.  In  1938,  he 
became  general  secretary  of  the  Punjab 
Pradesh  Congress  Committee  as  well  as  a 
member  of  the  All-India  Congress  Committee. 
During  World  War  II,  he  was  arrested  as  a 
security  prisoner  and  remained  in  jail  for  two 
years,  June  1940  to  1  May  1942.  Another  jail 
term  began  when  the  Communist  Party  was 
declared  illegal  in  1948,  after  Independence. 
In  1951,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
central  executive  of  the  Communist.  Party  of 
India.  From  1971  to  1975,  he  served  as 


chairman  of  the  central  control  committee  of 
the  Party. 

Sohan  Singh  Josh  wrote  both  in  English 
and  Punjabi.  His  writing  career  began  as  he 
associated  himself  with  the  rebel  Sikh  paper, 
Akali,  brought  out  by  Master  Sundar  Singh 
Lyallpuri  in  May  1920.  In  1925,  he  collaborated 
with  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  a  Communist  leader 
trained  in  Moscow,  to  bring  out  the  monthly 
Kirti.  His  articles  were  generally  published 
under  assumed  names  of  Rukn  ud-Din  and 
Svatantra  Singh.  In  later  years,  he  edited  the 
Communist  papers  Jang  i-Azadi  and  the  Navari 
Zamana  daily.  His  books  in  Punjabi  include 
Bangali  Sahit  di  Vanagi  (  A  Choice  of  Bengali 
Literature),  translation,  1934  ;  Rut  Naviah  di 
Ai  (Season  now  is  for  the  New),  a  book  of 
poems,  1955  ;  Meri  Rus  Yatra  (My  Russian 
Journey) ,  1958;  Panjabi  Boli  te  Bhasha  Vigian 
(Punjabi  Language  and  the  Science  of 
Language),  1969  ;  Ikk  Inqalab  Ikk  Jivani  (  A 
Revolution  and  a  Life  Story),  1969;  Akali 
Morchian  da  Itihas  (  A  History  of  Akali 
Campaigns),  1972;  Kamagata Maru  daDukhant 
(The  Tragic  Story  of  the  Komagata' Maru) , 
1976;  Bhagat  Singh  nal  Merian  Mulakatan  (My 
Meetings  with  Bhagat  Singh),  1977.  A  History 
of  the  Hindustan  Ghadr  Party,  in  two  parts 
(English),  was  published  in  1977-78.  He  wrote 
an  incomplete  autobiography,  two  novels  and 
some  stories  which  lie  unpublished. 

Sohan  Singh  Josh  died  on  29  July  1982  3t 
Amritsar. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani, Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Dilgeer,  Harjinder  Singh,  Shiromani  Akali  Dal. 
Jalandhar,  1978 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Struggle  for  Reforms  in  Sikh 
Shrines.  Amritsar,  n.d 

S.S.S 

SOHAN  SINGH,  SANT  (1902-1972),  born  Ude 
Singh,  was  the  youngest  of  the  four  children 
of  Panjab  Singh  and  Prem  Kaur  who  lived  at  the 


SOHIIA 


230 


SOHIIA 


village  of  Phul  in  the  former  princely  state  of 
Nabha.  The  family  moved  to  Chatthevala,  near 
Damdama  Sahib  (Talvandi  Sabo),  during  the 
iniluenza  epidemic  of  1918-19.  Ude  Singh  was 
a  good-looking  youth  and  was  for  this  reason 
named  Sohana,  i.e.  handsome.- His  original 
name  was  soon  forgotten  and  he  came  to  be 
known  as  Sohan  Singh.  He  studied  the  Sikh 
sacred  texts  with  Sant  Hari  Singh  at  the  village 
of  Jion  Sihghvala,  in  present-day  Bathinda 
disirict.  Young  Sohan  Singh  tried  his  hand  at 
versifying  as  well  and  got  up  a  kavlshari  troupe 
(singers  of  ballads  and  odes)  which  recited 
heroic  poetry  at  religious  congregations.  In  1925 
he  was  arrested  at  Ludhiana  as  he,  with  his 
troupe,  was  reciting  an  inflammatory  poem 
inciting  people  tojoin  in  the  Gurdwara  reform 
agitation.  After  his  release,  he  proceeded  to 
Malaya  where  he  became,  in  November  1927,  a 
granthi  or  Scripture-reader  at  the  Malacca 
gurdwara.  In  November  1932,  he  returned  to 
the  Punjab  to  train  under  Pandit  Kartar  Singh 
of  Dakha  at  Gurmat  Upadeshak  College, 
Damdama  Sahib.  He  studied  logic  and 
philosophy  and  mastered  Sikh  religious  lore, 
obtaining  the  title  of  Maha  (Senior)  Gianl. 
Returning  to  Malacca  in  June  1934,  he  dedicated 
himself  completely  to  the  propagation  of  Sikh 
faith  and  became  a  leading  figure  in  Sikh 
religious  and  social  circles.  He  was  associated 
with  a  large,  number  of  institutions  including 
the  Malayan  Granthi  Pracharak  Sabha,  Malayan 
Naujavan  Sabha  and  Singapore  Khalsa  Association. 
During  World  War  II,  he  organized  volunteers  to 
look  after  the  destitutes  and  war  widows. 

During  one  of  his  tours,  Sohan  Singh  fell 
ill  and  died  in  the  General  Hospital  at  Ipoh  on 
24  May  1972.  To  perpetuate  his  memory,  a 
Vidyala  commemorating  his  name  has  been 
established  close  to  the  Malacca  gurdwara  to 
train  Sikh  missionaries  and  granthis. 

Mv.S. 

SOHILA  or  KIRTAN SOHILA  is,  in  sequence, 
the  fourth  bam  or  composition  entered  in  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Sohila  is  the  caption  given 


in  the  scripture,  though  it  is  popularly  known 
as  KJrtan  Sohila,  and  is  also  sometimes  so 
captioned  in  the  gutkas  or  breviaries.  The 
Sohila  comprises  five  hymns-  first  three 
contributed  by  Guru  Nanak  and  the  last  two 
one  each  by  Guru  Ram  Das  and  Guru  Arjan. 
Guru  Nanak's  hymns  have  been  selected  from 
ragas,  Gauri  Dipaki,  Asa  and  Dhanasri,  while 
the  remaining  two  hymns  have  been  taken 
from  Gauri  Purabi.  The  selection  of  hymns  for 
the  Sohila  was  made  in  two  or  three  phases. 
Bhai  Gurdas,  Varan,  1.38,  states  that,  in  Guru 
Nanak's  time,  Sodaru  and  Arab"  were  sung  in 
the  evening  while  Japu  was  recited  in  the  early 
hours  of  the  morning.  Then,  evidently,  the  first 
and  the  second  hymns  only  of  the  present  text 
were  called  Sohila,  while  the  third  hymn,  also 
of  Guru  Nanak,  was  called  Aran"  as  it  has  been 
so  captioned  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  These 
two  were  treated  as  distinct  bams.  Guru  Arjan 
added  two  more  hymns  and  entered  all  the  five 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  in  1604  as  one  bani 
under  the  title  of  Sohila.  Later,  more  exactly 
and  authoritatively,  this  bam" was  prescribed  as 
the  bedtime  prayer  when,  in  1699,  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  inaugurated  the  Khalsa 
administering  to  it  the  vows  of  amrit  and  laying 
down  for  it  a  specific  code.  Legend  has  grown, 
that  if  one  goes  to  bed  after  reciting  the  Sohila, 
one's  house  will  be  immune  from  burglars  or 
that  Guru  Nanak  stands  by  the  side  of  one  who 
recites  the  Sohila.  These  sayings  metaphorically 
convey  the  truth  that  burglars,  i.e.  kama  (lust), 
krodha  (anger),  lobha  (avarice),  moha 
(attachment)  and  ahahkara  (egoism)  will  not 
enter,  even  in  dream  or  sleep,  the  mind  of  one 
who  reads  the  Sohila,  with  concentration.  The 
Guru  will  himself  watch  over  him,  so  ennobling 
is  the  effect  of  this  barn".  Again  by  association 
between  the  states  of  sleep  and  death,  which  is 
considered  to  be  the  final  and  eternal  sleep, 
the  Sohila  began  to  be  recited  as  the  cremation 
prayer  after  the  pyre  had  been  lit,  to  put  the 
deceased  to  peaceful  sleep.  The  text  praises 
the  Creator  as  Nirbhau  or  fearless.  Eradication 
of  fear,  the  fear  of  death,  is  central  to  its  theme. 


SOHIIA 


231 


SOLDIER  AND  TRAVELLER 


As  the  bani  is  short  and  rich  in  symbolic 
meaning,  it  is  suitable  to  the  time  and  occasions 
prescribed  for  its  recitation. 

Sohila  literally  means  a  song  of  praise  or 
eulogy;  kirtan  also  signifies  singing  of  praise. 
The  title  for  the  barn  was  evidently  suggested 
by  the  first  hymn  of  it  wherein  the  word  sohila 
occurs  thrice.  The  word  kirtan  might  have  been 
added  to  the  title  later  as  the  word  kirad  (kirti) 
which  is  the  equivalent  of  sohila,  also  occurs 
in  the  very  first  verse  of  the  first  hymn  of  the 
banj.  The  Sohila  is  one  of  the  most  pictorial 
banis  meant  for  daily  recitation. 

Psychologically,  such  a  composition  is  best 
suited  to  bedtime  when  a  tired  mind  can  enter 
the  land  or  sleep  through  a  sequence  of 
pictures  and  symbols.  There  is  the  symbol  of 
the  newly  wedded  bride  being  escorted  into 
the  house  of  her  parents-in-law,  the  ladies 
pouring,  as  is  the  Punjabi  custom,  oil  on  the 
threshold  which  she  is  to  cross  ;  of  the  sun 
which  is  the  cause  of  seconds  and  minutes,  day 
and  night,  months  and  seasons  ;  of  the  star- 
studded  sky,  with  the  lamps  of  the  sun  and  the 
moon  burning  brightly  reflecting  the  light  of 
the  Supreme  Brilliance  ;  of  die  man,  crippled 
by  the  thorn  of  haumai  (ego  or  self-concern)- 
thorn  which  can  be  removed  only  if  he  were 
to  join  the  holy  fellowship  under  the  aegis  of 
the  Guru,  and,  finally,  of  the  caravan  of  the 
Brahmgianis  (men  of  enlightenment)  moving 
onward  to  the  region  of  Truth  and  Eternal  Bliss. 

Man  is  advised  to  maintain  a  state  of  mind 
which  conduces  to  constant  remembrance  of 
God.  He  is  reminded  that  death  must  one  day 
strike,  but  death,  according  to  Guru  Nanak, 
could  be  a  passage  to  the  blissful  condition  of 
union  with  the  Creator.  There  are  many 
different  schools  of  religious  philosophy,  but 
the  one  which  teaches  the  praise  of  God  is  the 
truest.  The  third  hymn  of  Guru  Nanak,  which 
is  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  Punjabi  poetry, 
in  addition  to  being  a  devotional  song  of 
profound  charm  and  appeal  is  believed  to  have 
been  sung  extempore  in  the  historic  temple 
of  Jagannath  at  Purl.  The  transcendence  and 


immanence  of  the  Creator,  and  the  awe- 
inspiring  expanse  and  multifariousness  of  the 
creation  are  depicted  through  telling  images. 
The  music  of  the  lines  is  captivating.  The  fourth 
hymn  contrasts  self-oriented  men  with  those 
who  are  turned  towards  God.  The  fifth  and  the 
final  hymn  adjures  man  to  save  himself.  He  is 
reminded  that,  with  every  passing  moment,  life 
is  ebbing  away.  Finally,  it  is  proclaimed  that  only 
through  God's  grace  can  one  apprehend  the 
Reality. 

The  Sohila  adverts  to  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  Sikhism-  theological,  religious, 
and  social.  The  Supreme  Being  is  unique  and 
without  a  second.  All  scriptures  of  religious 
systems  are  equal  and  worthy  of  reverence  for 
each  one  of  them  manifests  some  facet  of  the 
Reality.  All  men  are  equal  as  the  light  of  the 
Eternal  One  pervades  each  one  of  them.  Of 
the  two  paths  of  egoistic  materialism  and 
devotional  bhakd,  the  latter  alone  helps  one 
to  achieve  liberation,  the  supreme  goal  of  life. 
One  who  adheres  to  the  principle  of  loving 
devotion  is  nirbhau  (fearless).  He  conquers 
even  the  fear  of  death. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Amble,  S.S.,  Kirtan  Sohila.  Amritsar,  1945 

T.S. 

SOLDIER  AND  TRAVELLER  :  MEMOIRS  OF 
ALEXANDER  GARDNER,  edited  by  Major 
Hugh  Pearse,  with  an  introduction  by  Sir 
Richard  Temple,  was  first  published  in  1898  by 
William  Blackwood  and  Sons  of  Edinburgh  and 
London,  and  was  reprinted  by  the  Languages 
Department,  Punjab,  in  1970. 

Alexander  Gardner  (1785-1877),  a 
European  adventurer  of  Scottish  extraction 
born  in  North  America  in  1785,  came  to  the 
Punjab  in  1831 ,  and  after  a  short  spell  of  service 
as  commander  of  artillery  under  Sultan 
Muhammad  Khan  of  Peshawar,  a  tributary  of 
the  Sikhs,  was  summoned,  in  1832,  to  Lahore 
where  he  was  appointed  an  artillery  officer  in 


SO/AVER  AND  TRAVELLER 


232 


SOMA,  BHAI 


Ranjit  Singh's  army  with  the  rank  of  a  colonel. 
He  served  in  various  expeditions  until  1836 
when  Raja  Dhian  Singh  placed  him  in  full 
command  of  the  artillery  which  belonged  to 
him  and  his  brother,  Gulab  Singh.  After  Dhian 
Singh's  death,  he  served  Gulab  Singh  and  died  a 
pensioner  under  his  successor,  Maharaja  Sir 
Ranbir  Singh  (1857-85),  at  Jammu  on  22 
January  1877  at  the  ripe  age  of  ninety-two.  His 
body  was  buried  in  the  cemetry  at  Sialkot,  now 
in  Pakistan. 

That  Gardner  had  been  keeping  notes  of 
his  travels  and  adventures  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that,  as  early  as  February  1853,  an  abstract 
of  a  portion  of  his  travels  appeared  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal.  When 
during  the  summer  of  1864,  a  British  officer, 
Frederick  Cooper,  deputed  to  Kashmir  to  look 
after  the  interests  of  English  visitors  to  the 
valley,  met  Gardner  at  Srinagar,  the  latter 
mentioned  to  him  that  a  whole  volume 
containing  an  account  of  his  travels  in 
Kafiristan  had  been  borrowed  from  him  by  Sir 
Alexander  Burnes  before  proceeding  to  Kabul 
from  where  he  never  returned  (he  was 
assassinated  in  1841  at  Kabul  where  he  was 
serving  as  political  resident).  Cooper  realized 
the  value  of  Gardner's  notes  and  verbal  recitals 
and  intended  to  prepare  from  these  an  account 
of  his  travels.  But  he  did  not  live  long  enough 
to  accomplish  the  task.  After  his  death  his' 
unfinished  work  and  Gardner's  own 
manuscripts  were  lost.  Around  1894,  they 
accidentally  came  into  the  hands  of  Major 
Hugh  Pearse  who  pieced  them  together  and 
had  them  published  in  book  form.  The  290- 
page  Memoirs  is  divided  into  1 6  chapters,  the 
first,  nine  of  which  deal  with  the  history  of  the 
manuscript  and  early  life  and  travels  of 
Alexander  Gardner  before  he  came  to  the 
Punjab.  As  such,  they  are  not  directly  relevant 
to  the  history  of  the  Punjab  under  Sikh  rule, 
although  they  do  contain  a  vivid  description, 
of  the  geography  of  the  western  extremity  of 
the  Himalayan  range  and  of  the  characteristics 


and  customs  of  the  tribes  inhabiting  it.  Chapter 
X  and  XI  relate  the  events  of  Ranjit  Singh's 
reign  from  1832  onwards.  Chapters  XII  to  XV 
deal  with  the  intrigue  and  anarchy  following 
the  death  of  Ranjit  Singh.  The  last  chapter 
relates  to  Gardner's  sojourn  in  Kashmir.  In  the 
60-page  appendix,  Pearse  gives  biographical 
sketches  of  42  European  officers  in  the  service 
of  the  Sikh  sovereign. 

In  his  account  of  the  events  to  which  he 
had  been  an  eye-witness,  Gardner  has  been  fair 
and  objective.  He  is  sympathetic  to  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh  and  the  administration  he  had 
established.  He  blames  the  Dogra  brothers  for 
the  downfall  of  the  Sikh  kingdom.  He  gives  a 
high  estimate  of  Ranjit  Singh's  qualities  as  a 
ruler,  but  portrays  Gulab  Singh  in  the  worst 
colours. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Fauja  Singh,  ed.,  Historians  and  Historiography 
of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi,  1978 

2.  Khurana,  Gianeshwar,  British  Historiography  on 
the  Sikh  Power  in  Punjab.  Delhi,  1985 

S.K.B. 

SOMA,  BHAI,  a  native  of  Jhahg,  now  in 
Pakistan,  was  a  devout  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru 
Arjan.  He  laboured  with  devotion  during  the 
digging  of  the  sacred  pool  at  Amritsar.  One  day, 
as  Guru  Arjan  was  supervising  the  work,  a 
mendicant  came  to  him  for  alms.  The  Guru 
did  not  have  at  that  moment  a  coin  to  offer 
and  asked  if  any  of  the  Sikhs  would  give  him 
one.  Bhai  Soma  possessed  only  two  pice  which 
he  offered  to  the  Guru,  who  gave  them  to  the 
mendicant.  "Bhai  Soma  is  now  my  shah,  or 
creditor,"  remarked  the  Guru.  From  that  day 
Bhai  Soma  came  to  be  known  as  Soma  Shah. 
Later,  he  became  rich  through  business.  His 
descendants  were  living  until  recent  years  in 
the  district  of  Sahival,  Dera  Isma'il  Khan  and 
Bannu,  in  West  Punjab  and  North-West 
Frontier  Province.  The  epithet  'Shah'  is 
suffixed  to  their  names  up  to  this  day. 


SORATHI KI  VAR 


233 


SOTRAN 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kahn  Singh,  Bhal,  Gurushabad  Ratnakar  Mahan 
Kosh  [Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

T.S. 

SORATHI  KI  VAR,  or  Ragu  Sorathi  VarMahale 
Chauthe  KI  as  is  the  full  title  recorded  at  the 
head  of  the  text  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  con- 
trasting the  short  title  in  the  index,  is  one  of 
the  eight  vars  composed  by  Guru  Ram  Das.  It 
comprises  twenty-nine  pauris,  i.e.  stanzas  of  five 
verses  each,  interspersed  with  fifty-eight  slokas 
three  of  them  being  by  Guru  Nanak,  one  by 
Gum  Angad,  forty-seven  by  Guru  Amar  Das  and 
seven  by  Guru  Ram  Das,  the  author  of  the  Var. 

The  Var  opens  with  Guru  Nanak 's  line: 
"sorathi  sada  suhavani  je  sacha  mani  hoi- 
agreeable  always  (to  sing)  is  Raga  Sorathi 
provided  one's  mind  is  to  truth  attuned"  (GG, 
64a).  The  concluding  stanza  begins  with  the  line  : 
"tu  karan  karan  samrathu  hahi  karate  mai  tujh 
binu  avaru  na  icoi-Thou,  Creator-Lord,  art  the 
Cause  of  causes  ;  for  me  there  is  none  other 
besides  Thee"  (GG,  653).  This  is  the  running 
theme  of  the  Var.  The  Supreme  Being  is  the 
Creator  of  all  that  exists  ;  all  creation  is  His 
manifestation.  From  Him  is  the  True  Name 
which  is  all-pervading.  He  is  the  dispenser  of 
grace.  Union  with  Him  is  achieved  through 
company  of  the  holy-  satsarigat-  but:  by  His 
grace  alone  will  one  be  so  disposed.  Man 
should  take  to  repeating  the  True  Name  which 
would  make  him  worthy  of  God's  favour. 
SubjecL  of  critical  notice  are  the  rulers  of  the 
day  and  those  others  given  to  luxurious  ways 
caring  little  for  the  common  man. 

"The  Creator-among  the  terms  used  for 
him  by  Guru  Ram  Das  are  Hari  and  Brahm-  is 
conceived  as  both  formless  and  without 
attributes  (nirguna)  and  with  attributes 
(saguna).  He  is  the  ultimate  and  absolute  truth. 
He  is  the  Creator,  the  creation  and  the 
creature-all  in  one.  He  is  both  the  cause  and 
the  effect.  The  world  moves  at  His  will.  He  is 
the  Giver,  the  Bestower,  the  Friend.  He  is  the 
Ultimate  Bliss.  In  merging  back  into  the  Divine 


Essence  lies  the  liberation  of  the  human  soul. 
But  man's  haumai,  the  finite  ego,  keeps  him 
in  bondage  thwarting  his  spiritual  instinct.  The 
contrasting  tendencies  mark  the  conflict  upon 
which  the  theme  of  a  var  is  characteristically 
built.  In  the  slokas  added  to  the  Var  by  Guru 
Arjan,  who  prepared  the  first  recension  of  the 
Scripture,  the  parallelism  is  maintained  and 
manmuAhs  (the  self-willed)  are  placed  in 
juxtaposition  to  gurmukhs  (those  who  follow 
the  Guru's  teaching).  The  former  afflicted  by 
ego  remain  engrossed  with  the  mundane  while 
the  latter  quaff  the  nectar  of  the  Lord's  Word  ; 
the  former  find  neither  post  nor  protection, 
while  the  latter  rejoice  attached  to  the  Guru's 
feet ;  the  former  enticed  by  maya  are  consumed 
away  by  worldly  allurement  while  the  latter  in 
the  true  Name  absorbed  are  saved.  Such 
devotees  are  befriended  by  God  himself,  says  a 
sloka.  God  is  in  their  power  and  they  are  the 
same.  Totally,  the  Var  is  a  fine  specimen  of 
poetry  of  spiritual  devotion. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Amole,  S.S.,  Bai  Varan  Satik.  Amritsar,  1944 

3.  Narain  Singh,  Giani,  Bai  Varan  Satik.  Amritsar, 
1975 

4.  Bishan  Singh,  Giani,  Tika  Bai  Varan. 

Mn.S. 

SOTRAN,  village  one  km  north  of Bahga  (31°- 
ll'N,  76"E)  in  Nawashahr  district  of  the  Punjab, 
claims  a  historical  shrine  called  Gurdwara 
Gurplah  Patshahi  Chhevin,  dedicated  to  Guru 
Hargobind  who  stayed  here  briefly  under  a 
plah  tree  (Butia  fondosa)  on  his  way  from 
Kartarpur  to  Kiratpur  early  in  1635.  The 
present  building,  which  replaced  an  old  modest 
structure,  was  constructed  in  1965  under  the 
supervision  of  Sant  Seva  Singh  Anandpurvale. 
Situated  in  a  walled  compound  entered 
through  a  tall  gateway,  it  comprises  a  square 
marble-floored  hall  with  the  sanctum  in  the 
middle.  Over  the  sanctum  are  two  storeys  of 
square  rooms  topped  by  a  dome  with  a  gold- 


SRI  CHAND,  BABA 


SRI  CHAND,  BABA 


plated  pinnacle.  Guru  ka  Langar  is  at  the  hack 
of  t  he  hall.  An  old  well  in  the  southwest  corner 
of  the  Gurdwara  is  believed  to  have  existed 
since  before  the  time  of  Guru  Hargobind's  visit. 
The  Gurdwara  is  affiliated  to  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee.  Besides  the 
daily  services  and  observance  of  major 
anniversaries  on  the  Sikh  calendar,  a  largely- 
attended  religious  fair  is  held  annually  on  20 
Har,  usually  corresponding  to  3  July. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Snngrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

Gn.S. 

SRI  CHAND,  BABA  (1494-1629),  the  elder  son 
of  Guru  Nanak  and  the  founder  of  the  ascetic 
sect,  of  Udasis,  was  born  to  Mata  Sulakkhani 
on  Bhadoh  sudI9,  1551  Bk/8  September  1494 
at  Sultanpur  Lodhi,  now  in  Kapurthala  district 
of  the  Punjab.  After  Guru  Nanak  left  home  on 
his  travels  to  distant  parts,  Sri  Chand's  mother 
took  him  and  his  younger  brother,  Lakhmi  Das, 
to  her  parents'  home  at  Pakkhoke  Randhave 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  River  Ravi.  Sri  Chand 
from  the  very  beginning  loved  solitude  and,  as 
he  grew  up,  he  developed  indifference  to 
worldly  affairs.  At  the  tender  age  of  eleven  he 
left  for  Kashmir  where  he  studied  Sanskrit  texts 
under  Pandit  Purushottam  Kaul  and  later 
studied  and  practised  yoga  under  Avinasha 
Muni.  When  Guru  Nanak,  after  his  travels,  had 
settled  down  at  Kartarpur  on  the  right  bank 
of  Ravi  and  not  far  from  Pakkhoke,  Sri  Chand 
rejoined  the  family.  He  however  retained  his 
preference  for  the  life  of  an  ascetic.  Guru 
Nanak  having  chosen  one  of  his  disciples  as 
his  spiritual  successor,  passed  away  at  Kartarpur 
on  7  September  1539  and  a  monument  was 
raised  over  the  site  where  his  ashes  were  buried. 
As  the  monument  was  washed  away  by  floods 


in  the  river,  Sri  Chand  had  the  urn  containing 
the  ashes  salvaged,  reburied  it  at  some  distance 
close  to  the  well  of  Ajitta  Randhava,  a  devotee 
of  the  late  Guru,  and  built  a  mud  hut  over  it. 
The  place  came  to  be  revered  as  dehra  or  samadh 
(mausoleum)  of  Guru  Nanak  around  which 
grew  up  the  present  town  of  Dera  Baba  Nanak. 

Baba  Sri  Chand  stayed  on  at  Pakkhoke 
Randhave  for  some  time.  He  gathered  around 
him  a  band  of  his  own  disciples  who  like  him 
shunned  the  householder's  life  and  practised 
austerities.  With  his  disciples  he  travelled 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  India, 
initiating  more  converts  to  his  Udasin  or  Udasi 
(lit.  indifferent,  stoic)  sect  who  functioned  as 
itinerant  preachers  and  established  missionary 
centres  at  different  places  in  the  country  and 
beyond.  Through  them  Guru  Nanak's  word  was 
also  carried  to  far  corners  of  the  land.  Baba  Sri 
Chand's  own  main  centre  was  at  Barath,  8  km 
southwest  of  Pathankot  in  Gurdaspur  district 
of  the  Punjab.  Baba  Sri  Chand  also  kept  in 
touch  with  successive  Gurus  during  his  long  life 
of  well  over  a  century.  The  Gurus  held  him  in 
high  esteem  in  view  of  his  holy  descent,  old 
age  and  piety.  In  1626,  when  at  the  behest  of 
Guru  Hargobind,  his  eldest  son,  Baba  Gurditta, 
proceeded  to  found  the  town  of  Kiratpur  in 
the  lower  Sivalik  hills,  he  had  the  ground 
broken  by  Baba  Sri  Chand.  According  to  the 
Bhatt  Vahis,  Baba  Sri  Chand  died  at  Kiratpur 
on  Magh  sudi  1,1685  Bk/  13  January  1629. 
Before  that  he  had,  with  Guru  Hargobind's 
approval,  appointed  Baba  Gurditta  to  succeed 
him  as  head  of  the  Udasi  sect. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Nai'a,  Ishar  Singh,  Irihas  Baba  Sri  Chand JiSahib 
ale  Udasin  Sampardai.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Randhir  Singh,  Udasi  Sikhan  diVithia.  Amritsar, 
1959 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion. 
Oxford,  1909 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Nanak  and  Origins  of  the 
Sikh  Faith.  Bombay,  1969 

Gn.S. 


SRI  FATEH  SINGH  PRATAP  PRABHAKAR 


235 


SRI  GOlilNDPUR 


SRI  FATEH  SINGH  PRATAP  PRABHAKAR,  an 
undated  manuscript  preserved  in  the  Punjab 
State  Archives,  Patiala,  under  accession  No.  M/ 
774,  is  an  account  of  the  life  and  achievements 
of  Sardar  Fateh  Singh  Ahluvalia  (1784-1836). 
The  manuscript  since  published,  by  Joginder 
Kaur  (1981),  comprises  401  folios,  size  23x17 
cm,  each  containing  16  lines.  The  author,  Ram 
Sukh  Rao,  a  tutor  to  Fateh  Singh  during  the 
latter's  childhood,  wrote  this  chronicle  as  well 
as  two  others,  Srijassa  Siiigh  Binod  and  Bhag 
Singh  Chandrodaya,  at  the  instance  of  his  pupil 
and  patron.  The  author  being  an  eye-witness 
to  events  recorded  in  this  manuscript  is  more 
authentic  here  than  in  the  other  two  works. 
Fateh  Singh's  army  and  its  weapons  and 
methods  of  warfare,  contemporary  politics  and 
diplomacy  as  also  territorial  disputes  and 
alliances  and  relations  wi  th  the  Bri  tish  as  well 
as  with  the  Sikh  sovereign  of  Lahore  are 
elaborately  dealt  with  in  Sri  Fateh  Singh  Pratap 
Prabhakar.  The  work  provides  useful 
information  in  respect  of  the  central  as  well  as 
local  and  revenue  administration  in 
Kapurthala  state  during  the  early  nineteenth 
century,  social  history  of  the  time,  the  common 
people,  professional  classes,  customs  and 
ceremonies,  economic  activity  and  trade  and 
industry. 

B.S.N. 

SRI  GOBINDPUR,  or  SRI  HARGOBINDPUR 
(30"-41'N,  75"-29'E),  a  small  town  in 
Gurdaspur  district  of  the  Punjab,  located  on 
the  bank  of  the  River  Beas,  was  originally  a 
ruined  mound  of  a  village  called  Ruhela,  which 
formed  part  of  the  estates  of  Chandu  Shah, 
diwhn  of  the  Mughal  times.  Guru  Hargobind 
came  here  from  Kartarpur  during  the  rainy 
season  probably  of  1629  and,  pleased  at  the 
attractive  view  the  site  commanded,  he 
rehabilitated  it  and  named  it  Sri  Gobindpur. 
But  because  of  his  own  association  with  it,  the 
place  came  to  be  known  as  Sri  Hargobindpur, 
a  name  still  commonly  used.  According  to 
another  version,  the  village  was  established  on 


the  ruins  of  Ruhela  by  Guru  Arjan  Dev  in  1587 
and  named  Sri  Gobindpur,  but  it  was 
appropriated  by  Bhagvan  Das  Gherar  helped 
by  Chandu's  machination.  Guru  Hargobind 
recovered  it  after  four  decades.  Bhagvan  Das, 
a  rich  Khatri  of  Gherar  clan,  challenged  Guru 
Hargobind  and  asked  him  to  vacate  the  site. 
In  the  skirmish  that  occurred,  Bhagvan  Das  was 
killed.  His  son,  Ratan  Chand,  with  the  help  of 
Chandu's  son,  Karam  Chand,  sought  the 
assistance  of  the  faujdar  of  Jalandhar,  who  sent 
with  them  an  armed  body  of  troops  to  expel 
the  Guru.  The  attack  launched  by  diis  force, 
however,  aborted  and  both  Ratan  Chand  and 
Karam  Chand  were  killed.  Two  shrines 
commemorate  Guru  Hargobind's  stay  at 
Ruhela. 

GURU  Kl  HAVEL.I,  formerly  called  Guru  ke  Mahal, 
is  now  an  extensive  ruined  compound  in  the 
centre  of  the  town.  It  is  the  private  property 
of  a  branch  of  the  Sodhi  family  of  Kartarpur. 
The  Nihangs  have  lately  established  a  single- 
roomed  Gurdwara  here,  and  the  former  owners 
have  taken  the  matter  to  the  court. 

GURU  Kl  MASlT,  or  the  Guru's  mosque,  is  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  town  overlooking  the  river- 
bed. Sikh  chronicles  record  that  Guru 
Hargobind  had  a  mosque  as  well  as  a 
dharamsala  built  for  use  by  Muslim  and  Hindu 
settlers  in  the  town.  The  Nihangs  have  now 
established  a  Gurdwara  in  the  mosque  which 
had  remained  deserted  since  the  partition  of 
the  country  in  1947. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurbilas  Chbevin  Patshahi.  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Rankhal,  1975 

3.  Gian  Siiigh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

4.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Gran  th.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

5.  Kahn  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurushabad  Ratanakar  Mahan 
'    Kosh  [Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 


SRl  GUR  PRATAP  SURA]  GRANTH 


236 


SRI  GUR  SOHHA 


6.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

SRl  GUR  PRATAP  SURAJ  GRANTH,  Bhal 
Santokh  Singh's  monumental  work  in  Braj 
verse  portraying  in  comprehensive  detail  the 
lives  of  the  Ten  Gurus  of  the  Sikh  faith  and  the 
career  of  Ban  da  Singh  Bahadur.  Besides  being 
an  historical  narradve  of  great  significance,  it 
is  an  outstanding  creadon  in  the  style  epic,  and 
is  the  most  voluminous  of  all  poetic 
compositions  in  Hindi/Punjabi  literature.  Its 
language  is  Braj  Bhasa  which  was  the  literary 
Hindi  of  that  time  though  its  script  is 
Gurmukhi.  Notwithstanding  certain  drawbacks 
which  scholars  with  training  in  modern 
historiography  may  point  out,  it  remains  the 
most  valuable  source  book  on  Sikh  history  of 
the  period  of  the  Gurus  and,  indeed,  on  the 
very  roots  of  the  endre  Sikh  tradition.  For  the 
massive  flow  of  its  poetry,  the  vast  range  of  its 
figures  and  images  and  for  the  abundance  of 
detail,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth,  Suraj 
Prakash  in  shorter,  popular  form,  is  worthy  to 
rank  with  the  classics  in  this  genre. 

The  title  of  the  main  work  carries  a 
symbolic  meaning  summed  up  in  the  cosmic 
metaphor  of  suraj,  i.e.  the  sun.  The  poet  himself 
explains,  "As  the  sun  rises,  the  darkness  of  the 
night  vanishes,  thieves  and  Chugs  hide  them- 
selves, owls  and  bats  go  to  slumber  and  the  stars 
disappear,  so  with  the  advent  of  the  Gurus,  the 
rays  of  their  spiritual  light  spread  all  around 
dispelling  the  darkness  of  ignorance." 

The  work  is  divided  into  two  parts.  The 
first,  Sri  Gur  Nanak  Prakash  in  two  sections,  is 
the  story  of  the  life  of  Guru  Nank.  The  second, 
Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  proper,  is  divided  into 
portions,  rut. (season),  according  to  the  twelve 
signs  of  the  zodiac,  sub-divided  into  chapters 
called  ansu  (rays).  In  the  Sri  Gur  Nanak 
Parkash  pordon,  the  style  of  the  narrative  tends 
to  be  more  elaborate,  with  many  a  stanza  given 
to  homage  to  the  Gurus,  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  and  to  the  patron  deities  of  learning.  The 


latter  part,  which  deals  with  the  lives  of 
succeeding  nine  Gurus  and  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur,  contains  51,829  verse  pieces  in  22 
cantos.  The  expression  here  is  less  rhetoric. 
Both  the  parts  are  further  sub-divided  into 
numerous  sections  according  to  the  episodes 
narrated,  each  named  after  the  sun's  course, 
viz.  the  twelve  zodaical  signs,  the  six  seasons 
and  the  two  solstices  (winter  and  summei 
solstices)  which  in  turn  comprise  1151 
sunbeams,  each  one  comprising  a  chapter.  The 
phrase  and  imagery  in  both  the  parts  of  the 
book  generally  require  expert  explanation. 
This  has  been  provided,  painstakingly  and 
exhaustively,  by  Bhal  Vir  Singh  in  a  14-volume 
annotated  edidon  brought  out  in  1927-35.  Bhal 
Vir  Singh  has  also  added  notes  where  necessary. 

It  is  usual  for  giants  (learned  scholars)  to 
hold  serial  discourses  on  the  text  of  Suraj 
Prakash  in  gurdwaras,  normally  in  the 
afternoons  or  evenings. 

J.B.G. 

SRl  GUR  SOBHA,  a  poetical  work,  part  eulogy 
and  part  history,  is  an  admixture  of  Braj  and 
eastern  Punjabi,  by  Sainapati  who  enjoyed 
Guru  Gobind  Singh's  patronage  for  several 
years.  The  work,  which  had  remained  unknown 
to  scholars  of  the  recent  period,  was 
rediscovered  by  Akali  Kaur  Singh  and  published 
through  Bhal  Nanak  Singh  Kirpal  Singh 
Hazuria,  Amritsar,  in  December  1925.  Another 
edition  was  brought  out  by  Dr  Ganda  Singh 
(Punjabi  University,  Padala,  1967).  Two  copies 
of  the  manuscript  existed  in  the  Sikh  Reference 
Library,  Amritsar,  which  were  destroyed  in  the 
Army  acdon  in  1984.  In  SrIGurSobha  the  poet 
uses  neither  his  name  nor  pen-name.  It  is  from 
his  two  other  works,  Chanakya  Niti  and  Sri  Sain 
Sukh,  that  we  get  the  clue  to  the  name.  Sri 
Gur  Sobha  opens  with  the  phrase  khalsa  bach 
("says  the  Khalsa")  instead  of  the  usual 
kaviovach  ("says  the  poet"),  suggesting  that 
Sainapati  had  possibly  received  the  rites  of  the 
Khalsa  and  become  a  "Singh."  This  led  Bava 
Sumer  Singh  to  name  him  Saina  Singh. 


SRlGURSOHHA 


237 


SRI  GUR  SOIiHA 


Sainapati,  different  from  his  namesake 
from  the  eastern  provinces  who  wrote 
Kavyakalpadrum  and  Kavitt  Ratanakar,  was  the 
son  of  Bal  Chand,  a  Manjatt  of  Lahore,  who 
was  himself  a  literate  man  and  writer. 
Sainapati's  original  name  was  Chandra  Sain. 
Sainapati  and  Sain  Kavi  were  his  pen-names. 
Chandra  Sain  joined  Guru  Gobind  Singh  at 
Anandpur  as  one  of  the  poets  in  his  retinue. 
There  he  translated  Chanakya  Nil],  an  ancient 
treatise  on  politics  and  diplomacy,  into  old 
Hindi  verse.  Sometime  around  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  or  possibly  after  the 
evacuation  of  Anandpur  in  1705,  Chandra  Sain 
went  to  stay  at  Wazirabad  in  present-day 
Gujrahwala  district  of  Pakistan.  There  at  the 
instance  of  his  friend  Vaid  Jagat  Rai,  he 
translated  into  Bhakha  an  old  treatise  on 
medicine,  Ram  Chand's  Ram  Binod,  under  the 
title  Sri  Sain  Sukh. 

The  Sri  Gur  Sobha  was  written,  according 
to  the  author's  testimony,  in  1701  (completed 
on  Bhadoh  sudj  15,  1758  lik/  6  September 
1701),  but  the  fact  that  it  includes  accounts  of 
events  occurring  as  late  as  October  1708  has 
led  scholars  to  surmise  that  1701  may  be  die 
date  of  the  first  draft,  and  that  the  poet  may 
have  enlarged  it  later  and  completed  it 
probably  in  1711.  The  main  theme  of  the  book, 
as  indicated  in  the  invocatory  passages,  is  the 
praise  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  At  least  six  of 
the  twenty  cantos,  besides  several  passages  in 
others,  are  devoted  to  directly  panegyrizing  the 
Guru  and  the  Khalsa.  In  the  events  the  work 
sets  forth  to  highlight  their  heroic:  exploits  lies 
its  real  historical  value.  Among  the  events 
described  with  much  poetic  flourish  are  battles 
fought  by  the  Sikhs  under  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
the  war  of  succession  among  the  sons  of  Emperor 
Aurahgzib,  the  Guru's  meeting  with  Emperor 
Bahadur  Shah  and  the  Guru's  assassination  at 
Nanded.  A  fairly  well-defined  outline  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  life  emerges  from  the  work  as 
a  whole.  Besides  its  historical  significance  and 
poetic  excellence,  Sri  Gur  Sobha  helps  elucidate 
contemporary  terminology  in  at  least  two 


instances;  Sainapati  uses  the  term  misl  as  a 
military  sub-unit  (ii,  12,52  ;  xviii.  6,  771);  and 
Khalsa  is  defined  as  the  Sikh  community  in 
direct  relation  with  the  Guru  subsequent  to  the 
elimination  by  him  of  the  intermediary 
masands  or  local  community  leaders 
ministering  their  dioceses  in  different  parts. 

To  enumerate  the  twenty  different 
adbyayas  or  chapters,  the  first  entitled  "Panth 
Pragas  Barnan"  contains,  besides  introductory 
stanzas,  names  of  the  ten  Gurus  and  describes, 
on  the  lines  of  the  fifth  canto  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh's  Bachitra  Natak,  that  the  tenth  Guru 
created  Khalsa  Panth  in  response  to  a  divine 
command.  The  chapters  that  follow  are  (2) 
"Teg  Pragas"  depicting  the  batde  of  Bhahgani; 

(3)  "Rajan  Het  Sahgram,"  the  batde  of  Nadaun; 

(4)  battles  with  Khanzada  and  Husain  Khan: 

(5)  "Bachan  Pragas"  describing  cessation  of 
masand  system  and  the  creation  of  the  Khalsa; 

(6)  "Bachan  Bichar"  delineating  ideals  of  the 
Khalsa  ;  (7)  "Rahit  Pragas"  announcing  the  way 
of  life  of  the  Khalsa  ;  (8)  the  first  battle  of 
Anandpur;  (9)  the  batde  of  Nirmohgarh;  (10) 
battles  of  Basali  and  Kalmot ;  (11)  the  second 
battle  of  Anandpur  ;  (12)  the  battle  of 
Chamkaur  ;  (13)  "Kala  Pragas"  describing  the 
Gum's  journey  from  Chamkaur  to  Malva,  batde 
of  Muktsar  and  Epistle  of  Victory;  (14)  "Kichak 
Mar"  giving  details  of  journey  towards  the 
South  and  the  batde  of  Baghaur  ;  (15)  "Zikr 
Badshahi"  regarding  the  war  of  succession 
between  two  sons  of  Aurahgzib  ;  (16)  "Mulaqat 
Badshah  Ki,"  i.e.  meeting  with  Emperor 
Bahadur  Shah  ;  (17)  "Sahibzada  kajudh  ar  Zikr 
Rah  Ka  "  describingjourney  through  Rajasthan 
and  skirmish  at  Chittorgarh  ;  (18)  "Joti  Jot 
Samavana",  i.e.  the  passing  away  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  ;  (19)  "Agam  Pragas,"  an 
expression  of  the  poet's  view  about  the  future 
of  the  Khalsa  ;  and  (20)  "Sarb  Upama"  is  the 
poet's  salutation  to  the  Omnipresent  God. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Akali  Kaur  Singh,  ed.  Sri  Gur  Sobha.  Amritsar, 
1925 


SRI  OUR  TIRATH  SANGRAHI 


238 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  PRAYAY 


2.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Sri  GurSobha.  Patiala,  1967 

M.G.S. 

SRI  GUR  TIRATH  SANGRAHI  (Sri  = 
honoured ;  gur=  Gurus  of  the  Sikh  faith ;  tlrath 
=  places  of  pilgrimage  ;  sangrahi  =  collection) 
by  Pandit  Tara  Singh  Narotam,  lists  places 
across  the  country  hallowed  by  the  visits  of  the 
Gurus  and  their  families.  The  work,  written  in 
Gurmukhi  script  was  completed  in  1940  Ilk/ AD 
1883  and  published  by  Bhai  Buta  Singh  Pratap 
Singh,  Amritsar.  It  is  a  pioneer  work  in  this 
genre  and  gives  the  geographical  location  of 
each  shrine,  its  religious  and  historical 
importance  and  the  name  of  the  sect  to  which 
its  principal  priest  or  custodian  at  that  time 
belonged.  In  his  Introduction  to  the  book,  the 
author  stresses  how  important  for  a  Sikh  it  was 
to  visit  these  places  of  pilgrimage  and  what 
moral  and  spiritual  benefits  accrued  from  such 
visits.  The  first  part  of  the  book  covers  a  total 
of  501  shrines,  all  in  memory  of  the  Gurus-64 
commemorating  Guru  Nanak,  7  Guru  Aiigad, 
1 1  Gu™  Amar  Das,  9  Guru  Ram  Das,  33  Guru 
Arjan,  79  Guru  Hargobind,  26  Guru  Har  Rai, 
5  Guru  Harkrishan,  100  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
and  167  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  This  is  followed 
by  shrines  in  honour  of  the  sons  of  the  Gurus 
(pp.  167-190),  the  Gurus'  wives  (pp.  191-218) 
and  important  Sikhs  connected  with  the  Gurus 
(pp.  219-231).  Then  there  are  small  sections 
one  each  on  Sikh  relics  and  their  location  (pp. 
232-35);  the  explanation  of  a  verse  by  Guru 
Nanak  (avan  athatarai  jani  stanvai)  (GG,  723) 
analysing  it  in  the  historical  context  (pp.  236- 
43);  the  jathedars  or  leaders  of  the  Sikh  misls 
or  chiefship  (pp.  243-49);  and  on  how  to 
proceed  on  a  pilgrimage  (pp.  249-72).  To  locate 
these  places  of  Sikh  sanctity,  Tara  Singh 
Narotam  travelled  extensively.  The  book  carries 
the  imprint  of  Tara  Singh's  Nirmala  orientation 
and  countenances  at  placess  ideas  and  practice 
contrary  to  the  Sikh  tenets.  One  of  the 
examples  is  his  advocacy  of  the  wearing  of  the 
janeti,  sacred  thread  of  the  upper-caste  Hindus, 
rejected  by  the  Gurus. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Shergill,  Surindar  Singh,  Pandat  Tara  Singh 
Narotam  :Jivan  te  Rachna.  Patiala,  1985 

2.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tiraih  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

D.S. 

SRI  GURU  DASAM  PANCHASIKA,  by  Sahib 
Singh  Mrigind  (c.  1804-1876),  is  a  long 
panegyric  in  Braj  verse  in  honour  of  the  Gurus. 
Sahib  Singh,  who  is  the  author  of  some  twenty 
books,  was  the  court-poet  in  the  princely  state 
of  Jind  and  was  held  in  esteem  for  his  poedc 
and  scholarly  accomplishment  by  the  rulers  of 
Patiala  and  Nabha  states  as  well.  Sri  Guru 
Dasam  Paiichasika,  completed  around  1919  Bk/ 
AD  1862,  has  not  yet  been  published.  Its  only 
known  manuscript  is  preserved  in  the 
Motibagh  Palace,  Patiala,  under  MS.  No.  148. 
It  comprises  29  folios,  each  folio  having  7+7 
lines.  The  work  concludes  with  the  poet's 
prayer  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  the  tenth  Guru 
or  prophet-mentor  of  the  Sikhs,  to  free  him 
from  the  cycle  of  transmigradon. 

D.S. 

SRI  GURU  GRANTH  PRAYAY,  a  glossary  of  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib,  is  an  anonymous  and 
undated  manuscript  preserved  in  the  Khalsa 
College  at  Amritsar  under  catalogue  No.  1473. 
It  comprises  147  folios,  24  cms  x  16  cms,  with 
21  lines  to  a  page,  and  is  possibly  a  late- 
eighteenth-century  or  early-nineteenth-century 
work.  Although  the  word  prayay  would  signify 
a  glossary  or  lexicon,  this  work  is  not  a 
dictionary  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  for  it 
lacks  the  alphabetical  order  and  attempts 
neither  etymology  nor  uncovering  varying 
shades  of  meanings  of  the  words.  Words  chosen 
for  explanation  are  in  fact  listed  in  the  order 
in  which  they  occur  in  the  text.  For  instance, 
the  first  entry  in  Prayay  is  on  "Satinam  Karta 
Purakh"  which  words  figure  in  the  very  first  line 
of  the  first  composition,  Japu,  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  Then  follow  words  and  phrases 
picked  from  succeeding  lines  or  stanzas. 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


239 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


Meanings  given  are  those  applicable  to  the 
textual  use  of  the  words.  It  is  but  rarely  that 
an  alternative  meaning  has  been  recorded.  On 
the  back  side  of  folio  147  are  mentioned  the 
narhes  of  scholars  whose  works  the  author  had 
studied.  Among  them  :  Bhai  Mani  Singh,  Surat 
Singh,  Gurdas  Singh,  Santa  Singh,  Amar  Singh, 
Bhal  Chanda  Singh,  and  Bhal  Sant  Singh.  The 
last  two  unnumbered  pages  contain  the 
mythologically  accepted  divisions  of  time  and 
their  duration. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,  A  Catalogue  of  Punjabi  and  Urdu 
Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

S.  S.  Am. 

SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB  (Guru  =  spiritual 
teacher  ;  Granth  =  book  or  volume  ;  Sahib,  an 
honorific  signifying  master  or  lord)  is  the  name 
by  which  the  holy  book  of  the  Sikhs  is 
commonly  known.  It  is  a  voluminous  anthology 
of  the  sacred  verse  by  six  of  the  ten  Gurus 
whose  compositions  it  carries  and  of  some  of 
the  contemporary  sain  ts  and  m  en  of  devotion. 
The  book  is  treated  by  the  followers  as  Word 
incarnate,  the  embodiment  and  presence 
manifest  or  the  spirit  of  the  ten  historical 
Gurus  (Guru  Nanak  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh). 
The  anthology  was  prepared  by  Guru  Arjan 
(1563-1606),  Nanak  V.  Itwas  in  the  beginning 
referred  to  as  pothi,  pothi  sahib,  the  revered 
book.  Itwas  treated  with  great  veneration.  The 
Guru  himself  described  the  pothi  "as  God's  own 
repository"  (GG,  1226).  It  was  also  called  the 
Granth  Sahib.  The  prefix  "Guru"  came  to  be 
applied  as  Guru  Gobind  Singh  ended,  before 
his  passing,  the  line  of  personal  Gurus.  "Granth 
Sahib"  was  designated  as  "Guru  Granth  Sahib." 
The  Guru  had  declared  the  Word  to  be  the 
same  as  Guru  (GG.943).  Guru  Amar  Das,  Nanak 
III,  had  announced  that  for  the  sake  of 
liberation,  contemplation  of  the  Word  was 
more  efficacious  than  even  the  sight  of  the 
Guru  (GG,  594).  Over  the  years,  the  holy  book 
has  received  the  honours  due  to  the  living 


Gurus.  No  Sikh  assembly  can  properly  speaking 
be  so  named  unless  the  holy  book  be  present 
in  it.  The  holy  volume  in  wraps  or  without 
wraps,  which  is  but  a  rare  occurrence,  wherever 
located  commands  the  reverence  that  was 
shown  the  living  Gurus.  The  Holy  Book  is  the 
centre  of  all  Sikh  usage  and  ceremony. 

The  Guru  Granth  Sahib-  some  of  the 
variations  on  the  tide  being  Adi  Granth,  Sri 
Adi  Granth  or  Adi  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib-  is 
today  the  living  Guru  for  the  Sikhs.  The  basic 
Word  in  the  expressions  listed  is  granth  which 
means  a  book,  Sahib  and  Sri  being  honorifics, 
guru  indicating  its  status  as  successor  in  the 
Guruship  and  adi,  literally,  original,  first  or 
primary,  distinguishing  it  from  die  other  sacred 
book  of  the  Sikhs,  die  Dasam  Granth,  the  book 
of  the  Tenth  Master,  which  contains  the 
compositions  of  the  Tenth  (Dasam)  Guru.  A 
simpler  form  with  a  clear  rural  voice  is  Darbar 
Sahib,  the  holy  court.  The  contributors  to  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  came  from  a  variety  of  class 
and  creedal  background-there  were  among 
them  Hindus  as  also  Muslims,  "low"  castes  as 
also  "high"  castes. 

There  were  as  many  different  contributors 
as  there  were  rhymes  and  rhythms.  The  entire 
text  was  cast  in  verse  patterns  of  a  wide  variety. 
There  were  31  different  measures  used.  They 
were  all  set  in  padas  (verses),  astpadis  (8- stanza 
hymns)  and  chhants  (lyrics  usually  of  4  stanzas 
each)  and  longer  compositions  such  as  varsin 
the  order  of  the  succession  of  the  authors.  In 
the  1430-page  recension  which  is  now  the 
standard  form  and  which  carries  the  statutory 
approval  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  in  the  present-day  Sikh 
complex  the  sequence  of  contents  is  :  the 
liturgical  part  (1-13),  Siri  Raga  (14-93),  Majh 
(94-150),  Gauri  (151-346),  Asa  (347-488), 
Gujari  (489-526),  Devagandhari  (527-536), 
Bihagara  (537-556),  Vadahaiisa  (557-594), 
Sorathi  (595-659),  Dhanasari  (660-695),  Jaitsari 
(696-710),  Todi  (711-718),  Bairari  (719-720), 
Tilaiig  (721-727),  Suhi  (728-794).  Bilaval  (795- 
858),  Gaund  (859-875),  Ramkali  (876-974),  Nat 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


240 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


Narain  (975-983),  Mali  Gaura  (984-988),  Mam 
(989-1106),  Tukhari  (1107-1117),  Kedara 
(1118-1124),  Bhairau  (1125-1167),  Basant 
(1168-1196),  Saraftg  (1197-1253),  Malar  (1254- 
1293),Kanara  (1294-1318),  Kalian  (1319-1326), 
PrabhatI  (1327-1351),  Jaijavanti  (1352-1353), 
Salok  Sahaskriti  (1353-1360),  Gatha,  Phuneh 
and'Chaubole  (1360-1364),  Salok  Kablr  (1364- 
1377),  SalokFarld  (1377-1384),  Savaiyye  (1385- 
1409),  additional  salok  (1410-1429), 
Mundavani,  and  Ragmala  (1429-1430). 

Even  before  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan, 
pothis  or  books,  in  Gurmukhi  characters, 
existed  containing  the  holy  utterances  of  the 
Gurus.  A  line  in  Bhai  Gurdas,  var  1.32,  suggests 
that  Guru  Nanak  during  his  travels  carried 
under  his  arm  a  book,  evidendy  comprising  his 
own  compositions.  According  to  the  Puratan 
Janam  Sakhihe  handed  over  such  a  manuscript 
to  Guru  Angad  as  he  passed  on  the  spiritual 
office  to  him.  Two  of  the  collections  of  hymns 
or  pothis  prior  to  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  are 
still  extant.  They  are  in  the  possession  of  the 
descendants  of  Guru  Amar  Das.  One  of  the 
families  in  the  line  used  to  live  in  Patiala  and 
has  only  recendy  migrated  to  Pinjore,  in  the 
Sivaliks,  and  the  pothi  it  has  inherited  is  on 
view  for  the  devotees  in  their  home  on  the 
morning  of  the  full-moon  day  every  month.  A 
collateral  family  which  is  in  possession  of  the 
second  pothi  lives  in  the  village  of  Darapur,  in 
Hoshiarpur  district  of  the  Punjab. 

The  banl,  or  word  revealed,  was  held  in 
great  veneration  by  the  Sikhs  even  before  the 
Holy  Volume  was  compiled.  It  was  equated  with 
the  Guru  himself.  "The  bam  is  the  Guru  and 
the  Guru  banl,"  says  Guru  Ram  Das  in  Raga 
Nat  Narain  (GG ,  982).  The  bam  echoed  the 
Divine  Truth  ;  it  was  the  votce  of  God-  "the 
Lord's  own  word,"  as  said  Guru  Nanak  in  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Guru  Amar  Das  (GG,  ">]">)  : 

vahu,  vahu,  bam nirankar  hai 

tis  jevad  avar  na  koe 

Hail,  hail,  the  word  of  the  Guru,  which  is 
the  Lord  Formless  Himself ; 
There  is  none  other,  nothing  else  to  be 


reckoned  equal  to  it. 

The  compilation  of  the  Holy  Book,  a 
momentous  event  in  Sikh  history,  is  generally 
described  in  the  briefest  terms.  The  Sacred 
Volume  was  prepared  by  Guru  Arjan  (1563- 
1606)  and  the  first  copy  was  calligraphed  by 
Bhai  Gurdas  (1551-1636)  at  his  dictation-  this 
is  all  we  learn  from  most  of  the  sources.  What 
amount  of  planning,  minute  attention  to  detail 
and  diligent  and  meticulous  work  it  involved  is 
slurred  over.  An  old  text  which  gives  some 
detailed  information  is  the  GurbiJas  Chhevin 
Patshahi.  Written  in  1718,  this,  in  fact,  is  the 
oldest  source.  Although  it  does  not  go  into  the 
technical  and  literary  minutiae,  it  broadly 
describes  the  process  from  the  beginning  of 
the  transcription  of  the  Holy  Volume  to  its 
installation  in  the  newly-built  Harimandar  at 
Amritsar. 

Why  Guru  Arjan  undertook  the  task  is 
variously  explained.  One  commonly  accepted 
assumption  is  that  the  codification  of  the 
Gurus'  compositions  into  an  authorized  volume 
was  begun  by  him  with  a  view  to  preserving 
them  from  garbling  by  schismatic  groups  and 
others.  According  to  the  Mahima  Prakash 
( 1 776) ,  he  set  to  work  with  the  announcement: 
"As  the  Panth  (Community)  has  been  revealed 
unto  the  world,  so  there  must  be  the  Granth 
(Book),  too."  By  accumulating  the  canon,  Guru 
Arjan  wished  to  affix  the  seal  on  the  sacred 
Word.  It  was  also  to  be  the  perennial  fountain 
of  inspiration  and  the  means  of  self- 
perpetuation  for  the  community. 

Guru  Arjan  called  Bhai  Gurdas  to  his 
presence  and  expressed  to  him  the  wish  that 
the  sacred  verse  be  collected.  Messages  were 
sent  to  the  disciples  to  gather  and  transmit  to 
him  the  hymns  of  his  predecessors. 

Baba  Mohan,  son  of  Guru  Amar  Das, 
Nanak  III,  had  manuscript  collections  of  the 
Gurus'  hymns  inherited  from  his  father.  Bhai 
Gurdas  travelled  to  Goindval  to  bring  these 
pothis,  but  the  owner  refused  to  see  him.  Bhai 
Buddha,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  revered 
Sikhs  from  Guru  Nanak's  days,  was  similarly 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


241 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


turned  away  from  the  door.  Then  Guru  Arjan 
went  himself.  He  sat  in  the  street,  below 
Mohan's  attic  serenading  him  on  his  tambura. 
Mohan  was  disarmed  to  hear  the  hymn.  He 
came  downstairs  with  the  pothis  and  presented 
these  to  the  Guru.  As  says  the  Gurbilas,  the 
pothis  were  placed  on  a  palanquin  bedecked 
with  precious  stones.  The  Sikhs  carried  it  on 
their  shoulders  and  Guru  Arja  n  walked  behind 
barefoot.  He  refused  to  ride  his  horse,  saying 
that  the  pothis  were  the  very  spirit,  the  very 
light  of  the  four  Guriis-his  predecessors. 

The  cavalcade  broke  journey  at  Khadur 
Sahib  to  make  obeisance  at  shrines  sacred  to 
Guru  Ahgad.  Two  kos  from  Amritsar,  it  was 
received  by  Hargobind,  Guru  Arjan 's  young 
son,  accompanied  by  a  large  number  of  Sikhs. 
He  bowed  at  his  father's  feet  and  showered 
petals  in  front  of  the  pothis.  Guru  Arjan, 
Hargobind,  Bhai  Gurdas  and  Bhai  Buddha  now 
bore  the  palanquin  on  their  shoulders  and 
marched  towards  Amritsar  led  by  musicians, 
with  flutes  and  drums.  Reaching  Amritsar,  Guru 
Arjan  first  went  to  the  Harimandar  tovoffer 
karah  prasad  in  gratefulness. 

To  quote  the  Gurbilas  again,  an  attractive 
spot  in  the  thick  of  a  forest  on  the  outskirts  of 
Amritsar  was  marked  out  by  Guru  Arjan.  So 
dense  was  the  foliage  that  not  even  a 
moonbeam  could  pry  into  it.  It  was  like 
Pahchbati  itself,  peaceful  and  picturesque.  A 
tent  was  hoisted  in  this  idyllic  setting.  Here 
Guru  Arjan  and  Bhai  Gurdas  started  work  on 
the  sacred  volume. 

The  making  of  the  Granth  was  no  easy 
task.  It  involved  sustained  labour  and  a  rigorous 
intellectual  discipline.  Selections  had  to  be 
made  from  a  vast  amount  of  material.  Besides 
the  compositions  of  the  four  preceding  Gurus 
and  of  Guru  Arjan  who  himself  was  a  poet  with 
a  rare  spiritual  insight,  there  were  songs  and 
hymns  by  saints,  bodi  Hindu  and  Muslim.  What 
was  genuine  had  to  be  sifted  from  what  was 
counterfeit.  Then  die  selected  material  had  to 
be  assigned  to  appropriate  musical  measures 
and  transcribed  in  a  minutely  laid  out  order. 


Guru  Arjan  carried  out  the  work  with 
extraordinary  exactness.  He  arranged  the 
hymns  in  thirty  different  ragas,  or  musical 
patterns.  A  precise  method  was  followed  in 
setting  down  the  compositions.  First  came 
sabdas  by  the  Gurus  in  the  order  of  their 
succession.  Then  came  astpadis,  chhants,  vars, 
and  other  poeuc  forms  in  a  set  order.  The 
compositions  of  the  Gurus  in  each  raga  were 
followed  by  those  of  the  Bhaktas  in  the  same 
format.  Gurmukhi  was  the  script  used  for  the 
transcription. 

According  to  Bhai  Gurdas'  tesdmony,  the 
text  had  been  transcribed  by  Bhadoh  vadi 
Ekam  1661/1  August  1604.  At  the  head  of  the 
index  he  recorded :  "Sammat  1661  miti  bhadoh 
vadiekam  pothi likhi pahuche,  i.e.  on  Bhadoh 
vadi  Ekam  1661  he  had  reached  this  spot  where 
the  index  was  to  begin  after  completing  the 
writing  of  the  book."  The  index,  giving  the 
opening  words  of  each  sabda  or  hymn  and 
pagination,  is  itself  a  marvel  of  scholarly 
fastidiousness.  A  genius,  unique  in  spiritual 
intuition  and  not  unconcerned  with 
methodological  design,  had  created  a  scripture 
with  an  exalted  mystical  tone  and  a  high  degree 
of  organization.  It  was  large  in  size-  nearly 
7,000  hymns,  comprising  compositions  of  the 
first  five  Sikh  Gurus  and  fifteen  Bhaktas  and 
Sufis  from  different  parts  of  India,  including 
Shaikh  Farid,  Kabir  and  Ravidas.  The  Sacred 
Volume  consisted  of  974  leaves,  or  1948  pages, 
12"x  8",  with  several  blank  ones  at  the  end  of  a 
raga  where  there  were  not  sabdas  enough  to 
fill  the  section  assigned  to  it.  The  site  of  these 
marvellous  labours  is  now  marked  by  a  shrine 
called  Ramsar. 

The  completion  of  the  Granth  Sahib  was, 
says  the  Gurbilas,  celebrated  with  much 
jubilation.  In  thanksgiving,  karah  prasad  was 
prepared  in  huge  quantities.  Sikhs  came  in 
large  numbers  to  see  the  Holy  Book.  They  were 
rejoiced  in  their  hearts  by  a  sight  of  it  and 
bowed  before  it  to  pay  homage.  Among  the 
visitors  was  Bhai  Banno  who  had  led  a  group 
Of  Sikhs  from  Mahgat,  in  western  Punjab.  Guru 


SKI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


242 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


Arjan,  who  knew  him  as  a  devoted  Sikh, 
instructed  him  to  go  to  Lahore  and  have  the 
Book  bound.  Banno  sought  the  Guru's 
permission  to  be  allowed  to  take  the  Granth 
Sahib  first  to  Mangat  for  the  Sikhs  there  to 
see  it.  The  Guru  allowed  this,  but  enjoined  him 
not  to  tarry  at  Mangat,  or  at  any  other  place, 
more  than  a  night. 

As  Banno  left  Amri tsar  with  his  sacred 
charge,  it  occurred  to  him  to  have  a  second 
copy  transcribed.  The  first  copy,  he  argued, 
would  remain  with  the  Guru.  These  must  be 
an  additional  one  for  the  sarig-at.  The  Guru's 
direction  was  that  he  should  not  stay  longer 
than  one  night  at  a  place,  but  he  had  said 
nothing  about  the  time  to  be  spent  on  the 
journey.  So  he  proceeded^vith  his  plans  and 
sent  a  Sikh  to  purchase  paper.  He  proposed  to 
his  companions  that  they  should  travel  by  easy 
marches  of  five  miles  a  day.  The  time  thus  saved 
was  utilized  in  transcribing  the  holy  text.  Sikhs 
wrote  with  love  and  devotion  and  nobody 
shirked  his  duty  whether  it  was  day  or  night. 
By  the  time  they  reached  Lahore,  the  second 
copy  was  ready.  But  Banno  had  added  to  it 
some  apocryphal  texts.  He  had  both  volumes 
bound  and  returned  to  Amritsar  as  fast  as  he 
could. 

At  Amritsar,  he  was  received  with  due 
ceremony,  though  Guru  Arjan  was  not  a  little 
surprised  to  see  two  volumes  instead  of  one. 
Bhai  Banno  spoke  truthfully  :  "Lord,  there  is 
nothing  that  is  hidden  from  you.  This  second 
copy  I  have  had  made  for  the  sake  of  the 
sangcit."  But  the  Guru  accepted  only  the  volume 
written  in  Bhai  Gurdas'  hand.  He  enjoined  the 
Sikhs  to  own  the  Granth  equal  with  the  Guru 
and  make  no  distinction  between  the  two.  "He 
who  would  wish  to  see  the  Guru,  let  him  see 
the  Granth.  He  who  would  seek  the  Guru's 
word,  let  him  read  the  Granth  with  love  and 
attention." 

Guru  Arjan  asked  the  Sikhs  where  the 
Granth  Sahib  be  installed.  Bhai  Buddha  spoke, 
"You  are  omniscient,  Master  :  But  there  rs  no 
place  more  suitable  than  the  Harimandar  '  The 


Guru  was  happy  to  hear  these  words,"like  one 
who  had  sighted  the  new  moon."  He  then 
recited  the  praise  of  the  Harimandar  :  "There 
is  nothing  like  it  in  all  the  three  worlds. 
Harimandar  is  like  the  ship-the  means  for  the 
people  to  cross  over  the  worldly  ocean 
triumphantly.  A  new  joy  pervades  here  every 
day.  A  sight  of  it  annuls  all  sins." 

It  was  decided  to  spend  the  night  at 
Ramsar  and  return  to  Amritsar  the  next 
morning.  The  Granth  Sahib  rested  on  a  seat 
under  the  canopy,  whereas  the  Guru  and  the 
Sikhs  slept  on  the  ground. 

A  disciple  had  to  be  chosen  to  take  charge 
of  the  Granth  Sahib.  As  says  the  Gurbilas,  Guru 
Arjan  lay  awake  through  the  night  reflecting 
on  the  question.  His  choice  finally  fell  on  Bhai 
Buddha'whose  devotion  was  universally 
applauded.  As  they  awoke,  the  Guru  and  his 
Sikhs  made  ablutions  in  Ramsar.  The  former 
thereupon  practised  his  wonted  meditation.  At 
dawn,  the  entire  sangat  marched  towards 
Harimandar  Bhai  Buddha  carried  the  Holy 
Book  on  his  head  and  Guru  -Arjan'  walked 
behind  swinging  the  fly-whisk  over  it.  Musicians 
sang  sabdas.  Thus  they  reached  the 
Harimandar.  The'  Granth  Sahib  was 
ceremonially  installed  in  the  centre  of  the 
inner  sanctuary.  The  date  was  Bhadoh  sudi  1, 
1 6fil  ilk/ 1 6  August  1 604.  Bhai  Buddha  opened 
it  with  reverence  to  obtain  from  it  the  divine 
command,  as  Guru  Arjan  stood  in  attendance 
behind.  The  following  hymn  was  read  as  God's 
own  pronouncement  for  the  occasion  : 

He  Himself  has  aided  his  saints  in  their  task, 

He  Himself  has  come  to  see  their  task 
accomplished. 

Blessed  is  the  earth,  blessed  the  tank; 

Blessed  is  the  tank  with  amrir,  nectar, 
filled. 

Nectar  everfloweth  the  tank:  He  has  had 

the  task  completed; 
Eternal  is  the  Perfect  Being, 
His  praises  Vedas  and  Puranas  sing. 
The  Creator  has  bestowed  on  me  the  nine 

treasures,  and  all  the  charisms, 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


243 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


No  lack  do  I  suffer  now. 

Enjoying  His  largesse,  bliss  have  I  attained, 

Ever-expanding  is  the  Lord's  bounty. 

Guru  Arjan  directed  that  during  daytime 
the  Holy  Book  should  remain  in  the 
Harimandar  and  by  night,  after  the  Sohila  was 
read,  it  should  be  taken  to  the  room  he  had 
built  for  himself  in  Guru-ka-Mahal.  As  evening 
advanced  by  two  watches,  Bhai  Buddha  recited 
the  Sohila  and  made  the  concluding  ardas  or 
supplication.  The  Granth  Sahib  was  closed  and 
wrapped  in  silks.  Bhai  Buddha  held  it  on  his 
head  and  marched  towards  the  chamber 

w 

indicated  by  Guru  Arjan.  The  Guru  led  the 
sahgat  singing  hyimns.  The  Granth.  Sahib  was 
placed  on  the  appointed  seat,  and  the  Guru 
slept  on  the  ground  by  its  side.  Daily  in  the 
small  hours  of  the  morning  as  the  stars  twinkle 
in  the  pool  below,  the  Holy  Book  is  taken  out 
in  state  to  the  Harimandar  and  brought  by 
night  to  rest-  now,  in  a  room  at  the  Akal  Takht. 
The  practice  continues  to  this  day.  But  the 
volume  is  not  the  same.  That  original  copy  was 
taken  to  Kartarput  when  Guru  Arjan's 
successor,  Guru  Hargobind,  left  Amritsar  in 
1634.  There  it  passed  into  the  possession  of 
his  grandson,  Dhir  Mall.  It  has  since  remained 
in  that  family. 

In  the  Sikh  system,  the  word  Guru  is  used 
only  for  the  ten  prophet-preceptors,  Guru 
Nanak  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  and  for  none 
other.  Now  this  office  of  Guru  is  fulfilled  by 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the  Sacred  Book, 
which  was  so  apotheosized  by  the  last  Guru, 
Guru  Gobind  Singh,  before  he  passed  away  in 
1708.  No  living  person,  however  holy  or 
revered,  can  have  the  tide  or  status  of  Guru. 
For  Sikhs,  Guru  is  the  holy  teacher,  the  prophet 
under  direct  commission  from  God-the  Ten 
who  have  been  and  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
which  is  their  continuing  visible  manifestation. 

Guru  Gobind  Singh  manifested  the 
Khalsa  in  1699.  In  1708,  he  supplied  another 
permanent-and  final-feature  in  the  evolution 
of  the  Sikh  faith  when  he  installed  the  Holy 
Scripture  as  Guru.  This  is  how  the  Bhatt  Vahi 


Talauda  Parganah  Jlnd  describes  the  event : 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  mahal  dasmah  beta 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  ka  pota  Guru 
Hargobind  ji  ki  parpota  Guru  Arjan  ji  ka 
bans  Guru  Ram  Das  ji  ki  Surajbansi  Gosal 
gotra  Sodhi  Khatri  basi  Anandpur 
parganah  Kahlur  muqam  Nander  tat 
Godavari  des  dakkhan  sammat  satrah  sai 
painsath  kartik  mas  ki  chauth  shukla 
pakkhe  budhvar  ke  dihuh  Bhai  Daya 
Singh  se  bachan  hoya  Sri  Granth  Sahib 
lai  ao  bachan  pai  Daya  Singh  Sri  Granth 
Sahib  lai  aye  guru  ji  ne  pahch  paise  nana/ 
age  bheta  rakhamatha  teka  sarbatt  sahgat 
se  kaha  mera  hukam  hai  men  jagah  Sri 
Granthji  ko  janana  jo  sikh  janega  tis  ki 
ghal  thaeh  paegiguru  tis  ki  bahuri  karega 
sat  kar  manana. 

Guru  Gobind  Singh,  the  Tenth  Master, 
son  of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur,  grandson  of 
Guru  Hargobind,  great-grandson  of  Guru 
Arjan,  of  the  family  of  Guru  Ram  Das, 
Surajbansi  Gosal  clan,  Sodhi  Khatri, 
resident  of  Anandpur,  parganah  Kahlur, 
now  at  Nanded,  on  the  Godavari  bank  in 
the  Deccan,  asked  Bhai  Daya  Singh,  on 
Wednesday,  shukla  chauth  of  the  month 
of  Kartik,  1765  Bk  (6  October  1708),  to 
fetch  the  Sri  Granth  Sahib.  The  Guru 
placed  before  it  five  pice  and  a  coconut 
and  bowed  his  head  before  it.  He  said  to 
the  sarigat,  "It  is  my  commandment :  Own 
Sri  Granthji  in  my  place.  He  who  so 
acknowledges  it  will  obtain  his  reward. 
The  Guru  will  rescue  him.  Know  this  as 
the  truth. 

According  to  Giani  Garja  Singh,  who 
discovered  this  entry,  the  author  was  Narbud 
Singh  Bhatt,  who  Was  with  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
at  Nanded  at  that  time. 

Bhatt  Vahis  are  a  new  source  of 
information  discovered  by  Giani  Garja  Singh 
(1904-77),  a  dogged  searcher  for  materials  on 
Sikh  history.  The  Bhatts  were  hereditary 
panegyrists,  genealogists  or  family  bards.  (A 
group  of  them  were  introduced  to  Guru  Arjan 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


244 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


by  Bhatt  Bhikkha,  who  himself  had  become  a 
disciple  in  the  time  of  Guru  Amar  Das. 
According  to  Bhai  Gurdas,  VarXI.  21,  and  Bhai 
Man!  Singh  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala,  he  had 
earlier  visited  Guru  Arjan  with  the  sarigat  of 
Sultanpur  Lodhi.)  Those  of  them  who  came 
into  the  Sikh  fold  composed  hymns  in  honour 
of  the  Gurus  which  were  entered  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  by  Guru  Arjan. 

These  Bhatts  also  recorded  events  of  the 
lives  of  the  Gurus  and  of  the  members  of  their 
.  families  in  their  scrolls  called  vahJs.  Some  of 
these  vahis  are  preserved  to  this  day  in  the 
families,  especially  at  the  village  of  Karsindhu, 
in  JInd  district  of  Haryana.  The  script  in  which 
they  are  written  is  called  bhataksri-  a  kind  of 
family  code  like  lande  and  mahajani.  The  only 
known  scholar  to  have  worked  with  these 
materials  was  Giani  Garja  Singh. 

Apart  from  this  new  testimony  culled  by 
Giani  Garja  Singh  from  the  Bhatt  Vahis, 
another  contemporary  document  which 
authenticates  the  fact  of  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
having  been  invested  with  the  final  authority 
is  a  letter  issued  by  reference  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh's  wife,  Mata  Sundariji.  To  quote  from  the 
original,  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Bhai 
Chet  Singh,  of  the  village  of  Bhai  Rupa,  in 
present-day  Bathinda  district,  to  whose 
ancestors  it  was  addressed: 

Ik  Oankar  Wahguru  ji  ki  fateh,  Sri 
Akalpurkh  jika  Khalsa  yak  rahgjina  dithia 
Wahguru  ji  chit  avai.  Bhai  Sahib  Dan 
Singhji  Bhai  Duni  Sir'igh  ji  Bhai  Jagat 
Singhji  Bhai  Gurbakhsh  Singh  ji  Ugar 
Singhji  Bhai  Ram  Singhji  sarbatt  Khalsa 
Wahguru  Akalpurkhji  ka  pase  likhtam 
gulam  Khalsa jika  Kahn  Singh  Nival  Singh 
MM  Singhji  Sujan  Singh  Ga/'a  Singh  Maha 
Singh  Sarbatt  Khalsa  Wahguru  Akalpurkh 
ka  Wahguru  ji  ki  fateh  vachani  khusha 
karna  ji  Wahguru  Akalpurkhji  har  dam 
chit  avai  sukh  hoe  Khalsa  ji  ka  bol  bala 
hoi  ardas  tusadimarfat  Bhai  Dulcha  Singh 
ke  hath  pahuti  parhkai  Khalsa  ji  bahut 
khushwaqat  hoya  tusadi  bab  Khalsa  ji 


dayal  hoya  hai  hath  jore  kaijo  rakhya 
hove.  "Jo  janu  harika  sevako  hari  dske 
kami."  Guru  Guru  japna  Wahguru  ahg 
sang  hai  fajal  karkai  rakhia  hovegi  Khalsaji 
Bhai  Kahn  Singhji  kau  Mata  Sahibji  ne 
gumastgiri  Amritsar  ji  ki  mukarar  kid  hai 
Khalsa  ji  ne  gurmata  karke  Harimandar 
ate  bagh  di  murammat  imarat  ka  kam 
shuru  kita  hai  sri  Mata  Sahib  ji  ne  likha 
hai  ki  Wahguru  Akalpurkh  ji  ki  nagari  hai 
lahgar  jarur  karna...  Khalsa  Sri  Wahguru 
ji  ka  suchet  bibek  budh  chahie  jo  sivai 
Akalpurkh  duje  no  janai  nahi  Dasam 
Patshahian  takjamai  paidhe yarvin  barvih 
Banda  Chaubanda  Ajita  vagaire  te  aitkad 
lei  avana  hatiya  hai.  Hor  hatiya  Guru  japan 
nal  dur  hosan,par  ih  hatiya  gunah 
bakshiaiga  nahijo  manmukh  ke jame  upar 
aitkad  karenge,  'Mukh  mohi  pheriai 
mukh  mohijuttha  hoi. '  Khalsaji  tusan  sivai 
Akal  duje  no  manana  nahi.  Sabad  dasvih 
patshaji  tak  khojna,  "Sabad  khoji  ihu 
gharu  lahai  Nanak  ta  fca  dasu.  "Guru  ka 
nivas  sabad  vich  hai.  "Guru  mahi  ap  samoi 
sabad  vartaiya.  "  "Jian  andar  jiu  sabad  hai 
jit  sahu  milava  hoi."  Wahguru  ji  ki  fateh. 
Bhai  Mehar  Singh  tahlia  Bhai  Bule  ka 
pattar  ke  khasmane  vich  rahina  Guru  nal 
gandh  paisi. 

Ik  Oankar  Wahiguru  ji  ki  Fateh. 
The  Khalsa,  of  the  timeless  Himself, 
immersed  in  the  One,  and  whose  sight 
brings  Wahiguru  to  mind.  Addressed  to 
Bhai  Sahib  Dan  Singhji,  Bhai  Duni 
Singhji,  Bhai  Jagat  Singhji,  Bhai 
Gurbakhsh  Singhji,  Ugar  Singhji,  Bhai 
Ram  Singhji,  the  entire  Khalsa  of 
Wahiguru,  the  Timeless  One.  From  the 
slaves  of  the  Khalsaji.  Kahn  Singhji,  Nival 
Singh,  Mul  Singhji,  Sujan  Singh,  Gaja 
Singh,  Maha  Singh  Wahiguruji  ki  Fateh 
to  the  entire  Khalsa.  May  you  be  rejoiced 
in  constant  remembrance  of  the  Timeless 
Wahiguru.  May  prosperity  prevail;  may 
supremacy  belong  to  the  Khalsa.  Having 
received  your  missive  through  Bhai 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


245 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


Dulcha  Singh,  Khalsaji  is  highly  pleased. 
Khalsaji  happily  prays  with  folded  hands 
for  your  security.  "He  who  to  Lord 
surrenders  himself,  his  affairs  the  Lord  will 
set  to  rights."  Repeat  always  the  name  of 
Guru.  Wahiguiru  is  by  your  side.  He  will 
extend  to  you  His  grace  and  protection. 
Khalsajl.  Mata  Sahibji  has  appointed  Bhai 
Kahn  Singhji  to  the  superintendence  of 
Amritsarji.  The  Khalsaji,  through  a 
gurmata,  has  taken  in  hand  the 
construction  and  repair  of  the 
Harimandar  and  the  garden.  Sri  Mata 
Sahibji  has  written  that  Jarigar  must  be  run 
in  that  place  which  is  the  abode  of  God 
Himself.. ..Wahiguru's  Khalsa  must  always 
be  alert,  possessed  of  discriminating 
wisdom.  The  Khalsa  must  believe  in  none 
other  than  the  Timeless  One.  There  have 
been  only  Ten  Masters  in  human  form; 
to  believe  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth, 
Banda  Singh  Bahadur,  Ajita  [Ajiit  Singh, 
adopted  son  of  Mata  Sundariji]  etc.  is  a 
mortal  sin.  Every  other  sin  can  be  had 
cancelled  by  repeating  the  Guru's  name, 
but  this  sin  of  believing  in  human  forms 
will  not  be  remitted.  "The  faces  turned 
away  from  the  Guru  are  faces  perverted." 
Khalsaji,  you  must  believe  in  none  other 
except  the  Timeless  One.  Go  only  to  the 
Ten  Gurus  in  search  of  the  Word.  "Nanak 
is  the  slave  of  him  who  by  seeking  the 
Lord's  Name  obtains  his  goal."  The  Guru 
resides  in  sabda.  "The  Lord  hath  merged 
His  own  Self  in  the  Guru  through  whom 
He  has  revealed  His  word."  "The  Word  is 
the  life  of  all  life,  for,  through  it,  one 
experiences  God."  Victory  to  tile  Lord, 
Bhai  Mehar  Singh,  the  messenger,  son  of 
Bhai  Bula  :  keep  the  le  tter  secure  in  your 
custody.  You  will  gain  the  Guru's  favour. 
From  this  letter  it  is  clear  how  the  Sikhs 
after  Guru  Gobind  Singh  believed  that  the 
Guruship  had  passed  to  the  sabda,  i.e.  the  Word 
as  contained  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  None 
in  the  human  form  after  the  Ten  Gurus  was  to 


be  acknowledged  by  the  Sikhs  as  Guru.  Those 
who,  like  some  of  Banda  Singh's  or  Ajit  Singh's 
followers,  called  their  leaders  Gurus  were 
committing  a  mortal  sin.  All  other  sins,  says  the 
letter,  could  be  had  forgiven  by  repeating  the 
Guru's  name,  but  not  the  sin  of  believing  in  a 
living  Guru  after  the  Ten  Masters  of  the  Sikh 
faith. 

Several  other  old  Sikh  documents  also 
attest  the  fact  of  succession  having  been  passed 
on  by  Guru  Gobind  Singh  to  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  For  instance,  the  Rahitnamk  by  Bhai 
Nand  Lai,  one  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  disciples 
remembered  to  this  day  for  his  elegant  Persian 
poetry  in  honour  of  the    Gurus.  In  his 
Rahitnama,  or  code  of  conduct,  Bhai  Nand  Lai, 
who  was  at  Nanded  in  the  camp  of  Emperor 
Bahadur  Shah  as  one  of  his  ministers  at  the 
time  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  passing  away,  thus 
records  his  last  words  in  his  Punjabi  verse  : 
He  who  would  wish  to  see  the  Guru, 
Let  him  come  and  see  the  Granth. 
He  who  would  wish  to  speak  with  him, 
Let  him  read  and  reflect  upon  what  says 

the  Granth. 
He  who  would  wish  to  hear  his  word, 
He  should  with  all  his  heart  read  the  Granth, 
or  listen  to  the  Granth  being  read. 
Another  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  disciples 
and  associates,  Bhai  Prahlad  Singh,  records  in 
his  Rahitnama,  the  Guru's  commandment : 
By  the  word  of  the  Timeless  One, 
Has  the  Khalsa  been  manifested. 
This  is  my  commandment  for  all  of  my  Sikhs: 
You  will  acknowledge  Granth  as  the  Guru. 
In  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10  (author  Kuir 
Singh ;  the  year  of  writing  1751),  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  is  quoted  as  saying  : 

This  is  no  more  the  age  for  a  personal 

Guru  to  be  anointed 
I  shall  not  place  the  mark  on  anyone's 
forehead. 

All  sarigat  is  owned  as  Khalsa  now,  under 
the  shelter  of  the  Almighty  Himself, 
They  are  now  to  the  Word  attached. 
He  who  believes  is  the  Sikh  par  excellence. 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


246 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


*       *  * 

On  the  Guru  Granth  should  he  put  his 
reliance, 

To  none  else  should  he  direct  his 
adoration. 

All  his  wishes  the  Guru  will  bring  to 
fulfilment, 

This  he  should  believe, 

Casdng  away  all  dubiety. 

Another  authority  thai.  may 
relevantly  be  quoted  is  Devaraja  Sharma's 
Nanakacandrodayamahakavyam,  an  old 
Sanskrit  manuscript  which  has  recendy  been 
published  by  Sanskrit  University,  Varanasi.  It 
records  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  proclamation 
that  the  Scripture  would  be  the  Guru  after  him. 
"While  the  Master  lay  on  his  deathbed,  Nand 
Lai  (?)  came  forward  and  asked  the  following 
question  :  'Who  shall  be  the  object  of  our 
discourses  ?'  The  Master  replied,  'The  Granth, 
which  itself  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Guru,  shall 
be  your  teacher.  This  is  what  you  should  see  ; 
this  is  what  you  should  honour  ;  this  is  what 
should  be  the  object  of  your  discourses." 

This  point  has  been  laboured  somewhat 
lengthily  for  the  reason  that  cavil  is  sometimes 
raised.  Certain  cults  among  Sikhs  still  owning 
personal  Gurus  ask  for  authentic  evidence  to 
the  effect  that  Guru  Gobind  Singh  had  named 
Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  his  successor.  No 
archival  testimony  can  be  presented,  unless  the 
Bhatt  Vahi  entry  be  included  in  that  category. 
But  evidence  bequeathed  through  tradition- 
written  as  well  as  oral-supports  this  fact.  This 
is  what  has  come  down  through  Sikh  memory. 
Had  there  been  the  1 1th  Guru,  the  name  could 
not  have  been  effaced  from  the  pages  of 
history.  Guru  Gobind  Singh  brought  to  an  end 
the  line  of  personal  Gurus  and  declared  the 
Holy  Word  Guru  after  him. 

Along  with  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the 
Khalsa  was  now  the  person  visible  of  the  Guru. 
The  word  khalsa  is  derived  from  the  Arabic 
khalis.  meaning  pure  or  pious.  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  used  the  term  in  its  symbolic  and 
technical  sense.  In  official  terminology,  Khalsa 


in  Mughal  days  meant  lands  or  territory  direcdy 
under  the  king.  Crown-land  was  known  as 
Khalsa  land.  As  says  a  contemporary  poet,  Bhai 
Gurdas  II,  Guru  Gobind  Singh  converted  the 
sangat  into  Khalsa.  Sikhs  were  the  Guru's 
Khalsa,  i.e.  directly  his  own,  without  any 
intermediary  or  local  sangat  leaders.  On  that 
point,  we  have  the  evidence  of  Sri  Gur  Sobha 
by  Sainapat,  a  contemporary  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  and  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  own 
hukamnamas.  To  quote  from  the  former  : 

A  day  preceding  the  event,  i.e.  passing  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh 

The  Sikhs  gathered  together 

And  began  to  ask  : 

"What  body  will  the  lord  now  take  ?" 

The  Guru  at  that  moment  spoke  : 

"In  the  Khalsa  will  you  see  me  ; 

"With  the  Khalsa  is  my  sole  concern  ; 

"My  physical  form  have  I  bestowed  upon 
the  Khalsa." 

Guru  Gobind  Singh,  in  his  hukamnamk 
issued  on  Phagun  4, 1756  Bk/  1  February  1700,. 
to  the  sangat  of  Pattan  ,Farid,  modern 
Pakpattan,  refers  to  the  sangat  as  "his  own 
Khalsa."  Hukamnamas  are  letters  written  by  the 
Gurus  to  sangats  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  Some  of  them  have  been  traced  in 
recent  years  and  two  collections  were  published 
in  1967-  one  by  Dr  Ganda  Singh  (Punjabi 
University,  Patiala)  and  the  second  by 
Shamsher  Singh  Ashok  (Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  Amritsar).  Most  of  the 
hukamnamas  are  common  to  both  andiologies. 
These  hukamnamas  are  another  valuable 
source  of  information  on  the  lives  of  the  Gurus 
and  on  the  Sikh  communities  forming  in 
farflung  places. 

That  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  Guru 
Eternal  for  it  has  been  the  understanding  and 
conviction  of  the  Sikh  community  since  the 
passing  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  In  their  hard, 
exilic  days  soon  afterwards  when  they  were 
oudawed  and  had  to  seek  the  safety  of  the  hills 
and  jungles,  the  Sikhs'  most  precious 
possession  which  they  cherished  and  defended 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


247 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


at  the  cost  of  their  lives  was  Sri  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  The  Holy  Book  was  their  sole  religious 
reference,  and  they  acknowledged  none  other. 
To  quote  the  Prichin  Panth  Prakash  :  "Thou 
Gum  Granth  art  the  true  Presence.  Impart  to 
die  Sikh  sahgat  the  true  counsel."  This  is  how 
the  Sikhs  address  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  as  they 
assemble  at  the  Akal  Takht  to  seek  its  guidance 
before  launching  an  attack  on  the  Pathan 
citadel  of  Kasur.  In  the  time  of  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh,  who  established  sovereignty  in  the  name 
of  the  Khalsa,  personal  piety  and  court 
ceremonial  centred  upon  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  As  contemporary  records  testify,  Ranjit 
Singh  began  his  day  by  making  obeisance  to 
Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  On  festive  occasions, 
he  made  pilgrimage  to  Arnritsar  to  bow  before 
Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  in  the  Harimandar.  For 
the  Sikhs  in  general  Guru  Granth  Sahib  was 
the  only  focus  of  religious  attachment. 

None  other  existed  otherwise,  either  in 
human  form  or  symbolically.  In  all  Sikh 
literature  after  Guru  Golbind  Singh,  the  Holy 
Book  is  uniformly  referred  to  as  Guru  Granth. 

The  personal  Guriiship  was  ended  by 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  himself.  Succession  passed 
to  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  in  perpetuity.  This 
was  a  most  significant  development  in  the 
history  of  the  panth. 

The  finality  of  the  Holy  Book  was  a  fact 
rich  in  religious  and  social  implications.  The 
Gum  Granth  became  Gum  and  received  divine 
honours.  It  was  acknowledged  the  medium  of 
the  revelation  descended  through  the  Gurus. 
It  was  for  the  Sikhs  the  perpetual  authority, 
spiritual  as  well  as  historical.  They  lived  their 
religion  in  response  to  it.  Through  it,  they  were 
able  to  observe  their  faith  more  fully,  more 
vividly.  It  was  central  to  all  that  subsequently 
happened  in  Sikh  life.  It  was  the  source  of  their 
verbal  tradition  and  it  shaped  their  intellectual 
and  cultural  environment.  It  moulded  the  Sikh 
concept  of  life.  From  it  the  community's  ideals, 
institutions  and  rituals  derived  their  meaning. 
Its  role  in  guaranteeing  the  community 
integration    and   permanence    and  in 


determining  the  course  of  its  history  has  been 
cmcial. 

The  Word  enshrined  in  the  Holy  Book  was 
always  revered  by  the  Gurus  as  well  as  by  their 
disciples  as  of  Divine  origin.  The  Guru  was  the 
revealer  of  the  Word.  One  day  the  Word  was 
to  take  the  place  of  the  Guru.  The  line  of 
personal  Gurus  could  not  have  continued 
forever.  The  inevitable  came  to  pass  when  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  declared  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
to  be  his  successor.  It  was  only  through  the 
Word  that  the  Guruship  could  be  made 
everlasting.  This  object  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
intuitively  secured  when  he  pronounced 
Granth  Sahib  to  be  Guru  after  him.  The  Granth 
Sahib  was  henceforth-for  all  time  to  come-  the 
Guru  for  the  Sikhs. 

Since  the  day  Guru  Gobind  Singh  vested 
succession  in  it,  the  Guru  Granth  has 
commanded  the  same  honour  and  reverence 
as  would  be  due  to  the  Guru  himself.  It  is  the 
focal  point  of  Sikh  devotion.  The  object  of 
veneration  in  Sikh  gurdwaras  is  Sri  Guru 
Granth  Sahib ;  gurdwara  is  in  fact  that  place  of 
worship  wherein  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is 
seated.  No  images  or  idols  are  permitted  inside 
a  gurdwara.  The  Holy  Volume  is  opened 
ceremonially  in  the  early  hours  of  the  morning 
after  ardas  or  supplication.  It  must  be 
enthroned,  draped  in  silk  or  other  pieces  of 
clean  linen,  on  a  high  seat  on  a  pedestal,  under 
a  canopy.  The  congregation  takes  place  in  the 
presence  of  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  with  the 
officiant,  who  could  be  anyone  from  among 
those  present,  sitting  in  attendance,  with  a 
chavar  or  whisk  in  his  hand  which  he  keeps 
swinging  over  i  t  in  veneration.  The  singing  of 
hymns  by  a  group  of  musicians  will  go  on.  All 
the  time  devotees  have  been  coming  and 
bowing  low  before  the  Holy  Book  to  pay 
homage  and  taking  their  seats  on  the  ground 
in  front.  The  offkianj/or  any  other  learned 
person  who  will  4ake  fas  seat  behind  Sri  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  will  read  out  a  hymn  and 
expound  it  for  the  audience.  At  the  end  of  the 
service,  the  audience  will  stand  up  in  the 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


248 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


presence  of  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  with  hands 
folded  in  front  in  reverence  and  one  of  them 
leading  the  ardas  or  prayer.  At  the  end  of  the 
evening  service  the  Holy  Book  will  be  closed, 
again  after  a  short  prayer,  and  put  to  rest  for 
the  night.  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  similarly 
kept  in  some  Sikh  homes,  where  a  separate 
room  is  set  apart  for  it.  It  is  opened  in  the 
morning  and  put  to  rest  in  the  evening  in  the 
same  style  and  manner.  Before  starting  the 
day's  work  men  and  women  will  go  into  the 
room  where  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  has  been 
ceremonially  installed,  say  a  prayer  in  front  of 
it  and  open  the  book  at  random  and  read  the 
first  hymn  which  meets  the  eye  to  obtain  what 
is  called  vak  or  the  day's  lesson  or  order 
(hukam).  Breviaries  contain  stipulated  bams 
from  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  which  constitute 
the  daily  offices  and  prayers  of  a  Sikh. 

A  very  beautiful  custom  is  that  of  akhand 
path  or  uninterrupted  recital  of  Sri  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  from  beginning  to  end  in  a  single 
service.  Such  a  recital  must  be  completed 
within  48  hours.  The  entire  Guru  Granth  Sahib, 
1430  pages,  is  read  through  in  a  continuous 
ceremony.  This  reading  must  go  on  day  and 
night,  without  a  moment's  intermission.  The 
relay  of  reciters  who  take  turns  at  saying 
Scripture  must  ensure  that  no  break  occurs. 
As  they  change  place  at  given  intervals,  one 
picks  the  line  from  his  predecessor's  lips  and 
continues.  When  and  how  the  custom  of 
reciting  the  canon  in  its  entirety  in  one 
continuous  service  began  is  not  known. 
Conjecture  traces  it  to  the  turbulent  days  of 
the  eighteenth  century  when  persecution  had 
scattered  the  Sikhs  to  far-off  places.  In  those 
uncertain  times,  the  practice  of  accomplishing 
a  reading  of  the  Holy  Book  by  continuous 
recital  is  believed  to  have  originated. 

Important  days  on  the  Sikh  calendar  are 
marked  by  akhand  paths  in  gurdwaras. 
Celebrations  and  ceremonies  in  Sikh  families 
centre  upon  akhand  paths.  The  homes  are 
filled. with  holiness  for  those  two  days  and 
nights  as  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  installed  with 


due  ceremony  in  a  room  especially  cleaned  out 
for  the  occasion,  is  being  recited.  Apart  from 
lending  the  air  sanctity,  such  readings  make 
available  to  listeners  the  entire  text.  The 
listeners  come  as  they  wish  and  depart  at  their 
will.  Thus  they  keep  picking  up  snatches  of  the 
ban! from  different  portions  at  different  times. 
Without  such  ceremonial  recitals,  Sri  Guru 
Granth  Sahib,  a  very  large  volume,  would 
remain  generally  inaccessible  to  the  laity  except 
for  banis  which  are  recited  by  Sikhs  as  their 
daily  prayers.  In  bereavement,  families  derive 
comfort  from  these  paths.  Obsequies  in  fact 
conclude  with  a  completed  reading  of  Sri  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  and  prayers  are  offered  in  its 
presence  at  the  end  for  the  departed  soul. 

There  are  variations  on  akhand  path  as 
well.  A  common  one  is  the  saptahik  path 
wherein  the  recital  of  the  text  is  taken  in  parts 
and  completed  within  one  week.  A  sahaj  or 
slow-reading  path  may  continue  for  a  longer 
time,  even  for  months.  In  au  akhand  path,  the 
entire  text  will  be  read  out  by  a  single  individual 
without  any  interruption  ,for  whatsoever 
purpose.  For  these  paths  the  Holy  Book  is 
recited  or  intoned,  not  merely  read.  This  brings 
out  tellingly  the  poetic  quality  of  the  ban;  and 
its  power  to  move  or  grip  the  listener.  But  it 
must  be  heard  in  silence,  sitting  on  the  floor 
in  front  of  it  in  a  reverent  posture. 

The  hard  of  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  all 
in  the  spiritual  key.  It  is  poetry  of  pure  devotion, 
lyrical  rather  than  philosophical,  moral  rather 
than  cerebral.  It  prescribes  no  social  code,  yet 
Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  the  basis  of  Sikh 
practice  as  well  as  of  Sikh  devotion.  It  is  the 
living  source  of  authority,  the  ultimate  guide 
to  the  spiritual  and  moral  path  pointed  by  the 
Gurus.  Whatever  is  in  harmony  with  its  tenor 
will  be  acceptable;  whatever  not  rejectible. 
Guidance  is  sought  from  it  on  doctrine,  on  the 
tenets  of  the  faith. 

The  Sikh  Panth  as  a  whole  will  resort  to 
Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  as  will  the  individual  in 
moments  of  perplexity  or  crisis.  Whether  or 
not  to  attack  Kasur,  the  Pathan  stronghold,  to 


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249 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


have  the  abducted  wife  of  a  helpless  Brahman 
who  had  come  to  the  Akal  Takht  to  appeal  to 
the  Sikhs  for  help,  was  the  question  before 
them  in  the  year  1763.  Finally,  as  records  the 
Prachin  Panth  Prakash,  it  was  decided  to  obtain 
the  counsel  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 
Instance  comes  to  mind  also  of  the  early  days 
of  the  Gurdwara  movement  aiming  to  reform 
the  ritual  in  Sikh  places  of  worship.  On  12 
October  1920,  a  meeting  of  Sikh  backward 
castes,  sponsored  by  the  faculty  and  students 
of  the  Khalsa  College  at  Amritsar,  was  held  in 
the  Jalliahvala  Bagh.  The  following  morning 
some  of  them  were  taken  to  the  Golden 
Temple,  but  the  granthls  in  control  refused  to 
accept  karah  prasad  or  sacrament  they  had 
brought  as  an  offering  and  to  say  the  ardas  on 
their  behalf.  There  was  an  outburst  of  protest 
against  this  discrimination  towards  the  so-called 
low-caste  Sikhs,  totally  contrary  to  the  Sikh 
teaching.  A  compromise  was  at  last  reached  and 
it  was  decided  that  the  Guru's  direction  be 
sought. 

Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  was,  as  is  the 
custom,  opened  at  random  and  the  first  verse 
on  the  page  to  be  read  was  : 

He  receives  the  lowly  into  grace, 

And  puts  them  in  the  path  of  righteous 

service. 

The  Guru's  verdict  was  clearly  in  favour 
of  those  whom  the  granthls  had  refused  to 
accept  as  full  members  of  the  panth.  This  was 
triumph  for  reformist  Sikhs.  The  karah  prasad 
brought  was  accepted  and  distributed  among 
the  sarigat. 

Singly  or  in  groups,  in  their  homes  or  in 
congregations  in  their  places  of  worship,  Sikhs 
conclude  their  morning  and  evening  prayer, 
or  prayer  said  at  any  other  time  as  part  of 
personal  piety  or  of  a  ceremony,  with  a 
supplication  called  ardas.  Ardas  is  followed  by 
the  recitation  of  these  verses  : 

Agya  bhai  AkaJ  ki  tabhi  chalayo  Panth, 

Safah  sikkhan  kau  hukam  hai  Guru  manio 
Granth. 

Guru  Granth  jl  manio  pragat  Gurah  ki 


dehi, 

Jo  Prabhu  ko  milibo  chahai  khoj  sabad 
main  lehi. 

By  the  command  of  the  Timeless  Creator 

was  the  Panth  promulgated  ; 
All  Sikhs  are  hereby  charged  to  own  the 

Granth  as  their  Guru. 
Know  the  Guru  Granth  to  be  the  person 

visible  of  the  .Gurus. 
They  who  would  seek  to  meet  the  Lord 
In  the  Word  as  manifested  in  the  Book 

shall  they  discover  him. 
This  is  the  status,  the  significance  of  the 
Holy  Book  in  the  Sikh  way  of  life. 

*  *  # 

In  the  Vedic  hymns  and  chants  lie  the 
beginnings  of  the  religious  poetry  of  mankind. 
The  Vedas  are  the  oldest  texts  in  the  world. 
They  are  the  repositories  of  ancient  wisdom 
and  of  the  earliest  meditations  of  the  human 
mind.  The  hymns  of  the  Rig  Veda  will  be  as 
old  as  1500-1000  B.C.  The  Sam  Veda,  another 
text  of  the  same  circuit,  is  a  collection  of  metrical 
hymns.  The  ancient  Vedic  scholars  developed 
a  branch  of  Vedic  learning  called  chhants,  i.e. 
prosody,  or  science  of  metrical  composition. 
Much  of  the  old  religious  literature  is  in  verse 
which  is  easier  to  memorize  and  recite.  The 
tradition  of  memorizing  holy  texts  was 
sedulously  cultivated  in  ancient  India.  Like  the 
Vedic  priests,  the  Jain  and  Buddhist  monk  poets 
composed  a  great  deal  of  religious  poetry. 

Those  versed  in  Sanskrit  poetics  made 
classifications  of  poetry  from  various 
standpoints.  Dandin  made  a  three-fold  division 
into  prose  (gadya) ,  verse  (padya)  and  mixture 
of  prose  and  verse  (mishra) .  Experts  in  Sanskrit 
poetics  held  that  versification  was  not  a 
necessary  condition  of  poetry.  An  epic  poem 
mahakavya  in  the  style  of  muktaka,  a  single 
verse  formation,  is  an  example  of  padya.  A 
narrative  tale  katha  constitutes  mishra  variety. 
Ornate  poetry  was  kavya  cultivated  in  Sanskrit, 
Pall,  Prakrit  and  Apabhrarhsa. 

Several  new  trends  appeared  in  the 
devotional  literature  of  the  saint  poets  of  a  later 


SRT  guru  granth  sahib 


250 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


period.  These  new  forms  of  poelry  and  poetical 
composition  gained  vogue  in  medieval  India. 
This  religious  poetry  was  composed  in  a  variety 
of  languages-  Apabhramsa,  Brajabhasha, 
Avadhi,  Bengali,  Gujarati,  Marathi,  Punjabi,  etc. 
Its  creators  were  poets  and  devotees  rather  than 
professionals  trained  in  literary  niceties  of 
Sanskrit  composition.  Their  main  concern  was 
to  sing  the  glory  of  God  and  to  strengthen 
moral  qualities.  Occasionally,  they  attacked 
current  social  and  religious  abuses.  Their  verse 
was  addressed  to  the  learned  as  well  as  to  the 
illiterate,  to  men  as  well  as  to  women.  Their 
language  was  easily  understood  by  all  sections 
of  the  population. 

The  saints  and  the  bhaktas  threw  off  the 
shackles  of  pingal  of  formal  versification.  They 
broke  out  into  folk  moulds  of  poetry  giving 
them  a  musical  turn.  They  chanted  and  sang 
their  hymns  or  verses,  and  the  community 
chanted,  sang  and  danced  with  them.  In  their 
spontaneous  outbursts,  they  conformed  to  the 
needs  of  the  musical  tunes,  both  classical  and 
desi,  of  folk  origin,  wherein,  while  singing, 
lapse  of  a  few  matras  (syllables,  accented  and 
unaccented)  could  be  easily  made  up,  and  it 
was  not  absolutely  necessary  strictly  to  observe 
the  matras  of  various  types  of  chhands  of  the 
Indian  pingal.  The  poetry  of  the  bhakti  period 
was  non-conformist,  liberal  and  free.  This  was 
the  poetry  of  sadhus  and  fakirs  who  had  had 
no  scholarly  training,  but  who  had  the  spiritual 
and  mystical  experience.  They  had  seen  and 
realized  the  Supreme,  were  free  and  frank, 
truthful  and  blessed. 

The  divine  poets  of  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
were  conscious  of  their  mission  as  well  as  of 
their  capacity  and  dignity  as  poets.  Kabir  says 
that  people  might  regard  his  outpourings  as 
songs  only,  but  they  are  in  reality  meditations 
on  the  Supreme  Being  (GG,  33:";).  Guru  Nanak 
calls  himself  a  dhadi  (minstrel)  and  shair,  poet 
(GG,  150, 660).  Guru  Arjan  and  the  other  Gurus, 
proclaim  that  they  were  called  upon  by  the 
Creator  Himself  to  proclaim  their  divine 
command  and  inspiration.  Guru  Arjan  had 


proclaimed  that  the  ban! had  originated  in  the 
transcendent  realms,  d/mr  ki  bani.  (C.C,  62H). 
Guru  Nanak  believed  (Japu,  38)  that  the 
sbabad  (divine  word)  was  coined  in  the  mint 
of  the  mind  filled  with  the  nectar  of 
continence,  realization,  knowledge,  fear  and 
love  of  the  Lord.  Ravidas  proclaimed  himself 
to  be  a  liberated  soul  and  dweller  of  the  city  of 
joy  (GG,  345).  Namdev  spoke  from  the  pedestal 
where  it  was  impossible  to  discriminate 
between  Allah  and  Rama  or  between  the  Hindu 
temple  and  the  mosque.  These  saint-poets 
spoke  naturally  and  spontaneously.  Their 
singing  and  chanting  gave  the  finishing  to  their 
songs.  Adherence  to  the  rules  of  prosody  was 
not  their  forte,  though  they  quite  often 
composed  also  within  the  framework  of  rules 
and  established  forms. 

Many  aspects  of  the  Indian  tradition  of 
poetry,  dhuni,  rid  alankar,  rasa,  chhand,  etc., 
are  followed  in  the  hymns  of  Sri  Guru  Granth 
Sahib,  yet  no  pad  (stanza)  or  hymn  exactly  fits 
into  any  traditional  mould  or  conforms  to  the 
set  pattern  of  prosodic  matra  (syllables  )  of  the 
Indian  pingal.  While  the  Indian  milieu 
dominates  the  spiritual  and  emotinal  sentiment 
of  these  holy  singers,  their  poetry  was  the 
spontaneous  outflow  of  their  inspiration:  and 
they  obviously  did  not  toil  over  composition. 
Two  considerations  chiefly  weighed  with  them  : 
first,  setting  of  the  hymn  in  a  given  raga 
(musical  measure)  and,  secondly,  its  setting  in 
a  pada  (stanza)  form;  with  the  burden  of  the 
song  lying  in  the  couplet  of  rahau  (pause).  The 
slokas  they  composed  are  mostly  couplets  or 
groups  of  couplets.  Determination  of  the  rziga 
affected  all  other  poetic  features  such  as  the 
scheme  of  alankars,  rasa,  atmosphere,  diction, 
imagery.  In  a  hymn,  as  in  the  Indian  scheme 
of  ragas,  each  one  has  its  peculiar  rasa  (mood) , 
atmosphere,  and  time  or  season  of  singing. 
Dupada  (two-stanza  poems,  tipada  (three- 
stanza  poem),  chaupada  (four-stanza  poem), 
astpadi  (eight-stanza  poem),  solaha  (sixteen- 
stanza  poem),  cbhants,  lyrics,  longer  and 
shorter  poems  such  as  the  Japu,  vars,  Oahkar, 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


251 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


Sidhgosti,  Sukhmani  et.  al.  are  all  stanzaic 
arrangements.  The  stanzas  in  the  Gum  Granth 
Sahib  vary  in  length  from  one-line 
compositions  to  eight-line  structures.  Lines  in 
stanzas  are,  or  can  be,  measured  by  the  Indian 
system  of  matras  (syllables)  without  their 
conforming  exactly  to  any  of  the  fixed  metric 
chhands;  gan,  or  varnik  (word  system)  chhands 
being  mainly  ruled  out  in  case  of  the  hymns 
in  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  The  length  of  a  line 
or  the  number  of  the  feet  in  it  varies  from  a 
short  utterance  to  a  long  undulating  one,  with 
a  corresponding  number  of  pauses,  etc.  Rhyme 
is  invariably  there.  Alliteration  and  internal 
rhymes  are  often  introduced. 

The  peculiar  thematic  or  emotional 
nature  of  some  of  the  extraordinary  hymns  of 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  mostly  cast  in  the 
moulds  of  folk-poetry  of  the  Punjab,  is  pointed 
out  in  the  superimposition  or  the  caption  which, 
besides,  indicates  the  raga  and  the  pitch  (ghar) , 
in  which  the  hymn  is  to  be  sung.  Such  peculiar 
descriptions  in  the  titles  are  as  follows : 

(1)  aratt,  anjali,  sohila,  swayyas,  japu,  thittin, 
patti,  phunhe,  bavan-akhari,  and 
baramaha  are  the  titles  which  indicate  the 
form  of  poetry  ;  patti,  bavan-akhari  and 
oahkar  are  in  the  form  of  acrostics, 
propounding  philosopical  and  religious 
themes  and  doctrines;  thittin  and 
baramaha  are  built  around  the  lunar  days 
and  the  twelve  solar  months;  swayyas  are 
encomiums  offered  to  the  Gurus. 

(2)  alahniah  (dirges),  sadd,  karhale,  gatha, 
ghoriah,  chhant,  dakhne,  var,  ruttih  and 
var  sat  (week  days)  are  the  moulds  of  the 
folk-poetry  of  Punjab. 

In  the  common  life  of  the  country, 
alahniah  are  sung  to  mourn  a  death,  ghoriah 
are  sung  to  celebrate  a  wedding;  similarly 
xhhants  are  recited  at  the  time  of  marriage; 
sadd  (call)  is  a  dirge,  pahare  quarters  of  day  or 
night,  nittih  (seasons),  var  sat  (weekdays),  din- 
rain  (day  and  night)  are  the  compositions 
stressing  the  importance  of  time  which  should 
be  utilized  in  remembrance  of  the  Lord, 


All  the  above  titles  of  category  1  and  2 
are  stanzaic  poems.  These  moulds,  however,  are 
not  the  innovations  of  the  Gurus. 

Vedic  hymns  (suktas)  are  padas  with 
varying  number  of  padas  (stanzas)  called 
mantras  in  each  ;  later,  with  the  rise  of  the 
bhakti  movement,  padas  in  praise  of  Visnu, 
called  the  vishanpadas  were  most  common  in 
the  developing  Indian  vernaculars.  The  bavan- 
akkhari,  patti  or  acrostic  forms  are  also 
traditional  forms;  baramaha  was  common 
mould  for  singing  of  the  pangs  of  separation 
in  love  in  the  various  Indian  languages, 
including  Sanskrit.  Kalidas  has  composed  a 
poem  on  the  season  :  under  varying  names, 
poems  of  the  themes  and  spirit  of  alahniah, 
sadd  and  ghoriah  have  been  sung  in  all 
medieval  literatures  of  India.  Sloka  has  been 
the  most  popular  mould  in  Sanskrit  and  Hindi, 
literatures.  It  is  a  couplet  piece  with  a  serious 
philosophical  theme.  So  padas  (hymns  based 
on  pad  or  stanzaic  arrangement)  and  sloka,  the 
chief  poetic  forms  used  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  have  descended  from  the  preceding 
Indian  religious  literature. 

A  brief  description  of  some  of  the  poetic 
forms  occurring  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is 
given  below.  Each  raga  of  Sri  Guru  Granth 
Sahib-  there  are  thirty-one  ragas  totally-  is 
arranged  in  a  set  order.  First  will  come  padas 
or  the  prosodic  forms  followed  by  longer 
snatches  such  as  astpadis.  Then  will  come 
chhants  and  vars.  And  last  of  all,  the 
compositions  of  bhaktas. 

ASTPADIS.  Astpadis,  eight  liners.  Hymns  in  Sri 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  comprising  eight  (ast)  lines, 
besides  the  line  containing  pause  of  raiiau.  This 
is  the  standard  form,  but  the  number  of  lines  in 
an  astpadi  can  vary.  Astpadis  occur  in  all  the 
different  ragas  in  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 
Totally,  there  are  305  of  them  counted  in  the 
entire  text. 

CHAUPADA  is  a  four-stanza  hymn,  besides  the 
line  of  rahau  or  pause.  With  the  exception  of 
Bairari,  Tukhari,  Kalian  and  Jaijaivanti,  they 
occur  in  all  ragas  of  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Gauri 


SRI  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB 


252 


SRI  GURU  HITKARNl  SINGH  SABHA 


contains  210  of  them,  Asa  159  and  Sorathi  81. 
CHHAKA.  A  sixer.  It  signifies  a  bunch  of  six  padas. 
CHHEPADA  is  a  hymn  containing,  besides  the 
verse  of  rahau  (pause),  six  padas  or  stanzas. 
They  are  few  in  numbers  and  occur  in  ragas 
Gauri,  Asa,  Vadhahs,  Suhi,  Ramkali,  Mini  and 
Bhairau. 

CHAUTUKA.  A  hymn  containing  padas  of  four 
lines  each.  Chautukas  are  interspersed  in  many 
different  ragas  of  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 
OAKHNA.  A  salok  in  Lahndi  dialect,  western 
Punjabi,  employed  commonly  in  Guru  Arjan's 
hymns. 

DUPADA.  A  hymn  containing,  besides  the  rahau 
lines,  two  stanzas. 

PANJPADA.  A  panjpada  is  a  hymn  of  five  stanzas 
excluding  the  refrain  (rahau). 
PAURl,  lit.  ladder,  is  stanza  adopted  for  vars, 
balladic  poetry.  Pauris  of  these  vars  generally 
consist  of  6  to  8  lines  each.  Stanzas  otjapuji 
are  also  traditionally  called  pauris. 
SHABAD  represents  'Voice  of  the  Master',  or 
word  revealed.  All  forms  of  verse  included  in 
Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  padas,  astpadis  and 
chhants  are  shabads. 

SALOK.  A  two-liner  classical  prosodic  form 
allowing  a  variety  of  metrical  arrangement. 
Though  a  salok  may  not  unravel  new  strands 
of  thought,  it  may  well  enlarge  upon  different 
aspects  of  an  idea  investing  it  with  the  freshness 
of  an  independent  poem. 
SOI  .AHA.  A  sixteen-stanza  hymn.  Riga  Maru 
alone  contains  62  Solahas  22  by  Guru  Nanak, 
24  by  Guru  Amar  Das,  2  by  Guru  Ram  Das  and 
14  by  Guru  Aijan. 

TlPADA.  A  hymn  made  up  of  3  padas  or  stanzas. 
TUK  does  not  exist  as  a  title  or  sub-title  in  Sri 
Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Any  single  line  of  the  barn 
is  a  fuJc  and  is  close  to  what  is  known  as  sufra  or 
aphorism  in  Sanskrit  or  in  the  orthodox  system 
of  philosophy. 

VAR.  An  old  form  of  Punjabi  narrative  poetry 
highlighting  the  exploits  and  acts  of  heroism 
and  chivalry.  On  the  psychological  plane  the 
struggle  is  between  the  good  and  evil 
propensities  in'man. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Talib,  Gurbachan  Singh,  An  Introduction  to  Sri 
Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Patiala,  1991 

2.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  A  Critical  Study  of  Adi 
Granth.  Delhi,  1961 

3.  Kapoor,  S.S.,  "Guru  Granth  Sahib  :  The  History, 
Arrangement  and  the  Text"  in  The  Sikh  Courier. 
London,  1996 

4.  Harkirat  Singh  and  Indar  Singh,  Gurbani  da 
Suddh  Ucharan.  Amritsar,  1995 

5.  Sabdarath  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar, 
1975 

6.  Sahib  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Darpan.Jalandhar, 
1962-64 

7.  Taran  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib Jida  Sahitak 
Itihas.  Amritsar,  n.d 

T.S. 

SRI  GURU  HITKARNl  SINGH  SABHA,  a 
splinter  group  of  the  Khalsa  Diwin,  Lahore, 
came  into  existence  during  the  early  period  of 
the  Singh  Sabhi  movement  for  reasons  partly 
ideological  and  partly  personal.  The  Khalsa 
Diwan,  Lahore,  itself  had  separated  from  its 
parent  set-up  at  Amritsar  for  similar  reasons. 
Dissension  marked  its  very  first  meeting  held 
on  11  April  1886  when  Bava  Nihil  Singh  and 
Diwan  Buta  Singh  were  expelled  from  it,  the 
former  for  his  advocacy  in  his  book  Khurshid- 
i-Khalsa  of  the  restoration  of  Maharaja  Duleep 
Singh  to  the  throne  of  the  Punjab,  and  the 
latter  for  the  publication  of  the  Punjabi 
translation  of  Major  Evan  Bell's  The 
Annexation  of  the  Punjab  and  Maharaja 
Duleep  Singh,  again  espousing  the  cause  of  the 
deposed  prince.  The  policy  of  the  pioneers  of 
the  Singh  Sabha  movement  was  to  keep  aloof 
from  politics,  and  never  to  criticize  the  British 
government.  Since  their  publications  went 
against  the  government,  Bava  Nihal  Singh  and 
Diwan  Buta  Singh  rendered  themselves  liable 
to  the  drastic  penalty.  But  the  action  against 
them  embittered  the  feelings  of  their 
supporters.  Diwan  Buta  Singh,  who  owned  the 
Aftab-i-Pun/ab  paper  as  well  as  the  printing 
press  having  the  same  name,  was  a  man  of 


SRI  GURU  HITKARNI  SINGH  SABHA 


253 


SRl  GURU  HITKARNI  SINGH  SABHA 


influence  in  Lahore  society.  The  difference 
came  to  a  head  when,  on  31  October  1887,  the 
Nanak  Panth  Parkash  Sabha,  celebrating  its 
seventh  anniversary  at  Gurdwara  Janam 
Asthan,  Lahore,  displayed  a  garlanded  portrait 
of  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh  by  the  side  of  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  Bhaijawahiir  Singh,  secretary  of 
Sri  Guru  Singh  Sabha,  Lahore,  took  exception 
to  what  he  said  was  an  act  of  sacrilege  as  well  as 
an  act  against  the  government. 

He  especially  criticized  Bhai  Basant  Singh, 
vice-president  of  the  Lahore  Singh  Sabha,  who 
also  held  an  important  office  in  the  Nanak 
Panth  Parkash  Sabha. 

In  those  days,  a  defamation  case  was  going 
on  in  the  civil  court  against  Giani  Ditt  Singh, 
another  leading  figure  of  the  Singh  Sabha 
movement,  for  the  publication  in  the  Khalsa 
Akh  bar  supplement,  dated  16  April  1887,  of  a 
part  of  Svapan  Natak,  or  dream  play,  a  thinly- 
veiled  satire  on  the  leaders  of  the  rival  Khalsa 
Diwan,  Amritsar.  A  part  of  the  expenses  for  the 
defendant  in  the  long-drawn  suit  had  been 
borne  by  the  Lahore  Singh  Sabha.  When  the 
accounts  were  audited  in  1888,  Bhai  Basant 
Singh  passed  strictures  against  the  secretary, 
Bhai  Jawahir  Singh,  and  others  of  his  group 
for  alleged  misuse  of  the  Sabha's  funds.  Mutual 
recriminations  continued  and  in  September 
1888,  Bhai  Sant  Singh  and  Bhai  Basant  Singh, 
president  and  vice-president  respectively, 
resigned  from  the  Singh  Sabha  and  formed  an 
association  named  Sri  Guru  Hitkarni  Singh 
Sabha  based  in  Lahore.  Sant  Singh  became  its 
president  and  Basant  Singh  vice-president,  with 
Mehar  Singh  Chawla,  a  rich  merchant  of 
Lahore,  as  secretary.  Diwan  Buta  Sihgh  and  his 
paper,  the  Aftab-i-Punjab,  backed  the  new 
organization  which  also  had  the  support  of 
Amritsar  Khalsa  Diwan. 

The  aims  and  objects  of  Sri  Guru  Hitkarni 
Sabha  remained  the  same  as  those  of  Sri  Guru 
Sihgh  Sabha,  Lahore.  Among  them  could  be 
counted  (a)  celebration  of  Sikh  festivals  and 
anniversaries  and  restoration  of  the  true  rites, 
practices  and  doctrines  of  Sikhism  ;  and  (b) 


spread  of  education  among  the  Sikh  masses  by 
opening  schools,  publishing  newspapers,  books 
and  pamphlets,  and  propagation  of  Punjabi 
in  the  Gurmukhi  script.  The  Hitkarni  Sabha, 
which  received  liberal  financial  aid  from  Mehar 
Sihgh  Chawla,  devoted  itself  especially  to  the 
renovation  of  the  gurdwaras,  to  activities  for 
the  promotion  of  Sikh  teaching  and  of 
Gurmukhi  letters,  and  free  distribution  of 
breviaries  containing  hymns  from  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  The  Hitkarni  Sabha  supported 
the  sbuddhi  or  proselytization  movement  of 
Dr  Jai  Sihgh,  though  the  Khalsa  Diwan, 
Amritsar,  opposed  it  and  was  averse  to 
according  equal  status  in  Sikh  society  to 
converts  from  among  Muslims  and  low-caste 
Hindus.  On  the  question  of  the  location  of  the 
proposed  Khalsa  College,  the  Hitkarni  Sabha 
sided  with  the  Amritsar  Khalsa  Diwan.  Both 
favoured  Amritsar.  Unlike  the  Sihgh  Sabha, 
Lahore,  and  the  Khalsa  Diwan,  Lahore, 
Hitkarni  Sabha  applauded  the  enterprise  of 
Raja  Bikram  Sihgh  of  Faridkot  to  have  a 
commentary  on  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
prepared  by  a  synod  of  scholars.  Its 
representatives,  in  fact,  joined  the  Amritsar 
Khalsa  Diwan  deputation  that  called  on  the 
ailing  Raja  on  10  February  1894  at  Faridkot  to 
offer  prayers  for  his  speedy  recovery  and  to 
make  suggestions  for  a  revision  of  the  draft  of 
the  commentary.  The  following  year,  1895, 
however,  witnessed  a  rapproachement  and 
ultimate  reunion  and  amalgamation  of  the 
Hitkarni  Sabha  with  the  Sihgh  Sabha,  Lahore. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Khalsa  College  Council  at 
Amritsar  in  March  1895,  Bhai  Mayya  Sihgh, 
secretary  of  the  Sri  Guru  Sihgh  Sabha,  Lahore, 
bitterly  attacked  Bhai  Gurmukh  Sihgh,  an 
influential  figure  in  the  college  affairs,  on  the 
question  of  recruitment  of  staff  and  allocation 
of  scholarships.  Bhai  Basant  Sihgh,  also  a 
member  of  the  council,  joined  hands  with  him 
in  the  attack.  This  incidental  alliance  paved  the 
way  to  a  closer  understanding  between  die  two 
and  the  societies  they  led  merged  together  to 
form  a  united  Sri  Guru  Sihgh  Sabha,  Lahore. 


Sill  GURU  PANTH  PllAKASH 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jagjit  Singh,  Singh  Sabha  Lahir.  Ludhiana,  1974 

2.  Khalsa  Akhbar.  Lahore,  24  November  and  7 
December  1888 

Jg-S- 

SRI  GURU  PANTH  PRAKASH,  popularly 
Plinth  Prakash,  by  Giani  Gian  Singh  (1822- 
1921),  is  a  history  of  the  Sikhs  in  verse.  As  the 
title  suggests,  it  is  an  account  of  the  rise  and 
development  of  the  Guru  Panth,  i.e.  the  Khalsa 
or  the  Sikh  community.  The  author,  a 
theologian  and  preacher  of  Sikh  religion 
belonging  to  the  Nirmala  sect,  made  his  debut 
in  the  field  of  historiography  in  1880  with  the 
publication  of  this  book  which  he  wrote  at  the 
suggestion  of  his  teacher,  Pandit  Tara  Singh 
Narotam  (1822-91).  Its  first  (1880)  edition  was 
lithographed  at  Delhi  with  only  65  bisrams 
(chapters  or  sections),  and  715  pages.  It 
covered  the  period  of  the  Gurus,  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur  and  of  the  Sikh  misls,  that  is  the  same 
as  covered  in  an  earlier  (Prachin)  Panth 
Prakash  by  Ratan  Singh  Bhahgu.  A  revised 
and  much  enlarged  second  version,  in  two 
parts,  (pages  1,418),  was  lithographed  by 
Diwan  Buta  Singh  at  his  Matba'Aftab  at 
Lahore  in  1889.  Owing  to  the  differences  he 
had  had  with  the  publisher,  Giani  Gian  Singh 
had  a  fresh  edition  lithographed  in  1889 
through  Bhai  Kaka  Singh  Sadhu  at  Matba' 
Chashm-i-Nur,  Amritsar.  This  edition 
comprised  73  sections  and  a  total  of  960  pages, 
(he  first  533  being  a  copy,  with  minor 
alterations,  of  the  Delhi  edition.  The  fourth 
edition  of  Sri  Guru  Panth  Prakash,  115 
sections  and  1085  pages,  was  again  published 
by  Bhai  Kaka  Singh  Sadhu  in  1898,  but  this 
lime  type-set  at  Wazir-i-Hind  Press,  Amritsar. 
Two  reprints  of  the  fourth  edition  were 
published  by  the  Khalsa  Tract  Society.  The 
Punjab  Languages  Department,  Palialii, 
brought  out  a  reprint  in  1970.  In  the  same  year- 
appeared  a  revised  and  richly  annotated 
edition  in  five  volumes  prepared  by  Singh 
Sahib  Giani  Kirpal  Singh,  Head  Granthi  of  Sri 


Slil  GURU  Ul'KAR  PRACHARNI  SABHA 

Darbar  Sahib  (later  Jathedar  Sri  Akal  Takht) . 
Amritsar. 

Scattered  throughout  the  Panth  Prakash 
are  references  at  least  to  23  different  sources 
which  the  author  consulted  or  made  use  of. 
He  especially  mentions  Ratan  Singh  Bhahgu's 
(Prachin)  Panth  Prakash,  Bute  Shah's  Twarikh 
i— Punjab  and  Bhai  Santokh  Singh's  Sri  Gur 
Pratap  Siiraj  Granth.  Other  sources  referred 
to  include  Gurbilas  Dasvin  Patshahi, 
Bahsavalinama,  Dabistan  -  i  -  Mazahib,  and 
Siyar  ul-Mutakharin.  Sri  Guru  Panth  Prakash 
covers  a  vast  span  of  Sikh  history  from  Guru 
Nanak  (1469-1539),  the  founder  of  the  faith, 
to  the  annexation  of  the  Punjab  by  the  British 
and  death  of  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh.  The  last 
three  chapters  contain  an  account  of  some  Sikh 
sects  and  cults-  Udasis,  Nirmalas,  Nihahgs, 
Kukas  or  Namdharis,  Gulabdasias,  Satkartarias, 
Nirahjanias,  Hiradasias  and  Gaiigushahis- 
and  the  author's  reflections  on  contemporary 
social  situation,  with  some  autobiographical 
details. 

Giani  Gian  Singh  was  a  devoudy  religious 
scholar,  but  not  a  critical  historian.  His  approach 
to  history  was  traditional,  and  the  impulse 
behind  his  historical  writing  (besides  the  Panth 
Prakash,  he  also  wrote  a  voluminous  history  of 
the  Sikhs  in  prose  entided  Twarikh  Gurii  Khalsa 
in  five  parts)  was  the  projection  of  the  glory  of 
the  Sikhs'  past.  Some  of  the  facts,  dates  and 
sequences  of  events  in  the  Panth  Prakash  do 
not  bear  scientific  scrutiny,  yet  the  work  enjoys 
much  popularity  and  prestige.  It  is  expounded 
formally  in  Sikh  gurdwaras  and  has  served  to 
shape  the  historical  imagination  of  Sikhs  over 
the  generations. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bhagat  Singh,  Giani  Gian  Singh.  Patiala,  1978 

S.S.S. 

SRI  GURO  UPKAR  PRACHARNI  SABHA,  i.e. 
an  association  for  the  propagation  of  the 
Guru's  deeds  of  compassion  and  charity  was- 
formed  by  a  group  of  Sikh  youth  at  Amritsar 


254 


SiUJASSA  SINGH  BINOD 


255 


SRlNAGAR 


during  the  opening  years  of  the  twentieth 
century,  with  Bhai  (also  known  as  Pandit,  being 
a  learned  scholar  of  religion)  Ganda  Singh  as 
president.  The  aims  and  objects  of  the  society 
were,  like  those  of  the  Singh  Sabhas  in  general, 
to  propagate  g-urmat  dr  the  principles  of  Sikh 
religion  and  culture  3ind  to  restore  to  the  Sikh 
people  their  religious  identity.  More 
specifically,  the  Sabha  concerned  itself  with 
counteracting  the  attacks  of  the  Arya  Kumar 
Sabha  of  Amritsar  against  the  Sikh  religion. 
Death  successively  of  some  of  its  top  leaders 
during  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century  had  weakened  the  Lahore  Khalsa 
Diwan.  The  severest  blow  came  with  die  passing 
away  on  6  September  1901  of  Giani  Ditt  Singh. 
Sri  Guru  Upkar  Prachami  Sabha  attempted  to 
fill  the  gap  and  joined  polemic  with  the  Arya 
Kumar  Sabha.  It  had  two  separate  cells-a 
debating  club  and  a  publicity  department. 
Lectures  and  discourses  by  eminent  Sikh 
scholars  were  arranged,  and  challenges  of  Arya 
Kumar  Sabha  for  public  debates  readily 
accepted.  A  monthly  Punjabi  journal,  Upkari, 
was  launched  in  1902  under  the  editorship  of 
Pandit  Ganda  Singh.  Ganda  Singh  also  wrote 
a  256-page  tract  in  Urdu,  Nuskhah -i-Kh a b t-i- 
Dayanandian  or  Prescription  for  the  insanity 
of  the  followers  of  Dayanand,  in  refutation  of 
an  essay  by  Lala  Sahib  Dayal,  Haj-i-Vahamat-i- 
Ditt  Singhian  or  Remedy  for  the  fancies  of  the 
followers  of  Ditt  Singh.  Ganda  Singh  was  in  fact 
the  moving  spirit  behind  the  Sri  Guru  Upkar 
Prachami  Sabha,  and  his  death,  by  plague,  on 
1 1  February  1910,  signalled  the  end  of  its  brief 
career. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Dukhi,  Munsha  Singh,  Ji van  Bhai  Sahib  Bhai 
Mohan  Singh  Ji  Vaid.  Lahore,  1931 

2.  Jagjit  Singh,  Singh  Sabha  Lahir.  Ludhiana,  1974 

Jg-s. 

SRI JASSA  SINGH  BINOD,  manuscript  dealing 
with  the  career  of  Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia 
(1718-83),  a  prominent  Sikh  warrior  of  the 


eighteenth  century  and  founder  of  the 
erstwhile  state  of  Kapurthala  in  the  Punjab,  was 
written  by  Ram  Sukh  Rao  at  the  instance  of 
Sardar  Fateh  Singh,  ruler  of  Kapurthala  from 
1801  to  1836.  The  manuscript,  formerly  the 
property  of  Kapurthala  state,  is  now  held  in 
the  Punjab  State  Archives,  Patiala,  at  MS. 
accession  No.  M/772.  It  consists  of  250  folios, 
size  22x16  cm,  each  containing  16  lines. 

Not  much  is  known'  about  the  author,  Ram 
Sukh  Rao,  except  that  he  was  a  Brahman,  who 
had  worked  as  a  tutor  in  the  Kapurthala  family 
and  who  was  rewarded  with  a  jagir,  i.e.  land 
grant,  after  his  ward  Fateh  Singh's  accession 
to  the  throne.  He  claims  himself  to  be  a  poet 
of  renown  who  had  written  commentaries  on 
some  well-known  literary  texts  as  well  as  two 
treadses  on  poetics. 

Sri Jassa  Singh  Binod,  after  the  customary 
invocatory  verses,  gives  the  genealogy  and  brief 
accounts  of  the  ancient  Hindu  kings,  Muslim 
rulers  and  the  Gurus  of  the  Sikh  faith,  and  then 
assumes  the  narration  of  the  life  story  and 
exploits  of  the  great  Sikh  hero  ending  with  his 
death  in  1840  Bk/AD  1783.  The  chronology  of 
events  as  recorded  in  the  manuscript  is 
somewhat  arbitrary  and  the  author  often 
digresses  into  philosophical  and  religious 
reflections.  His  language,  a  mixture  of  Hindi, 
Persian  and  Punjabi,  is  loaded  with  Sanskrit 
vocabulary  and  becomes  at  places  obscure.  The 
script  used  is  Gurmukhi. 

B.S.N. 

SRINAGAR  (34°-5'N,  74"-50'E),  the  capital  of 
Jammu  and  Kashmir  state  situated  on  the  banks 
of  the  River  Jehlum  at  an  elevation  of  5250 
feet  above  sea  level,  has  a  historical  Sikh  shrine, 
Gurdwara  Chheviii  Patshahi,  located  near 
Kathi  Gate  of  Hari  Parbat  Fort  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  city.  The  Gurdwara  marks  the  site 
of  the  house  where  Mai  Bhagbhari,  an  old  lady 
converted  to  Sikhism  during  the  time  of  Guru 
Arjan,  lived  with  her  son,  Seva  Das,  who  too 
was  a  devout  Sikh.  The  present  building  of  the 
Gurdwara,  raised  in  1970,  is  a  divan  hall,  with 


SRI  SANT  RATAN  MAL 


256 


SRI  SATIGURUJI DE  MUHAlN  DIAN  SAKHIAN 


the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  seated  on  a  raised 
platform  in  the  centre.  An  old  well  in  front  of 
the  Gurdwara  is  believed  to  have  been  got  dug 
by  Guru  Hargobind  himself.  Gurdwara 
Chhevin  Patshahi  is  managed  by  the  Jammu 
and  Kashmir  Gurdwara  Prabandhak  Board 
through  the  local  district  committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurbilas  Chhevin  Patshahi.  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sahgrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

3.  Gian  Singh,  GianI,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

4.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

Gn.S. 

SRl  SANT  RATAN  MAL  by  Bhai  Lai  Chand, 
containing  biographical  sketches  in  Punjabi 
of  the  Sevapanthi  saints,  completed  in  1919 
Bk/AD  1862  at  Amritsar,  was  first  published  in 
1924  and  reprinted  in  1954  by  Bhai  Hira  Singh 
Mahant,  Sevapanthi  Addan  Shahi  Sabha, 
Patiala.  The  voluminous  work,  comprising  563 
printed  pages,  deals  with  the  lives  of 
prominent  personages  connected  with  the 
Sevapanthi  sect, .providing  some  incidental 
information  about  contemporary 
personalities  such  as  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh, 
Baba  Sahib  Singh  Bed!  of  Una  and  Baba 
Vadbhag  Singh.  The  accounts  of  the  saints  are 
hagiographical  in  nature.  The  book  also 
includes  Babek  Sar,  popularly  called  BhaiDaya 
Ram  Addan  Shah  Prashanotri  (pp.  223-252). 
This  is  a  philosophical  discourse  between  two 
well-known  Sevapanthi  saints,  Bhai  Daya  Ram 
and  Addan  Shah,  the  former  raising  questions 
and  the  latter  answering  them.  The  points  at 
issue  mainly  relate  to  VedarKa  and  lo  Sikh 
teaching  and  philosophy. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Sevapanthian  di  Panjabi  Sahit 
nun  Den.  Patiala,  1986 

Gm.S. 


SRi  SATIGURU  JI  DE  MUHAIN  DiAN 
SAKHIAN,  i.e.  witnesses  or  instructions  from 
the  lips  of  the  venerable  Guru  himself,  is  the 
title  of  a  manuscript,  preserved  in  Gurdwara 
Mahji  Sahib  at  Kiratpur  in  the  Sivaliks  by  the 
granthi,  Babu  Singh,  who  claims  descent  from 
Bibi  Rup  Kaur,  adopted  daughter  of  Guru  Har 
Rai,  Nanak  VII  (1630-1661).  The  manuscript 
is  said  to  have  been  transcribed  by  Bibi  Rup 
Kaur  and  given  her  as  a  gift  by  the  Guru  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage.  It  has  now  been  edited 
and  published,  with  five  additional  sakhis,  by  a 
young  scholar,  Narindar  Kaur.  Of  the  thirty- 
three  sakhis  in  the  original  manuscript,  one  is 
common  with  MS.  No.  1657  (AD  1661)  and  two 
with  MS  No.  5660  (n.d.),  both  preserved  in 
the  Sikh  Reference  Library,  Amritsar  (since 
destroyed).  Similarly,  MS.  No.  19  (AD  1700)  in 
the  Punjab  Languages  Department,  Patiala,  has 
six;  MS.  No.  2571  (n.d.)  in  the  Central  Public 
Library,  Patiala,  has  sixteen;  and  the  Adi  Granth 
associated  with  Bhai  Painda  has  nine  sakhis 
common  with  those  in  this  manuscript.  Of  the 
additional  five  which  find  place  in  the  primed 
version,  four  sakhis  have  been  taken  from  MS. 
No,  5660  in  the  Sikh  Reference  Library  and 
one  from  the  Adi  Granth  associated  with  Bhai 
Painda.  The  manuscript  at  Kiratpur  comprises 
559  folios  and  was  compiled  probably  in  AD 
1661.  Polios  1-492  (a)  contain  hymns  from  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib,  followed  by  sakhis  on  folios 
492  (b)  to  524  and  528  to  532,  with  intervening 
four  folios  containing  the  hymns  of  Guru  Arjan. 
Folio  533  is  blank,  followed  by  hymns  from  the 
Vadahahs  musical  measure  covering  folios 
534(b)  to  549(b).  Again  folio  550  is  blank, 
followed  by  some  more  hymns  from  ragas 
Bihagara  and  Gauri.  At  the  end  of  the  manuscript 
are  inscribed  dates  of  the  demise  of  the  Gurus 
and  of  some  of  their  descendants,  but  these 
folios  are  not  numbered.  The  date  of  the 
passing  away  of  Guru  Har  Krishan  is  recorded 
in  a  hand  different  from  that  of  the  writer.  The 
name  of  the  compiler  is  nowhere  mentioned. 

The  sakhis  included  in  the  work  lay  stress 
on  moral  and  spiritual  values  and  are,  in  a  way, 


STKINBACH,  HKNRY 


257 


SUBICG  SINGH 


precursor  to  the  corpus  of  literature  which 
nowadays  goes  by  the  name  of  rahitnamas.  They 
adjure  the  faithful  to  shun  adultery,  gambling, 
backbiting,  cheating  and  falsehood  and  to 
cultivate  the  virtues  of  honesty  and  simplicity. 

On  the  spiritual  level,  they  impress  upon 
the  devout  to  cherish  His  Name,  seeking  the 
Guru's  guidance  and  discarding  empty 
ritualism  and  superstition.  Couched  in  pithy 
phrase,  the  sakhis  provide  glimpses  into  the 
ethical  and  spiritual  aspects  of  Sikh  life. 
Linguisdcally,  they  mark  a  distinct  transition 
from  the  Braj-laden  Hindavi  prose  of  the  Janam 
Sakhis  to  the  simple  speech  of  the  central 
districts  of  the  Punjab.  Only  some  of  the  sakhis 
are  credited  to  the  Gurus  whose  utterances  they 
are  supposed  to"  be. 

P.S. 

STEINBACH,  HENRY,  a  Prussian,  was  one  of 
the  many  European  adventurers  who  secured 
employment  in  the  Punjab  under  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh  and  his  successors.  Steinbach 
joined  the  Sikh  infantry  in  1836  as  a  battalion 
commander  on  a  starting  salary  of  Rs  600  per 
month,  increased  to  Rs  800  by  1841.  He  was 
charged  with  training  his  battalion  on  the 
British  model.  From  1838  to  1841,  Steinbach 
was  posted  at  Peshawar.  In  1843,  he  fell  a  victim 
to  the  army  panchayats'  general  dislike  of 
European  officers,  and  left  Lahore  the 
■  following  year  to  take  up  service  under  Raja 
Gulab  Singh.  He  remained  in  Jammu  until  1851 
when  he  was  replaced  by  an  Indian 
commander.  Angry  and  humiliated,  he 
returned  to  Europe.  Steinbach  was  a  man  of 
literary  taste  and  had  command  of  the  English 
language  as  well  as  of  German.  He  wrote  in 
English  a  book,  The  Punjaub,  being  a  brief 
account  of  the  country  of  the  Sikhs,  which  was 
published  in  London  in  1845. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Grey,  C,  and  Garrett,  H.L.O.,  European 
Adventurers  of  Northern  India.  Lahore,  1929 

Gl.S. 


SUBEG  SINGH  (d.  1745),  an  eighteenth- 
century  martyr  of  the  Sikh  faith,  was  born  to 
Rai  Bhaga  of  the  village  of  Jambar  in  Lahore 
district.  He  learnt  Arabic  and  Persian  as  a  young 
man  and  later  gained  access  to  the  Mughal 
officials  as  a  government  contractor.  When  in 
1733,  the  Mughal  authority  decided  at  the 
instance  of  Zakariya  Khan,  the  Governor  of 
Lahore,  to  lift  the  quarantine  enforced  upon 
the  Sikhs  and  make  an  offer  of  a  grant  to  them, 
Subeg  Singh  was  entrusted  with  the  duty  of 
negotiating  with  them. 

He  met  the  assembly  of  the  Khalsa  at  Akal 
Takht.  Amritsar,  as  the  Lahore  government's 
Vakil,  a  title  which  became  a  permanent 
adjunct  of  his  name.  For  having  associated 
himself  with  the  government,  Subeg  Singh  had 
to  expiate  before  he  was  allowed  to  join  the 
assembly.  He  communicated  on  behalf  of  the 
Mughal  governor  the  offer  of  a  jagir  and 
nawabship  which  Sikhs  turned  down,  in  the  first 
instance.  But  Subeg  Singh  pleaded  hard  and 
was  eventually  able  to  bring  them  round  to 
accepting  the  offer. 

Towards  the  close  of  Zakariya  Khan's 
regime,  Subeg  Singh  was  appointed  Icotwai,  or 
police  inspector,  of  the  city  of  Lahore.  He  was 
by  faith  a  staunch  Sikh  and  had  deep  sympathy 
witii  his  brothers-in-faith.  On  several  occasions, 
he  had  had  the  honour  of  heads  of  Sikhs 
cremated  with  due  ceremony  and  had 
monuments  set  up  for  them.  Yahiya  Khan,  who 
succeeded  his  father,  Zakariya  Khan,  as  the 
governor  of  Lahore,  turned  hostile  to  Subeg 
Singh  and  willingly  entertained  complaints 
against  him.  Subeg  Singh  was  finally  charged 
with  acts  prejudicial  to  Islam  and  to  the  Stale. 
His  son,  Shahbaz  Singh,  was  similarly 
arraigned.  Subeg  Singh  was  offered  the  choice 
of  embracing  Islam  to  save  his  life.  But  he 
refused  to  renounce  his  faith.  Even  when  his 
son,  Shahbaz  Singh,  was  tied  to  the  death 
wheel,  Subeg  Singh  remained  steadfast.  Both 
uttered,  "Akal,  Akal"  from  their  lips  as  their 
bodies  were  broken  on  the  wheel.  This  was  in 
1745. 


SVCHAJI 


258 


SUCHCHA  SINGH 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Panth  Prakash:  Delhi,  1880 

2.  Bhangu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1912 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

4.  Lakshman  Singh,  Bhagat,  Sikh  Martyrs.  Madras, 
1928 

5.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

B.S. 

SVCHAJI  (SUCHAJJI),  literally,  a  woman  of 
good  manner  and  accomplishment,  is  the  title 
of  one  of  Guru  Nanak's  compositions,  in 
measure  Suhl,  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 
Antithetically,  it  follows  another  of  his 
compositions  called  Kuchaji  (literally,  an 
awkward,  ill-mannered  woman).  Suchaji  ('su\ 
meaning  good  or  appropriate;  'chaf  meaning 
manner  or  style,  with  I  being  the  suffix  of 
feminine  singular)  is  the  term  figuratively  used 
to  typify  the  qualities  of  a  gurmukh  (egoless 
person  turned  towards  lord).  According  to 
Jaham  Sakhi  tradition,t  Guru  Nanak  uttered 
these  verses  in  conversation  with  Shaikh  Brahm 
(Ibrahim),  a  distant  spiritual  successor  of 
Shaikh  Farid  of  Pakpattan,  whom  he  met  in 
the  course  of  one  of  his  journeys  through 
western  Punjab.  Shaikh  Brahm  had  said  that 
they  who  truly  loved  the  Infinite  Being  were 
the  true  ones..  Guru  Nanak  elaborates  and  says 
that  true  love  of  God  consists  in  living  in 
accordance  with  His  Will.  The  true  devotee, 
suchajji,  remains  constant  in  her  love.  However 
variable  material  circumstances  may  be,  she 
abides  by  the  will  of  the  Almighty. 
Metaphorically,  the  poem  conveys  Guru 
Nanak's  conception  of  a  true  devotee.  Such  a 
devotee  surrenders  himself  completely  to  the 
will  of  God  ;  his  faith  remains  unshaken  under 
all  circumstances;  whatever  God  ordains  tastes 
sweet  to  him.  A  true  man  of  God  (suchajji,  in 
this  context)  is  convinced  that  all  that  happens 
is  by  the  command  of  the  Lord;  and  that  his 
duty  is  to  accept  His  command  cheerfully.  He 


is  humble  and  dutiful  and  his  only  desire  is  to 
attain  proximity  to  the  Lord.  The  poem  is 
marked  by  a  deeply  devotional  tone,  its 
picturesque  symbolism  and  tilting  music. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Sabdarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 

T.S. 

SUCHCHANAND  (d.  1710),  a  Khatri  official 
in  the  court  of  Nawab  Wazir  Khan,  faujdar  of 
Sirhind,  was  instrumental  in  the  execution  of 
Sahibzada  Zorawar  Singh  and  Sahibzada  Fateh 
Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  two  younger  sons 
aged  nine  and  seven  respectively.  The 
Sahibzadas  and  their  grandmother,  Mata 
Gujari,  had  been  betrayed  into  Mughal  custody 
by  therf  servant,  Gahgu.  Brought  to  his 
presence^  Sirhind,  Wazir  Khan  offered  to  the 
captive  young  men  the  usual  choice  of 
conversion  to  Islam  or  death.  The  Sahibzadas 
having  scornfully  rejected  the  former  were 
ordered  to  be  executed.  At  this  Nawab  Sher 
Muhammad  Khan  of  Malerkotla,  who  was 
present,  protested  against  the  sentence 
awarded  to  the  children.  As  Wazir  Khan  began 
to  waver  at  the  just  reproof  of  his  peer, 
Suchchanand  put  in  a  remark  :  "The  progeny 
of  a  serpent  shall  grow  up  as  serpents,  and 
should  therefore  be  shown  no  mercy."  Wazir 
Khan  thereupon  reiterated  his  order  for  the 
children  to  be  bricked  up  alive  in  a  wall. 

In  January  1710,  when  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur  invested  Sirhind,  Suchchanand  too 
met  his  nemesis  and  was  done  to  death. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10.  Patiala,  1968 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Sura; 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion. 
Oxford,  1909 

P.S.P. 

SUCHCHA  SINGH  (1883-1924)  was  born  the 
son  of  Bhai  Sundar  Singh  of  Chakk  No.  277 


SUCHET  SINGH,  RAJA 


259 


SUCHET  SINGH,  RAJA 


Sital  Rakkh  in  Lyallpur,  now  Faisalabad,  district 
of  Pakistan.  After  a  stint  as  a  school  teacher  he 
joined  service  in  the  Punjab  Police  and  rose  to 
be  a  sub-inspector.  Reacting  to  Nankana  Sahib 
massacre  and  police  atrocities  committed 
during  Guru  ka  Bagh  agitation  he  resigned  and 
became  an  activist  of  the  Gurdwara  Reform 
movement.  During  the  Jaito  morcha  he  joined 
the  first  Shahidi  Jatha  (a  peaceful  band  of 
volunteers)  which  set  out  from  Amritsar  on  9 
February  1924.  On  arrival  at  Jaito  on  21 
February  1924  this  jatha  was  fired  upon  by  the 
Nabha  state  police.  Suchcha  Singh  was  one  of 
the  martyrs  who  fell  at  the  mound  now  known 
as  Gurdwara  Tibbi  Sahib. 

BIBLOGRAPHY 

1.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
AkaliLahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Josh,  Sohan  Singh,  Akali  Morchian  da  Itihas. 
Delhi,  1972 

3.  Harjinder  Singh  Dilgeer,  The  Sikh  Reference 
Book.  Edmonton  (Canada),  1997 

lyi.c.s. 

SUCHET  SINGH,  RAJA  (1801-1844),  the 
youngest  of  the  Dogra  trinity  who  rose  to  high 
positions  at  the  court  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh, 
was  born  on  18  January  1801,  the  son  of  Mian 
Kishora  Singh.  He  started  his  career  at  a  young 
age,  appointed  to  the  duty  of  laying  public 
petitions  before  the  Maharaja  in  the  wake  of 
his  elder  brother,  Dhian  Singh,  assuming,  in 
1818,  the  important  office  of  deorhidar  or 
chamberlain  to  the  royal  household.  He  lacked 
the  political  and  administrative  ability  of  his 
brothers,  Gulab  Singh  and  Dhian  Singh,  yet 
he  won  the  favour  of  the  Maharaja  by  his 
handsome  bearing  and  engaging  manner.  In 
1822,  he  was  created  Raja  of  Bandralta  and 
Samba.  He  was  also  made  the  commander  of 
the  Charyarl  Sowars,  Ranjit  Singh's  crack 
cavalry  brigade.  He  usually  remained  at  the 
court  performing  sundry  protocol  duties. 
Foreign  visitors  to  the  Sikh  capital  have  paid 
Suchet   Singh   generous  compliments, 


describing  him  as  'the  beau  ideal  of  a  Sikh 
soldier,'  'a  gay  courtier  and  gallant  soldier,'  and 
'the  great  dandy  of  the  Punjab.'  Suchet  Singh 
was  also  given  assignments  in  the  field.  He  took 
part  in  the  Peshawar  campaigns  of  1834-35  and 
1837  and  was  charged  with  the  administration 
of  Tonk  and  Bannu  area  in  1836.  In  recognition 
of  his  services  in  the  Peshawar  campaigns,  Jasrota 
was  farmed  out  to  him  in  July  1835,  Atalgarh 
and  Kothi  were  given  him  as jagir in  December 
1836,  and  Nadaun  worth  70,000  rupees  in  May 
1838.  In  1838,  he  was  assigned  to  administer 
the  territories  of  General  Avitabile. 

During  the  lifetime  of  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh,  Suchet  Singh  betrayed  no  political 
interest  but,  after  his  death,  he  was  involved  in 
the  murder  of  Chet  Singh,  Maharaja  Kharak 
Singh's  favourite,  in  October  1839.  After  the 
deaths  of  Maharaja  Kharak  Singh  and  Karivar 
Nau  Nihal  Singh  in  November  1840,  he 
supported  Rani  Chand  Kaur  against  Kahv'ar 
Sher  Singh,  but  transferred  his  allegiance  to 
the  latter  as  he  invested  the  Fort  of  Lahore  in 
January  1841.  He  escorted  KahvarPartap  Singh 
during  his  meeting  with  Lord  Ellenborough, 
the  British  governor-general,  at  Firozpur  in 
December  1842.  At  one  stage,  on  15  August 
1843,  according  to  Sohan  Lai,  the  court 
historian,  Ajit  Sijagh  and  Lahina  Singh 
Sandhahvalla,  who  had  planned  the  murder 
of  Dhian  Singh,  proposed  that  Suchet  Singh 
replace  his  brother  as  the  prime  minister.  When 
with  the  installation  of  young  Duleep  Singh  as 
Maharaja  of  the  Punjab,  Hira  Singh  was 
appointed  Wazir,  Suchet  Singh  feltjealous.  H« 
conspired  with  Jawahar  Singh,  maternal  uncle 
of  the  young  Maharaja,  to  wrest  the  office  of 
Wazir  from  his  nephew.  Gulab  Singh,  the  eldest 
of  the  Dogra  brothers,  dissuaded  him  from 
opposing  Hira  Singh.  He,  in  fact,  took  Suchet 
Singh  with  him  when  he  left  for  Jammu  on  5 
December  1843,  but  the  latter  kept  up 
communication  with  the  army  at  Lahore 
inciting  it  against  Hira  Singh  and  his  adviser, 
Pandit Jalla.  Encouraged  by  the  response  to  his 
overtures,  he  ordered  his  Charyarl  troops  lo 


.sL'ODH  SINGH 


260 


SUjA,  BHAI 


move  to  Lahore,  himself  reaching  ther  e  with  a 
knall  escort  on  26  March  1844.  Hira  Singh 
encircled  his  camp  with  his  artillery  and  Suchet 
Singh  was  killed  in  action  on  27  March. 

Suchet  Singh  had  amassed  a  vast  fortune, 
lie  held jagirs worth  3,06,865  rupees  annually. 
I  Ie  . had  secretly  kept  a  part  of  his  treasure,  worth 
about  15,00,000  rupees,  at  Firozpur  in  British 
territory,  which  later  became  a  matter  of  discord 
between  the  Sikh  State  and  the  British  Government 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sfui,  Solum  Lai,  'Vmdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  Ranjit  Singh.  Delhi,  1957 

3.  Khushwant  Singh,  Ranjit  Singh  :  Maharajah  of 
llie  Punjab.  Bombay,  1962 

4.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,  Life  and  Times  of  Ranjit 
Singh.  Nabha,  1977 

5.  Charak,  Sukdev  Singh,  Gulabnama  of  Diwan 
Kirpa  Ram.  Delhi,  1977 

K.J.S. 

SUDDH  SINGH,  one  of  the  twenty-two  siibas, 
lit.  governors  or  deputies,  appointed  by  the 
Kuka  leader,  Baba  Ram  Siiigh,  to  look  after 
missionary  work  in  different  parts,  was  born  in 
Ambaja  district  in  1830.  His  father's  name  was 
Ram  Singh.  Suddh  Singh  was  initiated  into  the 
Kuka  faith  by  Baba  Balak  Singh  of  Hazro,  the 
founder  of  the  sect. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ganda  Singh,  Kukian  di  Vithia.  Amritsar,  1944 

2.  Fauja  Singh,  Kuka  Movement.  Delhi,  1905 

3.  Ahluwalia,  MM.,  Kukas  :  the  Freedom  Fighters 
of  the  Punjab.  Bombay,  1965 

ML.  A. 

SUDDHU,  BHAI,  was  a  devoted  Sikh  of  the  time 
of  Guru  Arjan.  He  lived  in  Lahore.  Guru  Arjan, 
along  with  live  of  his  Sikhs,  stayed  in  his  house 
for  a  few  days  before  he  was  summoned  under 
imperial  warrant  and  martyred.  Bhai  Suddhu  was 
the  father  of  Bhai  Buddhu,  the  brick-kiln  owrier, 
another  noted  Sikh  of  Guru  Arjan's  time. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kahn  Singh,  Bhai,  GurushabadRatnakarMahan 
Kosh  [Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

T.S. 

SUDHA1L,  one  of  the  two  villages  in  Ambala 
district  of  Haryana  about  400  metres  apart  from 
each  other,  but  popularly  called  by  the  joint 
name  of  Sudhal-Sudhail,  situated  7  km  west 
of  Jagadhri  (30"-7'N,  77"-17E),  claims  a 
historical  gurdwara.  It  is  called  Gurdwara  Mahji 
Sahib  Patshahi  Naumi.  Sikh  chronicles  record 
that  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  visited  Sudhail  in  the 
course  of  his  travels  in  this  area.  According  to 
local  tradition,  a  platform  existed  in  the  village 
commemorating  the  visit.  A  shrine,  if  ever  built, 
was  abandoned,  for,  according  to  Pandit  Tara 
Singh  Narotam's  book,  Sri  Guru  Tirath 
Sangrahi,  no  trace  of  a  Sikh  gurdwara  existed 
in  the  village.  Giani  Thakur  Singh,  in  his  book 
Sri  Gurduare  Darshan,  alludes  to  the  existence 
of  a  ruined  mound.  The  construction  of  a 
gurdwara  was  commenced  in  1969  on  this 
mound.  The  two-storeyed  domed  building, 
being  on  an  elevated  ground,  is  a  prominent 
landmark  visible  for  miles  around.  The  shrine 
is  managed  by  a  committee  of  the  local  sarigat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Fauja  Singh,  Gurii  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavaii  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

4.  Thiikar  Siiigh,  Giani,  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

M.G.S. 

SUHELA,  BHAI,  a  Rajput  warrior  in  the  retinue 
of  Guru  Hargobind  (1595-1644),  fell  a  martyr 
in  what  is  called  the  battle  of  Phagwara  (1635). 

M.G.S. 

SUJA,  BHAI,  a  Dhavan  Khatri,  was  a  pious  Sikh 
of  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan.  His  name  is  included 


SUJANA,  BHAI 


261 


SUJAN  SlftGH  SODHl 


among  the  Guru's  devotees  in  Man!  Singh, 
Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SUJANA,  BHAI,  a  warrior,  was  the  devot  ed  Sikh 
of  Guru  Hargobind.  He  fought  with  great 
valour  in  the  batde  of  Amritsar  against  Mukhlis 
Khan  in  AD  1629. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratkp  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
CJiuxis,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

Gn.S. 

SUJAN  SINGH,  son  of  Amrik  Singh  of  the 
village  of  Dhianpurin  Amritsar  district, 
belonged  to  Dallevalia  misl.  He  was  one  of  the 
claimants  who  figured  in  the  partition  of  Sirhind 
territory  of  the  Sikhs  after  die  fall  of  the  town 
in  1764.  He  along  with  his  two  brodiers,  Man 
Singh  and  Dan  Singh,  seized  the  parganahs  or 
tracts  of  Dharamkot  and  Mari  situated  to  the 
south  of  the  Sutlej.  The  descendants  of  Sujan 
Singh  held  jaglrs  at  Shahkot  for  a  long  time. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Lepel,  Griffin,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 

G.S.N. 

SUJAN  SINGH  SODHI  (1870-1915), 
educadonist  and  reformer,  was  born  in  1870, 
the  son  of  Sodhi  Kishan  Singh  of  Patiala.  He 
look  his  intermediate  examination  at  Mohindra 
College,  Patiala,  from  where  he  went  to 
Government  College,  Lahore,  to  receive  his 
B.A.  In  1980,  he  joined  Mohindra  College  as 


professor  of  philosophy,  a  post  he  held  for  the 
next  20years,  doing  between  whiles  short  stints 
as  principal  of  Khalsa  College  at  Amritsar 
(1900)  and  as  senioi  inspector  of  schools, 
Patiala.  In  1910,  soon  after  assumption  of  the 
reins  of  government  on  attaining  his  majority, 
Maharaja  Bhupinder  Singh  of  Patiala  (1891- 
1938)  appointed  Sodhi  Sujan  Singh  his 
foreign  minister,  but  he  laid  down  office  three 
years  later  owing  to  failing  health. 

Sodhi  Sujan  Singh  took  a  leading  part  in 
the  Sikh  educational  movement  at  the  turn  of 
the  century.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
committee  set  up  by  the  Khalsa  College  Council 
on  13  May  1900  to  frame  rules  of  business  for 
its  functioning.  He  was  also  nominated  a 
member  of  the  committee  appointed  on  8 
March  1902  to  manage  the  College  on  behalf 
of  the  Council.  Of  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan, 
Sodhi  Sujan  Singh  was  a  founding  member.  He 
was  one  of  the  committee  that  framed  its 
constitution  in  1900,  and  during  the  first 
session  of  the  Diwan,  held  at  Amritsar  on  30 
October  1902,  he  was  named  additional 
secretary  of  the  executive  committee. 
According  to  Bhai  Jodh  Singh's  Oral  History 
transcript  preserved  in  Nehru  Memorial 
Museum,  New  Delhi,  Sodhi  Sujan  Singh  was 
one  of  those  Sikh  leaders  who  attended  the 
Muhammadan  Educational  Conference  at 
Karachi  in  December  1907,  and  it  was  he  who 
first  suggested  that  there  should  be  a  similar 
conference  setup  for  the  Sikh  community.  The 
idea  was  prompdy  taken  up  by  the  Chief  Khalsa 
Diwan  and  this  led  to  the  establishment  of  Sikh 
Educational  Confefence  which  held  its  first 
session  at  Gujrahwala  in  April  1908.  In  May 
1909,  Sodhi  Sujan  Singh  became  secretary  of 
the  Diwan's  education  committee  which 
planned,  controlled  and  co-ordinated  its 
educational  activities  and  organized  the  annual 
sessions  of  the  Sikh  Educational  Conference. 
But  his  poor  health  did  not  permit  him  to 
continue  in  this  office  for  long.  The  end  came 
at  Patiala  on  23  July  1915. 


SUKHAN  FAKIRAN  KE 


262 


SUKHDKV 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Jagjit  Singh,  Singh  Sabha  Lahir.  Luidhiana,  1974 

JgS- 

SUKHAN  FAKIRAN  KE.  an  eighteenth-century 
work  in  Punjabi  prose  attributed  to  Bhai  Addan 
Shah,  a  SevapanthI  saint.  Two  manuscript 
copies  of  it  are  known  to  exist-one  (MS. No. 
2196)  in  the  Central  Public  Library,  Patiala,  and 
the  other  (MS.  No.  11560)  in  the  Panjab 
University,  Chandigarh.  The  latter  has  since 
been  included  in  Puratan  Punjabi  Vartak 
edited  by  Surindar  Singh  Kohll  (Pahjab 
University,  Chandigarh,  1973).  Written  in 
Punjabi  in  Gurmukhi  script,  the  work 
comprises  thirty-four  sukhan  or  sayings,  each 
laying  down  a  moral  rule.  A  fair  sprinkling  of 
Persian  words  has  led  some  to  conjecture  that 
the  work  might  be  a  translation  from  the 
Persian.  According  to  Sevapanthi  tradition, 
these  lessons  were  delivered  by  Bhai  Addan 
Shah  when  he,  having  left  the  Punjab  reduced 
to  chaos  by  the  successive  invasions  of  Ahmad 
Shah  Durrani  (1722-72),  was  preaching  in  the 
Jammu  region.  Bhai  Addan  Shah  recommends 
a  life  of  austerity  and  prayer  as  against  that  of 
indulgence  and  luxury.  One  must  not  hurt  the 
feelings  of  others  and  never  refuse  alms  to  the 
poor.  Contentment  is  set  forth  as  the  greatest 
virtue  (31).  The  real  saint  is  he  who  has  control 
over  his  mind,  has  renounced  maya  and  is  as 
humble  as  the  dust  itself  (32).  God  has  created 
man  (4)  and  yet  He  is  within  him  (24).  The 
Sevapanthls  considered  woman  an  evil  and 
exhorted  man  to  shun  her  company.  Bhai 
Addan  Shah  also  advises  man  to  beware  of  her 
who  is  as  dangerous  as  the  Devil's  Sword  (17). 
Man  must  check  his  mind  from  wandering 
when  meditating,  check  his  tongue  from 
speaking  when  listening  to  the  saints,  and  check 
his  eyes  when  visiting  the  homes  of  others  (25). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Sevapanthian  di  Panjabi  Sahit 
nun  Den.  Patiala,  1986 

D.S. 


SUKHDEV,  a  Kanyakubja  Brahman  from  Uttar 
Pradesh,  was  one  of  the  scholars  and  poets 
attached  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  According  to 
his  own  evidence,  he  was  born  at  Kapilnagar 
and  educated  at  Varanasi.  He  had  been  at  the 
courts  of  several  chieftains  and  officials,  Hindu 
and  Muslim,  beforejoining  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
at  Paonta  in  1687.  He  presented  his  Chhand 
Vichar  Pingal,  a  treatise  on  prosody,  to  the 
Guru  who  rewarded  him  handsomely  for  it.  He 
completed  Adhyatam  Prakash,  a  work  on 
Vedanta  philosophy,  much  read  and  revered 
by  Nirmala  scholars  to  this  day,  on  Assu  sudi 
11,1 755  ilk/6  September  1 698  according  to  its 
colophon.  A  manuscript  oi  Adhyatam  Prakash 
is  preserved  in  the  Central  Public  Library  at 
Patiala,  and  that  of  Chhand  Vichar  Pingal  in 
the  Khalsa  College  Library  at  Amritsar. 
Sukhdev's  three  other  extant  works  are 
panegyrics  on  three  of  his  former  patrons. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1921 

2.  Sukha  Singh,  GurbilasDasvih  Patshahi.  Lahore,  1912 

3.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Sri  Gury  Gobind  Singh  Ji 
de  Darbari  Ratan.  Patiala,  1976 

4.  Vidiarthi,  Devinder  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Gobind 
Shigh  Abhinandan.  Amritsar,  1983 

P.S.P. 

SUKHDEV,  ruler  of  Jasrota,  a  minor  chief 
belonging  to  one  of  the  hill  states  situated 
between  the  Chenab  and  the  Ravi.  He  took  the 
part  of  the  hill  chieftains  and  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  in  the  battle  of  Nadaun  fought  on  20 
March  1691  against  the  Mughal  commander, 
Alif  Khan.  According  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh's 
Bachitra  Natak.  "Sukhdev,  intrepid  warrior,  the 
raja  of  Jasrota,  burst  into  action  raging  and 
carr,  "ng  all  before  him." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bachitra  Natak 

2.  Sainapati,  Sri  Gur  Sobha,  Ed.  Ganda  Singh. 
Patiala,  1967 

K.S.T. 


SUKHMANI 


263 


SUKHMANI 


SUKHMANI,  titled  Gaud  Sukhmani  in  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  after  the  musical  measure 
Gauri  to  which  it  belongs,  is  a  lengthy 
composition  by  Guru  Arjan  which  many 
include  in  their  daily  regimen  of  prayers.  The 
site,  once  enclosed  by  a  dense  wood,  where  it 
was  composed  around  AD  1602-03,  is  still 
marked  on  the  bank  of  the  Ramsar  pool  in  the 
city  of  Amritsar.  It  is  said  that  Baba  Sri  Chand, 
elder  son  of  Guru  Nanak  and  founder  of  the 
Udasi  order,  came  to  Amritsar  to  meet  Guru 
Arjan,  then  engaged  in  composing  the  poem. 
The  Guru  who  had  by  that  time  completed 
sixteen  astpadis,  or  cantos,  requested  him  to 
continue  the  composition.  Baba  Sri  Chand,  out 
of  humility,  only  recited  the  sloka  of  Guru 
Nanak  following  the  Mul  Mantra  in  the  Japu- 
"adi  sachu  jugadi  sachu  hai  bhi  sachu  Nanak 
hosi  bhi  sachu"-  In  the  beginning,  in  the 
primal  time  was  He  the  Eternal  Reality  ;  in  the 
present  is  He  the  Eternal  Reality.  To  eternity 
shall  He  the  Reality  abide  (GG,  285).  This  sloka 
was  thereupon  repeated  by  Guru  Arjan  at  the 
head  of  the  seventeenth  astpadi. 

The  word  sukhmani  is  rendered  into 
English  as  "consoler  of  the  mind."  The  entire 
poem  has  been  translated  into  English  more 
dian  once  under  the  commonly  preferred  tide, 
"Psalm  of  Peace"  or  "Song  of  Peace,"  signifying 
the  soothing  effect  it  has  on  the  mind  of  the 
reader.  Sukh  literally  means  peace  or  comfort 
and  mani  mind  or  heart.  The  couplet, 
constituting  rahau,  the  only  one  in  the 
composition,  which  means  pause  or  rest  and 
which  is  an  equivalent  of  the  Hebrew  word 
seiah  occurring  in  the  Psalms,  sums  up  the  most 
characteristic  feature  of  this  bani.  According 
to  this  couplet,  Sukhmani  is  the  bringer  of  the 
bliss  of  the  Lord's  name  :;  it  dwells  in  the  hearts 
of  those  who  love  Him. 

The  Sukhmani  comprises  twenty-four 
astpadis  or  cantos,  each  comprising  eight 
stanzas.  They  are  composed  in  the  metre 
clianpaj.  A  sloka  or  couplet  precedes  each 
astpadi.  The  first  seven  stanzas  of  the  asfpadi 
explore  the  theme  stated  in  the  preceding  sloka 


and  the  eighth  sometimes  sums  up  the  astpadi 
but,  more  often,  becomes  a  paean  of  praise 
placing  the  theme  in  the  context  of  an  overall 
vision  of  Eternal  Reality.  This  structure  is 
maintained  throughout  and  though,  from 
canto  to  canto,  there  may  not  be  traceable 
progression  of  thought  as  in  a  philosophical 
work,  there  is  a  continuing  unity  of  spiritual 
and  ethical  tone.  One  of  the  fundamental  texts 
of  the  Sikh  faith,  the  Sukhmani  presents  a 
complete  scheme  of  the  teachings  of  the  Sikh 
faith.  While  each  astpadi  has  a  fresh  vision  to 
impart,  a  particular  aspect  of  Truth  to  unfold, 
the  whole  text  may  be  regarded  as  the 
reiteration  of  basic  themes  such  as  Divine 
immanence,  Divine  compassion,  abundance  of 
grace,  God's  succouring  hand,  the  merit  of 
devotion,  of  holy  company  and  humility.  With 
such  reiteration,  the  composition  as  a  whole 
has  a  remarkable  gripping  quality  reinforced 
by  the  striking  imagery  which  in  stanza  after 
stanza  brings  home  to  the  seeker  the  truths  he 
must  own. 

The  Sulchmanj  opens  with  a  manglacharan 
or  invocation  to  the  Supreme  Being.  In  this 
four-line  Sloka,  the  Supreme  Being  is 
remembered  as  adi  gure  (Primal  Preceptor), 
jugadi  gure  (Preceptor  from  the  beginning  of 
time  existing),  sad  gure  (the  Truth  Preceptor) 
and  sri  gurdeve  (Preceptor  Divine).  The 
following  six  astpadis  dwell  on  the  advantages 
of  remembrance,  in  a  spirit  of  love,  devotion 
and  surrender,  of  the  Holy  Name  which  results 
in  linking  up  one's  consciousness  with  the 
Divine.  This  brings  bliss,  peace  and  approval 
at  the  Divine  Court. 

Name  Divine  is  man's  true  helper  and 
friend,  the  tru  e  conferrer  of  joy  and  bliss  as 
against  the  trust  in  yogic  austerities,  ascetic 
practices  and  ritual  worship  which  are  of  no 
avail  in  liberating  him  from  the  cycle  of  birth 
and  death.  Ineffective  in  the  same  way  are 
intellectual  feats  and  membership  of  religious 
orders.  Remembrance  of  the  Divine  Name  is 
the  most  exalted  of  all  religious  practices  and 
the  purest  of  all  ritual  actions.  Ungrateful  to 


SUKHMANl 


264 


SUKHMANl 


God  and  indifferent  to  devotion,  humanity  is 
in  bondage  to  lust,  wrath,  avarice,  ^attachment 
and  pride-  the  five  evils.  Forgetful  of  God,  man 
remains  attached  to  maya  which  is  compared 
to  rejecting  ajewel  and  chasing  a  cowrie.  Man 
is  warned  of  those  drawbacks  and  is  exhorted 
constantly  to  meditate  on  the  Divine  NRIfhe 
which  becomes  possible  only  when  he 
overcomes  his  ego  and  cultivates  humility 
which,  in  turn,  is  attained  only  through  the 
Lord's  grace. 

Astpadis  seven  to  eleven  deal  with  the 
concept  of  perfect  man,  and  ideal  man,  a  man 
of  God-  He  is  jivanmukta,  i.e.  one  who  has 
become  liberated  while  still  living  in  the  mortal 
body.  Such  a  person  is  detached  from  grief  and 
joy.  To  him  gold  and  dust,  amrit  (nectar)  and 
poison,  pauper  and  prince,  worldly  honour  and 
dishonour  are  alike.  The  company  of  the  holy- 
sadh  sahgat—  which  confers  on  the  disciple 
manifold  spiritual  benefits  is  a  necessary 
prerequisite  to  achieving  this  ideal,  though 
access  to  this  association  is  also  dependent 
upon  Divine  grace.  People  so  sanctified  have  a 
wisdom  even  greater  than  that  imparted  by  the 
Vedas  and  live  beyond  the  triguna,  i.e.  the  three 
attributes  of  maya.  Remembrance  of  God's 
Name  in  the  company  of  these  saintly  people 
is  preferable  to  all  rituals  and  creeds.  These 
verses  also  endorse  access  of  all  humanity, 
irrespective  of  colour,  caste  and  creed,  to  divine 
knowledge,  and  to  emancipation  through 
meditation  on  His  Name.  Anyone  who,  with 
the  Divine  favour,  keeps  the  company  of  the 
holy  and  repeats  the  Name  becomes  God- 
enlightened,  the  Brahm-giani.  He  is  free  from 
all  dubiety  and  worldly  entanglements,  and  his 
mind  is  always  at  peace.  In  the  spirit  of  the  God- 
enlightened  may  be  beheld  God  who  is 
otherwise  nirankar,  the  formless  Supreme 
Being.  God's  huAam  is  the  sole  source  of  the 
vast  and  variegated  creation.  Far  from  being 
indifferent  to  the  infinitude  of  creation,  He 
responds  to  the  love  of  the  devout  who  are  the 
crown  of  His  creation.  Such  persons  are  always 
blessed  withjoy  and  spontaneous  bliss  and  they 


transcend  the  pleasures  and  passions  of  this 
material  world. 

Astpadis  twelve  to  twenty  stress  the 
significance  of  sadhna,  or  discipline,  for  the 
spiritual  progress  of  man.  Self-conceit  and 
slander  against  the  saints  are  deadly  sins  which 
must  be  totally  avoided.  The  one  who  slanders 
the  sainis  is  considered  to  be  the  worst  evil- 
doer, bereft  of  all  spiritual  blessing.  He 
perishes,  writhing  like  a  fish  out  of  water  ; 
hopeless  and  unfulfilled,  he  leaves  the  world. 

However,  this  kind  of  evil-doing  is  traced 
to  the  consequences  of  deeds  in  a  previous 
birth.  This  endless  cycle  of  coming  and  going 
can  be  broken  only  with  the  help  of  the  Divine 
Preceptor  who  is  like  a  lamp  in  the  darkness,  a 
guide  in  the  pathless  forest.  His  word  helps 
man  as  a  pillar  supports  an  edifice.  Like  a  boat 
carrying  a  stone  across  the  water,  he  enables 
his  disciple  to  pass  over  the  worldly  ocean  and 
end  the  torments  of  transmigration.  However, 
such  a  Preceptor  one  meets  only  by  God's 
grace.  The  eradication  of  pride  and  inculcation 
of  humility  are  two  other  stepping-stones  which 
lead  to  the  Divine  portal.  Pride  in  such  things 
as  royal  authority,  beauty,  ritual  acts,  austere 
practices,  wealth  and  estates  is  condemned. 
Besides  being  humble  and  contented,  one 
must  repose  life's  hope  solely  in  God.  Man  is 
exhorted  to  recite  the  glory  of  God  which  will 
bring  him  true  blessing. 

The  last  four  astpadis,  i.e.  from  twenty- 
one  to  twenty-four,  contain  an  exposition  of 
God's  absolute  powers.  He  is  the  sole  creator 
of  this  world  and  none  can  fathom  His 
greatness.  He  is  the  creator  of,  but  free  from, 
triguna  maya.and  is  infinite  and  eternal.  There 
was  utter  emptiness  before  the  creation  which 
is  the  result  of  His  Will.  Here  the  monist  aspect 
of  the  Lord  as  the  Sole  Existence  is  emphasized. 
He  is  the  Supreme  comforter,  compassionate, 
controller  of  the  inner  faculties  and  cherisher 
of  all.  He  is  without  rancour  and  it  is  through 
His  hukam  and  grace  that  man  acquires  true 
wisdom.  The  path  to  this  ideal  is  shown  by  the 
Preceptor,  who  applies  the  collyrium  of 


SUKHMANl 


265 


SUKHMANl  SAHANSARNAMA 


enlightenment  by  banishing  the  darkness  of 
ignorance.  By  such  enlightenment,  man  seeks 
company  of  the  saintly  and  sees  the  Lord  within 
himself  and  in  all  the  external  creation  as  well. 
God  abides  within  all  yet  remains  unattached. 
The  last  astpadi  sums  up  the  teachings  of  the 
earlier  cantos.  The  one  who  wants  to  find  God 
is  exhorted  to  dwell  on  the  Divine  Name,  as 
taught  by  the  Guru,  in  the  company  of  the 
saints  which  alone  will  help  him  shed  ego  and 
inculcate  humili  ty.  Thus  will  he  discard  worldly 
desire  and  cross  the  ocean  of  fire  (i.e.  of  sin 
and  suffering) . 

Sukhmani is  a  theological  statement  of  the 
major  tenets  of  Sikhism  expressed  in  a 
devotional  poetic  form.  Recited  by  the  Sikhs 
as  a  part  of  their  morning  prayer,  il  is  one  of 
the  easier  texts  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  It  is 
simple  in  syntax  and  structure,  though  its 
essential  meaning  will  elude  one  not  attuned 
to  the  spiritual  experience  and  the  idiom  and 
phraseology  of  gurbini.  The  language 
character  is  close  to  Khafi  Boli,  the  Hindi  that 
had  evolved  in  the  areas  lying  northwest  of 
Delhi,  with  a  distinct  inclination  towards 
Punjabi.  The  expression  here,  however,  is 
poetic  in  its  overtones  and  shares  a  common 
character  with  the  varie ty  of  Hindi  or  Bhakha 
that  was  used  by  religious  teachers  all  over 
northern  India.  While  this  language  has 
evolved  out  of  Braj,  it  is  closer  to  Punjabi  in  its 
grammatical  form.  This  will  be  substantiated 
by  comparing  it  with  die  language  of  a  poet 
writing  in  pure  Braj,  such  as  Surdas,  who 
flourished  around  the  same  period  as  Guru 
Arjan.  To  indicate  the  differences  of  the 
language  of  Stri:hmam~  from  Braj  even  Bhakha, 
a  few  examples  may  be  given: 

Thivai~{S3.)  is  Punjabi,  so  is  ditha  (7.7). 
Klmte  (12.5)  is  pure  Punjabi.  In  nikikiri  (17.5), 
niki  (small)  is  Punjabi.  Ohi  (23.4))  is  Punjabi, 
of  which  the  Braj  equivalent  would  be  vein,  Hoi 
(past  verbal  form)  is  Punjabi.  Bhau  (18.7)  for 
bhaya  (fear)  is  an  eSpecial  form  given  in 
gurbini  and  occurring  frequendy.  The  Punjabi 
character  of  language  is  especially  decipherable 


in  the  forms  of  verb  ending  in  the  past  tense, 
Kathia  (8.7),  pachhatz  (17.8),  jata  (19.8),  in 
the  sense  of  jania,  japia  (20.2),  rahia  (20.3), 
aradhia  (salok  24)  are  some  of  the  examples. 
Other  verb  forms  to  illustrate  this  point  are- 
utarasi  (19.7)  which  ,  however,  is  also 
Rajasthani;  bahai  (15.2)  ;  iae  (13.5)  and  Jaini 
(15.5).  Here  and  there  pure  Hindi  forms  may 
be  seen:  hovat  (21.1),  tumari  (20.7)  andbiapat 
( 2  l.l).Japat  rhyming  with  it  in  the  same  stanza 
is  Punabi  with  a  Hindi  ending. 

The  language  of  the  Sukhmani  can  be 
best  described  as  a  synthesis  of  the  Bhakha  and 
Punjabi.  In  the  more  philosophical  and 
meditative  of  their  compositions,  the  holy- 
Guriis  are  inclined  to  use  a  variety  of  HindT 
with  Punjabi  overtones,  while  in  the  more 
deeply  intimate  pieces  such  as  the  clihants  and 
pauris  of  Vars,  Punjabi,  in  its  dialectical 
variations,  has  been  employed.  This  principle, 
by  no  means  absolute,  is  only  broadlv 
applicable. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  &il>adar£h  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Sahib  Singh,  Sukhmani  Sahib  Satik.  Amritsar, 
1939 

3.  Narain  Singh,  Gianl,  Sukhmani  Sahib.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

4.  Sodhi,  Teja  Singh,  Katha  Dip  Sagar  (Sukhmani 
Sahib)  Satik.  Amritsar,  1959 

5.  ArshI,  Sahib  Singh,  Sukhmani  da  Alochanatmak 
Adhyan.Jind,  1973 

6.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

7.  Teja  Singh,  The  Psalm  of  Peace. 

G.S.T. 

SUKIlMANi  SAHANSARNAMA  (PARAMARATH), 
by  Sodhi  Hariji,  is  a  commentary  in  prose  on 
Sukhmani  Saharisarnima,  a  poetic  composition 
by  his  father,  Sodhi  Miharban,  containing  30 
astpadis  or  8  -  stanza  compositions  in  the  style 
of  Guru  Arjan's  Sukhmani.  The  term 
'Paramarath'  in  the  tide  denotes  explanation 


SUKtLRAI 


266 


SUKKHA  SINUH 


or  exposition  to  distinguish  this  work  from  the 
original  text  by  Sodhi  Miharban.  Beginning 
with  an  invocation  to  Sri  Thakur.Ji  (Lord 
Krsna),  the  original  work  subscribes  to  the 
Vaisnavite  theory  of  incarnation  against  the 
monotheistic  nirguna  doctrine  of  the  Gurus. 
Hafiji  in  his  commentary  expands  the 
mythological  account  of  the  various 
incarnations  of  God,  with  elaborate  details  of 
the  exploits  of  Lord  Rama  and  Lord  Krsna 
mentioned  in  the  23rd  and  25th  astpadis 
respectively  of  the  original  composition.  The 
work  is  also  sometimes  referred  to  as  Chaubis 
Avataran  di  Pothi  or  the  Book  of  Twenty-four 
Incarnations. 

According  to  internal  evidence,  the  work 
was  commenced  in  1646  and  completed 
probably  in  two  years.  Its  language  is  old  Hindi 
or  Hindavi  which  was  in  vogue  among 
professional  preachers  and  priests  of  those 
days.  However,  biographical  passages,  wherever 
they  occur,  are  in  chaste  Punjabi  and  provide 
typical  specimens  of  contemporary  Punjabi 
prose,  with  a  poetic  flourish.  The  work  has  not 
yet  been  published.  Three  manuscript  copies 
are  preserved  in  the  Central  Public  Library  at 
Patiala,  under  catalogue  numbers  692,  1904 
and  2914. 

K.K.B. 

SUKH  RAJ  (d.  1842)  was  the  youngest  of  the 
five  sons  of  Misr  Divan  Chand,  a  general  in 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh's  army.  Sukh  Raj  himself 
joined  an  infantry  regiment  and  soon  rose  to 
be  its  commandant.  He  commanded  a  number 
of  infantry  battalions  and  took  part  in  several 
of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh's  battles.  For  the 
gallantry  he  displayed  in  the  Peshawar 
campaign  against  Dost  Muhammad  Khan,  the 
Maharaja  granted  him  an  estate  worth  10,000 
rupees.  In  1836,  he  was  promoted  general.  He 
died  in  1842. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri.Sohan  Lai,  Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore,  1885- 
89 


2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
ol'Note  in  Che  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

H.R.G. 

SUKKHAN,  a  Khatri  resident  of  the  village  of 
Dhamial,  near  Rawalpindi,  now  in  Pakistan,  was 
a  worshipper  of  the  Goddess  Durga  until  he 
met  Guru  Amar  Das  and  was  converted  to  Sikh 
teaching.  He  was  made  head  of  a  manji  to 
preach  the  word  of  Guru  Nanak  in  the 
Pothohar  region. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Kalin  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurushabad  Ratanakar  Mahan 
Kosh  [Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

B.S.D. 

SUKKHA  SINGH  (d.  1752),  eighteenth- 
century  Sikh  warrior  and  martyr,  was  born  at 
Marl  Kamboke,  in  Amritsar  district,  in  a  family 
of  carpenters  of  the  Kals!  clan.  As  a  small  boy, 
he  had  heard  with  great  fascination  stories  of 
Sikhs'  daring  and  sacrifice  in  those  days  of 
fierce  persecution  and  ,  although  his  parents 
in  order  to  restrain  his  enthusiasm  got  him 
married  when  he  was  barely  12,  he  visited 
Amritsar  to  receive  khande  di pahul,  the  vows 
of  the  Khalsa,  and  began  to  entertain  fugitive 
Sikhs  in  his  home.  His  parents,  apprehensive 
of  the  government's  wrath,  one  day  cut  off  his 
hair  as  he  lay  asleep.  Sukkha  Singh  on  waking 
up  felt  so  disturbed  at  this  sacrilege  that  he 
decided  to  put  an  end  to  his  life,  and  jumped 
into  a  well.  He  resisted  the  people's  effort  to 
pull  him  out,  until  a  Sikh  who  was  passing  by 
advised  him  that  it  was  sheer  cowardice  and  a 
sin  for  a  Sikh  to  take  his  own  life.  Sukkha  Singh 
allowed  himself  to  be  helped  out,  regrew  his 
kesa  and  joined  the  jatha  or  band  of  Sardar 
Shiam  Singh.  He  acquired  uncommon  skill  in 
the  use  of  weapons  of  war  and  won  his 
comrades'  admiration  for  his  boldness  and 
powers  of  endurance.  Once  taking  up  the 
challenge  thrown  by  Qazi  Abd  ur-Rahman,  the 
kotwal  of  Amritsar,  to  the  Sikhs  to  come,  if  they 
dared,  for  a  dip  in  their  holy  pool,  Sukkha 


SUKKHA  SINGH 


267 


SUKKHU 


Singh  went  to  Amritsar  in  broad  daylight,  made 
his  ablutions  and,  loudly  declaring  who  he  was, 
rode  away  to  the  safety  of  the  woods.  An 
immediate  pursuit  led  by  the  infuriated  Qazi 
resulted  in  an  encounter  with  the  Sikhs  in 
which  the  Qazi  himself  was  killed. 

Sukkha  Singh  accompanied  Matab  Singh 
to  Amritsar  in  August  1740  to  chastize  the 
notorious  Masse  Khan  Ranghar,  the  successor 
of  the  Qazi  'Abd  ur-Rahman  as  kotwal.  This 
further  enhanced  Sukkha  Singh's  popularity 
among  the  Khalsa  and  he  soon  became  the 
leader  of  a  separate  jatha  of  his  own.  Early  in 
1746,  he  and  Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia 
pushed  northwards  and  entered  the  Eiminabad 
territory  in  Gujrahwala  district  where  they  were 
attacked  by  the  local  jagirdar,  Jaspat  Rai, 
brother  of  Lakhpat  Rai,  the  djwan  of  Yahiya 
Khan,  the  governor  of  Lahore.  Jaspat  Rai  was 
killed  in  the  encounter.  This  led  to  the  vengeful 
Lakhpat  Rai's  relendess  campaign  against  the 
Sikhs  ending  on  1  May  1746  in  what  is  known 
in  Sikh  history  as  a  Ghallughara  or  holocaust. 
During  this  fateful  batde,  Sukkha  Singh's  leg 
was  fractured  by  a  direct  hit  from  an  enemy 
swivel.  He  immediately  tied  his  leg  to  his  saddle 
with  his  own  turban  and  continued  to  fight  and 
lead  his  men  across  the  Rivers  Ravi,  Beas  and 
Sutlej.  It  was  threedays  later,  after  he  had  taken 
the  survivors  of  the  Ghallughara  to  the  safety 
of  the  sandy  desert  of  Malva,  that  he  got  his 
injury  properly  dressed.  Taking  advantage  of 
the  civil  war  between  the  sons  of  Zakariya  Khan, 
which  commenced  in  November  1746,  the 
Sikhs  recrossed  the  Sudej  and  converged  on 
Amritsar.  Sukkha  Singh,  then  camping  atjaito, 
joined  them  too.  He  raided  Sarai  Nurdin, 
Sahgharkot,  Majitha,  and  Chhina.  At  the  last- 
named  village  he  killed  in  a  duel  Karma 
Chhina,  a  notorious  informer,  who  had  been 
responsible  for  the  arrest  and  execution  of 
many  of  the  Sikhs.  He  also  joined  the  Dal 
Khalsa  in  their  raid  on  the  camp  of  Ahmad 
Shah  Durrani  at  Serai  Nurdin  during  the 
latter's  first  invasion  of  India  early  in  1748.  In 
1 749,  when  disturbed  by  the  rebellion  of  Shah 


Nawaz  Khan  of  Multan,  Mu'in  ul-Mulk,  the 
governor  of  Lahore,  sought  the  assistance  of 
the  Sikhs,  Sukkha  Singh  and  Jassa  Singh 
Ahluvalia  turned  out  to  join  the  campaign  in 
which  Shah  Nawaz  Khan  was  killed.  Having 
thus  overcome  the  Multan  rebellion,  Mu'in  ul- 
Mulk  resumed  his  policy  of  persecudon  with 
redoubled  vigour,  forcing  the  Sikhs  once  again 
to  seek  safety  in  their  jungle  haunts.  Early  in 
1752,  as  Sukkha  Singh  and  his  jatha  lay  in  the 
forest  along  the  River  Ravi  north  of  Lahore, 
Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  came  out  leading  his 
third  invasion  into  India  and  camped  at 
Shahdara  preparatory  to  an  attack  on  the 
Punjab  capital.  Sukkha  Singh,  out  on  a  foraging 
expedition  north  of  the  river,  encountered  a 
strong  body  of  enemy  troops.  A  fierce  acdon 
took  place  in  which  Sukkha  Singh  and  his  men 
died  fighting  to  a  man.  This  was  sometime 
during  the  first  half  of  January  1752. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhangu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachih  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Lakshman  Singh,  Bhagat,  Sikh  Martyrs.  Madras, 
1928 

4.  Teja  Singh  and  Ganda  Singh,  A  Short  History  pf 
the  Sikhs.  Bombay,  1950 

S.S.B. 

SUKKHU,  sadhit  of  the  Divana  (lit.  madmen) 
sect,  was  incited  by  his  mentor,  Ghudda,  to 
attack  Guru  Gobind  Singh  to  avenge  the  death 
of  one  of  his  followers  at  the  hands  of  a  Sikh. 
The  deceased  had  been  mortally  wounded 
while  attempting  to  force  his  entry  into  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  tent  near  Maluka  village,  in 
present-day  Faridkot  district,  where  the  Guru 
was-tben  camping.  Now,  while  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  was  staying  at  Bajak,  in  Bathinda  district, 
Ghudda  collected  50  Divana  sadhus  to  attack 
him,  but  all  but  two  of  them,  Sukkhu  and 
Buddhu,  deserted  him  on  the  way.  When 
Sukkhu  and  Buddhu  came  into  the  Guru's 


SUIABIKHAN 


268 


SU1-AKKHANI,  MATA 


presence,  they  were  so  impressed  by  his 
demeanour  that  all  intent  of  harm  vanished 
out  of  their  hearts.  They  humbly  made  their 
obeisance  and  started  entertaining  the  sangat 
with  their  ditties.  As  records  the  anonymous 
author  of  Sakhi  Pothi,  their  refrain  was  :  "The 
beloved  (soul)  resides  in  a  mud  hut  (body)  ; 
neither  one's  parents  last  nor  does  one's 
youth."  The  Guru  was  amused  and  rewarded 
them  with  a  square-shaped  silver  coin.  As  the 
Guru  set  out  from  Bajak,  Sukkhu  and  his 
companion  asked  for  and  were  granted  the 
privilege  of  carrying  him  on  an  improvised 
palanquin  for  some  distance. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Maiva  Desh  Raton  di  Sakhi  Pothi.  Amritsar,  1950 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa. 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

P.S.P 

SULABI  KHAN,  a  nephew  of  Sulahi  Khan,  bore 
Guru  Arjan  a  personal  grudge  thinking  that 
his  uncle  had  died  as  a  result  of  Guru  Arjan 's 
curse.  Abetted  by  Chandu  Shah,  who  had  his 
own  axe  to  grind,  to  take  revenge  on  the  Guru, 
SulabI  Khan  set  out  with  a  troop  of  soldiers,  and 
headed  for  Amritsar.  But,  according  to  Gurbilas 
Chhevin  Patshahi,  he  was  accosted  on  the  way 
by  another  group  of  soldiers,  who  had  been  in 
the  employ  of  his  uncle  but  had  not  been  paid 
for  their  services  for  a  long  time.  They  now 
demanded  the  payment  of  their  arrears.  Sulabi 
Khan  tried  to  put  them  off  pleading  ignorance 
of  the  dues.  The  irate  soldiers  attacked  him 
and  killed_him  on  the  spot.  Sulabi  Khan's  own 
contingent  did  not  interfere  and  went  back  to 
Lahore. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurbilas  Patshahi  Chhevin.  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Santokh  Siiigh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 


Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 
3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

T.S. 

SULAHI  KHAN,  a  Mughal  courtier,  was 
befriended  by  Baba  Prithi  Chand  with  a  view 
to  securing  official  patronage  for  his  claim  to 
succession  to  the  spiritual  title  to  which  his 
father,  Guru  Ram  Das,  had  nominated  his 
youngest  son,  Arjan.  Prithi  Chand,  eldest  of 
three  brothers,  had  founded  a  new  village, 
Kotha  Guru,  in  the  Malva  region,  where  he 
invited  Sulahi  Khan  to  visit  him.  Sulahi  Khan 
came,  and  the  two  of  them  hatched  a  plot 
aiming  to  finish  up  the  Guru.  As  Prithi  Chand 
was  taking  Sulahi  Khan  around  the  kilns  he  had 
set  up  to  bake  bricks  for  the  new  mansions, 
the  latter's  horse  suddenly  frisked  and 
mounted  one  of  the  kilns,  where  the  loose 
earth  gave  way  and,  before  Prithi  Chand  could 
even  think  of  rescuing  him,  Sulahi  Khan  had 
been  engulfed  in  the  fire  and  burnt  to  death- 
an  unholy  end  according  to  Muslim  belief. 
There  are  verses  by  Guru  Arjan  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  alluding  to  Sulahi  Khan  getting 
his  deserts. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurbilas  Patshahi  Chhevin.  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Sacred  Writings  and  Authros.  Oxford,  1909 

T.S. 

SULAKKHANI,  MATA,  wife  of  Guru  Nanak, 
was  the  daughter  of  Mul  Chand,  a  Chona 
Khatri  of  Batala,  who  held  a  minor  revenue 
office  at  the  village  of  Pakkhoke  Randhave  in 
Gurdaspur  district  of  the  Punjab.  Her  mother's 
name  was  Chando  Rani.  Sulakkhani  was 
married  to  Guru  Nanak  at  Batala  on  24 


SUI.MAR 


269 


SUI.TAN  MAHMUD  KHAN 


September  1487.  Two  sons  were  horn  to  her- 
Sri  Chand  in  1494  and  Lakhmi  Das  in  1497. 
She  survived  Guru  Nanak  and  expired  at 
Kartarpur,  an  habitation  the  Guru  had  founded 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  river  Ravi  and  where 
he  had  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,    The  Sikh  Religion. 
Oxford,  1909 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Nanak  and  Origins  of  the 
Sikh  Faith.  Bombay,  1969 

3.  McLeod,  W.H.,  ti.,    The  R40  Janam-Sakhi. 
Amritsar,  1980 

4.  VIr  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Puratan  Janam  Sakhi 
Amritsar,  1971 

Gn.S. 

SULHAR,  a  village  10  km  southwest  of  Ambala 
city  (30"-23'N,  76"-47'E),  was  visited  by  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  during  his  stay  at  Lakhnaur  in 
1670-71.  Gurdwara  Patshahl  Dasvih,  which 
honours  the  Guru's  memory,  stands  on  a  high 
base  on  the  bank  of  a  deep  pond  to  the 
northwest  of  the  village.  It  consists  of  a  double- 
storeyed  domed  building  to  which  a 
rectangular  hall  was  added  in  1951.  The 
management  is  in  the  hands  of  a  local 
committee  which  is  affiliated  to  the  ShiromanI 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Hrath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

M.G.S. 

SULTAN  MAHMUD  KHAN  (d.  1859)  ,  son  of 
General  Ghaus  Khan,  was  a  commander  of  a 
section  of  heavy  artillery  during  the  regime 
of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh.  His  derah  of 
artillery  was  designated  as  Topkhana-i-Sultan 
Mahmud.  After  the  death  of  General  Ghaus 


Khan  in  1814,  although  the  chief  command 
of  the  artillery  was  entrusted  to  Misr  Divan 
Chand,  the  battery  under  the  former's 
command  was  placed  in  the  charge  of  Sultan 
Mahmud.  Sultan  Mahmud  accompanied 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  on  his  expeditions 
against  Multan  and  Kashmir.  After  the 
reorganization  of  the  Sikh  army  into 
Brigades  in  1835,  when  a  horse  battery  was 
attached  to  each  brigade,  the  heavy  siege  train 
continued  to  be  commanded  by  General 
Sultan  Mahmud  as  a  separate  corps.  The 
Topkhana-i-Sultan  Mahmud  was  present  on 
the  historic  occasion  of  the  Ranjit  Singh- 
William  Bentinck  meeting  at  Ropar  in 
October  1831. 

Sultan  Mahmud  was  of  exceedingly 
intemperate  habits,  and  his  drunkenness 
brought  him  more  than  once  into  trouble  with 
his  master,  but  he  was  a  useful  officer  and  was 
generally  treated  with  favour.  When  Nau  Nihal 
Singh  secured  power,  Sultan  Mahmud  lost  his 
command  and  was  sent  in  charge  of  a  troop  of 
artillery,  under  General  Ventura,  to  Mandi  in 
the  hills,  but  on  the  accession  of  Maharaja  Sher 
Singh  he  was  reinstated  and  his  son  Sultan 
Ahmad  'All  Khan,  was  made  a  Colonel.  In  1843, 
both  father  and  son  were  engaged  in  the  assault 
on  the  Fort  of  Lahore  which  had  been  taken 
possession  of  by  the  Sandhahvallas  after  the 
murder  of  Sher  Singh  ;  and,  for  their  services 
on  this  occasion,  diey  received  additional jagirs 
from  the  Dogra  Raja  Hira  Singh.  Sultan 
Mahmud  was  then  sent  in  command  of  the 
artillery  to  Hazara  where  he  remained  until 
1 848  when  both  he  and  his  son  were  moved  to 
the  Derajat.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  second 
Anglo-Sikh  war,  Sultan  Mahmud  as  well  as  his 
son,  Sultan  Ahmad  'All  Khan,  joined  the  rebel 
Sikh  forces  at  Ramnagar  and  fought  against  the 
English  throughout  the  war.  After  the 
annexation  of  the  Punjab,  service  jagirs  of 
Sultan  Mahmud  were  resumed  but  he  received 
a  life  pension  of  Rs  600  which  he  held  until  his 
death  in  1 859,  at  Bharoval,  his  ancestral  village 
in  Amritsar  district. 


SUl.TAN  MUHAMMAD  KHAN 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai.  'Umdat  m-^Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Cunningham,  Joseph  Davey,  A  History  of  the 
Sikhs.  London,  1849 

H.D. 

SULTAN  MUHAMMAD  KHAN,  one  of  the 
several  sons  of  Painda  Khan,  was  a  gorgeous 
person  known  as  "Sultan  Bibi"  on  account  of  his 
excessive  love  of  finery  and  ostentation.  In  1 830 
Sultan  Muhammad  Khan  became  governor  of 
Peshawar  and  a  tributary  of  the  Sikhs.  About 
this  time,  he  was  forced  to  surrender  the 
famous  horse  Laili  to  Ranjit  Singh.  In  May  1834, 
Sultan  Muhammad  Khan  was  replaced  in 
Peshawar  by  Hari  Singh  Nalva  and  granted  a 
handsome  jagir.  When  in  1835,  Dost  Muhammad 
Khan  declared  a  holy  war  on  the  Sikhs  to 
recover  Peshawar,  he  won  over  his  brother 
Sultan  Muhammad.Kh.an  to  his  side.  However, 
Sultan  Muhammad  Khan  placed  no  faith  in 
Dost  Muhammad  Khan  and  defected  to  Ranjit 
Singh's  camp.  When  the  British  government 
decided  to  bring  Afghanistan  under  their 
influence  and  planned  with  the  help  of  Ranjit 
Singh  to  replace  Dost  Muhammad  Khan  by 
Shah  Shuja,  Sultan  Muhammad  Khan  supported 
die  Sikhs.  Sultan  Muhammad  Khan  was  a  staunch 
follower  of  the  Dogra  brothers.  In  1845,  when 
the  Sikh  army  marched  upon  Jammu  to  punish 
Raji  Gulab  Singh,  Sultan  Muhammad  Khan 
strongly  pleaded  for  the  Raja. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Lepel,  Griffin,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 

2.  Barr,  Lt.  William,  Journal  of  a  March  from  Delhi 
to  Peshawar  with  the  Mission  of  Col.  Wade. 
London,  1844 

3.  Masson,  Charles,  Narrative  of  Various  Journeys 
in  Beluchistan,  Afghanistan  and  the  Punjab. 
London,  1842 

H.R.G. 

SULTANPUR  LODHI  (31"-13  N,  75"-12  E), 
old  town  in  Kapurthala  district  of  the  Punjab, 


SUl.TANI'UR  l.ODHl 

where  Guru  Nanak  put  up  for  several  years 
before  setting  out  on  his  travels  to  deliver  his 
message.  In  this  town  lived  his  sister,  Bibi 
Nanaki,  and  her  husband,  Jai  Ram,  an  official 
in  the  service  of  Nawab  Daulat  Khan  LodhI,  a 
feudatory  chief,  who  became  governor  of  the 
Province  of  Lahore  during  the  first  quarter  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  At  the  instance  of  Jai 
Ram,  Guru  Nanak  took  up  employment  in  the 
Nawab's  provision  stores.  During  that  time 
there  grew  up  a  sangat,  holy  fellowship  of 
disciples,  which  so  prospered  that  Bhai  Gurdas 
in  his  Varan  (XI.21),  called  Sultanpur  the 
"treasure  of  God's  adoration."  Sultanpur  Lodhi 
has  several  gurdwaras  commemorating  events 
connected  with  the  life  of  Guru  Nanak. 

GURDWARA  IW.R  SAHIB,  the  principal  shrine  at 
Sultanpur,  is  situated  on  the  bank  of  the  rivulet 
Kali  Beih,  half  a  kilometre  to  the  west  of  the 
old  town.  Guru  Nanak  performed  his  morning 
ablutions  in  the  Belli  and  then  sat  under  a  ber 
(Zizyphus  jujuba)  tree  to  meditate.  It  was 
during  one  such  ablution  diat  Guru  Nanak  had 
what  is  described  in  the  Janam  Sakhis  as  a  direct 
communion  with  the  Divine.  As  the  Janam 
Sakhis  narrate  the  details,  Guru  Nanak  one 
morning  disappeared  into  the  stream  and  was 
not  seen  for  two  days.  When  he  reappeared  at 
a  spot,  2  km  upstream,  now  known  as  Sant 
Ghat,  the  first  words  he  uttered  were,  "There 
is  no  Hindu,  there  is  no  Musalman."  Guru 
Nanak  was  now  ready  to  embark  on  his  long 
journeys.  Gurdwara  Ber  Sahib  is  built  by  the 
side  of  an  old  ber  tree  which  is  believed  to  be 
the  one  under  which  Guru  Nanak  used  to  sit 
in  meditation.  The  present  building  of 
Gurdwara  Ber  Sahib  was  raised  by  Maharaja 
Jagatjlt  Singh  of  Kapurthala.  The  cornerstone 
was  laid  by  Bhai  Aijan  Singh  of  Bagarlaii  on  25 
February  1937,  and  the  Gurdwara  was  on 
completion  dedicated  by  Maharaja  Yadavinder 
Singh  of  Patiala  on  26  January  1941.  Standing 
on  high  plinth  and  entered  through  a  portico, 
supported  by  octagonal  columns,  and  a  small 
entrance  gallery  is  the  high-ceilinged,  marble- 


'270 


SU1.TANPUR  l.ODHl 


271 


SULTANPUR  LODHI 


floored  hall.  At  the  far  end,  marked  off  by  a  high 
archway  decorated  with  floral  designs  in  stucco, 
is  the  sanctum  sanctorum,  where  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  is  seated  on  a  white-marble  palaki 
or  canopied  throne.  Besides  the  daily  services 
and  observance  of  important  Sikh  anniversaries, 
a  largely-attended  fair  takes  place  in  November 
to  mark  the  birth  anniversary  of  Guru  Nanak. 

GURDWARA  HATT  SAHIB,  south  of  the  old 
fortress-like  serai,  marks  the  spot  where  Guru 
Nanak  worked  as  the  custodian  of  Nawab 
Daulat  Khan's  provision  stores.  The  building 
comprises  a  hall,  with  a  square  sanctum  in  its 
middle.  Above  the  sanctum  is  a  square  room 
with  wide  arched  coping  and  a  lotus  dome 
topped  by  a  gold-plated  finial.  Thirteen 
polished  stones  of  different  sizes,  believed  to 
be  the  weights  used  by  Guru  Nanak,  are  on 
display  in  a  glass  cabinet. 

GURDWARA  ANTARYATMA  SAHIB,  a  flat-roofed 
rectangular  room  marks  the  site  of  a  mosque 
to  which  Nawab  Daulat  Khan  had  invited  Guru 
Nanak  to  participate  in  namaz  or  Muslim 
prayer.  Divining  how  the  Nawab  and  the  Kadi 
were  only  outwardly  going  through  the  ritual 
with  their  minds  engrossed  in  mundane 
thoughts,  Guru  Nanak  stood  aside.  When  the 
Nawab  asked  him  why  he  did  not  join  the 
prayer,  he  told  them  exacdy  what  he  and  the 
Kadi  had  been  thinking  of  as  they  prayed.  Both, 
as  say  the  Janam  Sakhiis,  fell  at  the  Guru's  feet. 

Nothing  remains  of  the  mosque  now 
except  the  entrance  gate  to  the  compound. 

GURDWARA  GURO  KA  BAGH.  a  flat-roofed  hall  in 
the  interior  of  the  town  marks  the  premises 
where  Guru  Nanak  resided  with  his  wife  and 
children  during  his  stay  at  Sultanpur.  The  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  is  seated  in  the  hall  on  a 
rectangular  platform.  A  narrow  we'll,  now 
covered,  is  a  relic  of  the  days  of  yore. 

KGTHARI  SAHIB,  a  narrow  low-roofed  cell  in  a 
small  house  in  M6halla  Vaddiaii.  is  where  Guru 


Nanak  was  detained  while  his  accounts  were 
being  checked  following  a  false  complaint 
lodged  by  his  detractors.  In  one  of  the  two  small 
rooms  close  by  is  seated  the  Guru  Grandi  Sahib. 

GU  RDWARA  SANT  GHAT,  on  the  bank  of  the  Behi, 
is  where  Guru  Nanak  re-emerged  on  the  third 
day  of  his  disappearance  into  the  river  near 
the  site  of  Gurdwara  Ber  Sahib. 

GURDWARA  HEBE  NANAKI  jl,  constructed  in 
1970's,  honours  the  memory  of  Bebe  Nanaki, 
elder  sister  of  Guru  Nanak.  The  actual  house, 
a  three-storeyed  old  building  where  Bebe 
Nanaki  is  believed  to  have  lived  with  her 
husband,  Jai  Ram,  is  inside  the  old  town  in 
Mohalla  Chhimbiah.  But  the  premises  being 
in  private  possession,  a  public  monument 
(cornerstone,  laid  on  13  November  1970)  was 
raised  in  the  form  of  a  gurdwara  by  Bebe 
Nanaki  Istri  Satsahg  Charitable  Trust  under  the 
chairmanship  of  Bib!  Balvant  Kaur  of 
Birmingham  (United  Kingdom).  The 
Gurdwara  Bebe  Nanaki  JI  comprises  a  central 
hall,  with  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  seated  in  a 
white-marble  palaki  at  the  far  end.  The  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  is  also  seated  in  a  small  side-room 
.  symbolizing  Bebe  Nanaki's  own  lodging.  Over 
the  sanctum,  above  the  hall  roof,  is  a  square 
domed  room  with  arched  copings.  Bulbous 
domes  adorn  the  corners  of  the  hall  roof. 

GURDWARA  SEHRA  SAHIB  is  dedicated  to  Guru 
Arjan  who  passed  through  Sultanpur  in  1604 
on  his  way  to  Dalla  for  the  marriage  of  his  son 
(Guru)  Hargobind.  According  to  tradition,  the 
marriage  party  stayed  overnight  at  this  place 
and  the  sehra,  or  ceremonial  wreath  was 
fastened  round  the  bridegroom's  head  here. 
The  Gurdwara,  within  a  brickpaved  walled 
compound,  is  an  octagonal  domed  room  in 
which  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  seated.  All 
these  shrines  at  Sultanpur  Lodhi  with  the 
exception  of  Gurdwara  Bebe  Nanaki  Ji,  which 
is  under  the  management  of  the  Trust,  are 
administered  by  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 


SUI.TAN  SINGH 


272 


SUMER  SINGH,  1JAVA 


Parbandhak  Committee  through  a  local 
committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotarn,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurchiariaii.  Amrilsar, 
n.d 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sn  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Nanak  and  Origins  of  the 
Sikh  Faith.  Bombay,  1969 

5.  Kolili,  Surindar  Singh,  Travels  of  Guru  Nanak. 
Chandigarh,  1969 

M.G.S. 

SULTAN  SINGH  (d.  1842),  a  Sun  Khatri  of 
Chotala,  in  Jehlum  district,  joined  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh's  ghorcharas  at  the  young  age  of 
thirteen.  He  saw  active  service  in  several 
expeditions  beyond  the  Indus,  and  participated 
in  the  Multan  and  Kashmir  campaigns.  In  one 
such  campaign  on  the  northwest  frontier,  he 
received  thirteen  sword-cuts  and  one  bullet 
wound  after  making  a  most  gallant,  stand, 
almost  alone,  against  a  large  body  of  the 
Afghans.  When  the  Maharaja  heard  of  Sultan 
Singh's  crippled  state,  he  had  him  conveyed 
to  the  camp  in  his  own  palanquin  and 
presented  him  with  a  pair  of_gold  bracelets, 
besides  bestowing  upon  him  jagtrs  in  several 
villages.  Sultan  Singh  died  in  1842. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Lepel,  Griffin,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 

S.S.B. 

SULTANVIND,  village  4  km  southeast  of 
Amritsar  (31"-38'N,  74"-53'E),  has  two 
historical  shrines  dedicated  one  each  to  Guru 
Arjan  (1563-1606)  and  Guru  Hargobind  (1595- 
1644). 

GUROWARA  TUT  SAHIB  marks  the  spot  to  which 
Guru  Arjan  often  repaired  for  rest  under  a 
mulberry  (tut,  in  Punjabi)  tree  which  no  longer 


exists.  The  present  building,  a  square  flat- 
roofed  room,  was  constructed  in  1983  by  the 
local  sarigat  which  maintains  it. 

GURDWARA  ATARI  SAHIB  PATSHAHI  GHHEVIN 

marks  the  site  where,  according  to  local 
tradition,  Guru  Hargobind  made  a  halt  while 
travelling  from  Amritsar  to  Dalla  for  his 
wedding  ceremonies.  The  present  building 
complex  located  within  a  walled  compound 
entered  through  an  imposing  gateway  was 
constructed  during  the  early  1950's.  The 
central  building  is  a  hall  with  a  square  sanctum 
in  the  middle  where  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is 
seated.  Above  the  sanctum  are  two  storeys  of 
square  rooms  topped  by  a  lotus  dome  having  a 
gold-plated  pinnacle.  A  small  sarovar  is  in  front 
of  die  hall.  The  Gurdwara  is  affiliated  to  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
but  is  managed  by  Baba  Kalian  Singh  Sevavale. 
Another  place  of  pilgrim  interest  at  Sultanvind 
is  an  old  well,  about  2  km  soutwest  of  the  village. 
It  is  named  Bhai  Mahjhvala  Kliuh.  It  was  into 
this  well  that  Bhai  Mahjh,  a  devoted  Sikh  of 
Guru  Aijan,  had  once  fallen  with  a  load  of 
Firewood  meant  for  Guru  ka  Laiigar  on  his 
head.  He  kept  standing  in  the  shallow  water  to 
save  his  load  from  getting  wet  until  he  was 
rescued  by  the  Guru  on  the  following  day. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Sri  Amritsar 
[Reprint].  Amritsar,  1977 

Gn.S. 

SUMER  SINGH,  BAVA  (1847-1903),  cleric  and 
schoolman,  was  born  on  17  August  1847  at 
Nizamabad,  a  small  town  in  Azamgarh  district 
of  Uttar  Pradesh.  His  family,  originally  from 
Goindval  in  the  Punjab,  traced  its  ancestry  to 
Guru  Amar  Das,  third  in  spiritual  descent  from 
Guru  Nanak.  Sumer  Singh's  grandfather,  Bava 
Kripa  Dayal  Singh,  was  the  First  in  the  family  to 
migrate  from  Goindval  and  settle  at 
Nizamabad,  where  he  established  a  gurdwara 
on    the   site   of  an   old   Udasi  shrine 


SUMER  SINGH,  BAVA 


273 


SUMER  SINGH,  BAVA 


commemorating  the  visits  of  Guru  Nanak  and 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  After  him  his  son,  Bava 
Sadhu  Singh,  continued  to  manage  the  shrine. 
Sumer  Singh  showed  early  promise  in  the 
scholarly  study  of  Sikh  texts  as  well  as  in 
composing  verse  in  Braj.  He  subsequently  won 
renown  in  both  fields-Sikh  learning  and  Hindi 
poetry.  Among  his  poetical  works,  Gurupad 
Prem  Prakas,  a  history- of  the  Gurus  in  over 
16,000  stanzas,  is  especially  notable.  Only  its 
tenth  mandai  or  section  dealing  with  the  life 
of  Guru  Gobind  Singh  was  published  at  Lahore 
in  1882  under  the  title  Gurbilixs  Dasvin  Patshahi 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  Charitra.  A  couplet  in  the 
exordium  shows  that  the  work  was  taken  up  at 
Najlbabad  in  1923  Bk/AD  1866  (when  the  poet 
was  still  in  his  teens),  and  the  mention  further 
of  nine  other  works  by  the  author  and  of  his 
visit  to  Amritsar  and  Lahore  in  1937  ilk/ An  1880 
shows  that  the  composidon  of  Gurupad  Prem 
Prakai  was  spread  over  14  years.  A  much  shorter 
account  of  the  ten  Gurus,  the  88-page  Gur 
Kavitavali,  was  published  at  Amritsar  in  1886. 
Another  published  work  of  Bava  Sumer  Singh 
is  Ehalsa.  Panchasika  (Hindi),  Light  Press, 
Banaras,  1877.  It  is  in  the  style  of  Sikh 
rahitnamas  or  manuals  of  conduct.  His  other 
works  remained  unpublished  although  hand- 
written copies  of  some  of  the  manuscripts  are 
extant.  Among  these  Khalsa  Shatak  is  also  a 
rahitnama  ;  Sri  Guru  Charitra  Darpan,  Bedi 
Varisottam  Sahasrariam  and  Bedivar  Dohavali 
are  on  the  genealogy  and  life  of  Guru  Nanak  ; 
Dardandan  Dohavaff  contains  the  life  of  Guru 
Ahgad  and  Darid  Dukh  Dandan  Dohavali  the 
life  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh  ;  Sikh  Sarnpradaya 
kl  Mukhya  Mukhya  Ghatnaoh  ka  Sarnvatbadh 
Varnan  gives  the  chronology  of  the  history  of 
the  Sikhs  ;  Sri  Chakradhar  Charitra  Charu 
Chandrika  and Jagat Jaikari  are  annotations  on 
the  Japu,  morning  prayer  of  the  Sikhs  ; 
Avichalnagar  Mahatam  is  a  translation  in  verse 
of  Brahmanda  Furana  containing  legends 
concerning  places  of  pilgrimage  ;  and  Vijaya 
Patra  is  a  translation  in  Hindi  verse  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  Zalarnama,  a  long  letter  in 


Persian  verse  addressed  to  Emperor  Aurahgzib. 
Sumer  Bhusan  is  a  book  on  rhetorics  ;  Nitya 
Kirtan  Granth  is  an  anthology  of  hymns  from 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  and  Sundari  TiJak  a 
collection  of  some  of  the  author's  own  poetical 
compositions.  The  Bihari  Satsayi  ke  kuchchh 
Dohon  par  Kundaliyah  comprises  stanzas  in 
kundallya  metre  based  on  some  of  the  700 
couplets  of  Bihari,  a  seventeenth-century  Hindi 
poet. 

The  language  of  Bava  Sumer  Singh's 
writings  was  Braj,  but  he  invariably  used  the 
Gurmukhi  script.  Sumer  Hari  and  Sumeresh 
were  his  pseudonyms.  He  was  well  known 
among  the  Hindi  scholars  and  poets  of  his  day. 
His  home  was  in  fact  a  salon  for  the  celebrities 
of  Hindi  letters  and  he  counted  among  his 
friends  poets  like  Bharatendu  Harish  Chandra 
and  Ayodhya  Singh  Upadyaya  Hariaudh.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Kashi  Kavi  Samaj  and 
Kashi  Kavi  Mandal,  two  leading  literary 
associations  of  Hindi  poets,  and  the  founder- 
president  of  a  Kavi  Samaj  at  Patna  established 
in  1895-96.  A  monthly  literary  magazine, 
Samasyapurati,  was  published  by  this. 

Besides  inheriting  the  charge  of  Gurdwara 
Charan  Paduka  Patshahi  I  and  IX  at 
Nizamabad,  Sumer  Singh  was  from  1882  to 
1902  the  mahant  or  chief  priest  of  takht  Sri 
Harimandar  Sahib  at  Patna,  one  of  the  five 
principal  seats  of  religious  sanctity  for  the  Sikhs. 
He  was  one  of  the  Sikh  scholars  to  whom  M.A. 
Macauliffe  (1841-1913)  referred  for  advice  the 
draft  of  his  English  translation  of  the  Scriptural 
texts.  Bava  Sumer  Singh  also  headed  the 
committee  of  giants  or  Sikh  exegetes  appointed 
by  Raja  Bikram  Singh  of  Faridkot  (1842-98) 
during  the  1880's  to  revise  the  draft  of  the 
First-ever  full-scale  tfka  or  translation-cum- 
exegesis  in  Punjabi  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
prepared  by  Bhai  Badan  Singh  of  Sekhvah.  The 
first  three  of  the  four  volumes  of  this  work  were 
published  by  1898.  Bava  Sumer  Singh  did  not 
live  to  see  the  publication  of  the  fourth  volume; 
he  died  of  jaundice  at  Amritsar  on  5  March 
1903. 


SUNAM 


274 


SUNDAR,  BHAI 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  "Sahitya  Ratan  Baba 
Sumer  Singh,  Patna,"  in  Khalsa  Samachar. 
Amritsar,  August  1938 

2.  Sukla,  Rairichandra,  Hindi  Sahitya  ka  Itihas. 
Kashi,  Sanvat,  1997 

3.  Gurdwara  Gazette.  Amritsar,  September  1952 

4.  Khalsa  Samachar.  Amritsar,  30  November  1961 

5.  Diwakar,  R.R.,  Bihar  through  the  Ages.  Calcutta, 
1959 

VP. 

SUNAM  (30"-7'N,  75"-48'E),  an  ancient  town 
in  Sarigrur  district  of  the  Punjab,  was  visited  by 
Guru  Nanak  during  his  travels  through  the 
Malva  region.  According  to  local  tradition,  he 
first  stayed  on  the  bank  of  the  Sirhind  stream, 
near  what  is  now  called  Slta  Sar.  From  there  a 
devotee  took  him  to  his  own  house  where  a 
shrine  was  later  established.  It  is  located  in 
the  Gurdwara  Mohalla  and  is  known  as 
Gurdwara  Pahili  PatshahT.  The  building 
constructed  in  1919  was  renovated  in  1966.  It 
consists  of  a  rectangular  hall,  with  a  gallery  at 
one  end  and  a  verandah  in  front.  The  sanctum 
in  the  centre  of  the  hall  is  richly  painted  in 
multi-coloured  floral  and  geometrical  designs. 
Three  volumes  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  are 
seated  in  it  behind  pipal-leaf  archways. 

There  is  a  domed  tower  in  front  of  the 
verandah.  Rooms  for  the  granth/ and  Guru  ka 
Laiigar  are  across  a  narrow  brick-paved 
courtyard.  The  Gurdwara  is  managed  by  a 
committee  representing  the  sarig-at  of  the 
locality. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kahn  Singh,  Gurushabad  Rztanakar  Mahan  Kosh 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

M.G.S. 

SUNDAR,  BABA,  celebrated  for  his  six-stanza 
composition,  the  Ramkali  Sadu,  incorporated 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  was  the  great- 


grandson  of  Guru  Amar  Das.  His  father,  Anand 
Das  son  of  Baba  Mohri,  was  a  man  of  a  devout 
temperament.  Sundar  grew  up  in  an 
environment  of  faith  and  piety  and  developed 
deep  affection  and  reverence  for  Guru  Amar 
Das,  his  great-grandfather.  The  theme  of  his 
poem,  Sadu  meaning  call,  is  the  ascension  of 
Guru  Amar  Das,  described  in  terms  of  his 
having  been  recalled  by  God  Almighty.  The 
hymn  states  how  Guru  Amar  Das  had 
completely  surrendered  himself  to  the  Will  of 
the  Supreme  Being,  ever  remaining  absorbed 
in  meditation  on  the  Name,  how  he  had, 
through  the  favour  of  Gurus,  attained  the  office 
of  Guru,  how  he,  at  the  time  of  his  departure, 
had  appointed  Ram  Das  his  successor  and  how 
he  had  told  his  family  to  abide  by  the  Will  of 
the  Lord  and  not  to  weep  for  him  after  him. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Gurdit  Singh,  Giani,  Itihas  Sri  Guru  Granth  Saliib 
(Bhagat  Ban!  Bhag).  Chandigarh,  1990 

2.  Sahib  Singh,  Bhagat  Bani  Satik.  Amritsar,  1959- 
60 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

T.S. 

SUNDAR,  BHAI,  a  fisherman  and  watercarrier, 
received  initiation  at  the  hands  of  Guru  Arjan. 
According  to  Bhai  Mani  Siiigh,  Sikhan  dl 
Bhagat  Mala,  he  was  assigned  to  supplying  fuel 
and  water  for  the  Guru  ka  Lahgar  which  duty 
he  performed  with  supreme  dedication. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Siiigh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gurdas  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  19 

T.S. 

SUNDAR,  BHAI,  a  Chaddha  Khatri  resident 
of  Agra,  was  a  devoted  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru 


SUNDAR  DAS,  BHAI 


275 


SUNDARI 


Hargobind  (1595-1644).  He  served  the  sarig-at 
diligently  and  made  regular  visits  to  Amritsar 
to  see  the  Guru.  Once  as  he  entered  the  Guru's 
presence,  he  asked  how  a  guru  helped  the 
disciples  in  attaining  liberation.  Guru 
Hargobind,  says  Bhai  Mani  Singh,  Sikhah  di 
Bhagat  Mala,  told  him  how  Guru  Niinak  had 
enjoined  upon  the  Sikhs  to  attend  the  sahgat 
wherein  they,  through  reciting  and  listening 
to  the  holy  sabad  with  faith,  would  attain 
spiritual  enlightenment  and  ultimately  become 
one  with  the  Formless  Being.  "It  is  the  sadh 
sahgat,  holy  congregation,"  explained  Guru 
Hargobind,  "which  liberates ;  no  other  sadhana 
or  austerities  are  needed." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

B,S. 

SUNDAR  DAS,  BHAI,  a  Vadhavan  Kliatri  of 
Burhanpur,  is  mentioned  in  Bhai  Gurdas, 
Varan,  XI.  30.  A  very  pious  and  devoted  person, 
he  was  among  a  batch  of  Sikh  devotees  who 
travelled  from  Burhanpur  to  Amritsar  to  see 
Guru  Hargobind  and  receive  instruction  from 
him. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhah  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gui  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

B.S. 

SUNDARI,  by  Bhai  Vir  Singh,  first  published 
in  1898,  is  commonly  acknowledged  to  be  the 
first  novel  written  in  the  Punjabi  language.  The 
story,  set  in  the  eighteenth  century,  depicts  the 
trials  and  heroism  of  an  imaginary  character, 
Sundar  Kaur  (Sundari  for  short)  who,  born  in 
a  Punjabi  Kliatri  Hindu  family,  embraces  the 
Sikh  faith  in  unusual  circumstances  and  spends 


her  short,  eventful  life  in  prayer  and  service  of 
the  crusading  Khalsa. 

Sundari's  tribulations  begin  with  her 
catching  the  local  Mughal  chief's  attention  as 
the  latter,  out  hunting  with  a  body  of  retainers 
one  day,  passes  through  her  village.  She  is 
seized  and  carried  off.  All  entreaties  for  her 
release  are  unavailing.  Just  then,  her  elder 
brother,  Balvant  Singh,  who  had  embraced  the 
Sikh  faith  and  joined  a  Sikh  guerrilla  band 
against  the  parents'  wishes  some  years  earlier, 
visits  the  village  and  comes  to  know  of  the 
family's  misfortune.  He  follows  the  chief's  party, 
finds  Sundari  reciting  the  Japu  (ji),  the  Sikh 
morning  prayer,  sitting  on  a  pyre,  just  lit, 
snatches  her  off  and  gallops  away  with  her. 
Sundari,  who  had  imbibed  the  Sikh  spirit  of 
defiance  from  the  accounts  of  Sikh  valour 
which  she  had  heard  from  her  mother  and 
nursed  secredy  esteem  for  the  Sikhs'  ways  after 
her  brother  had  joined  them,  had  sent  the 
chief  and  his  men  away  by  a  stratagem,  to  be 
able  to  burn  herself  alive. 

The  family  refusing  to  take  Sundari  back 
for  fear  the  chief  should  vent  his  ire  upon  them, 
Balvant  Singh  decides  to  take  her  to  his  band's 
forest  hideout.  The  two  are,  however,  captured 
by  the  chief's  men  while  attempdng  to  rescue 
a  wounded  Sikh.  Intent  on  inducing  Sundari 
to  marry  him  willingly,  the  chief  decides  to 
spare  her  brother's  life,  convert  him  to  Islam 
somehow,  and  then  to  seek  reconciliation  with 
him.  A  month  later,  Sundari  and  Balvant  Singh 
are  brought  to  a  mosque  in  the  chief's 
principality,  on  a  Friday,  for  forcible 
conversion,  but  are  rescued  by  a  lightning  raid 
on  the  town  by  Balvant  Singh's  chief,  Sardar 
Sham  Singh. 

Amidst  her  brother's  guerrilla 
companions  at  last  Sundari  joins  the  Khalsa 
brotherhood  through  the  rites  of  initiation 
and  decides  to  lead  a  life  of  celibacy  in  the 
service  of  the  Sikh  jatha.  She  now  looks  after 
its  kitchen  and  tends  the  wounded, 
occasionally  venturing  out  to  the  village  on 
the  fringe  of  the  forest  to  buy  provisions. 


SUNDARI 


276 


SUNDAJil 


During  one  such  sally,  she  comes  upon  a  grief- 
stricken  Khatri,  whose  wife  had  been  seized 
by  die  Mughal  officials  of  his  hometown,  and 
takes  him  to  the  hideout.  After  checking  on 
his  credentials,  Sardar  Sham  Singh's  men 
mount  a  rescue  operation,  and  redeem  the 
Khatri's  wife  and  confiscated  property.  Upon 
the  Hindu  priest's  refusal  to  accept  the 
Khatri's  wife  back  into  the  Hindu  fold,  the 
couple  embrace  Sikhism  and  are  christened 
Dharam  Singh  and  Dharam  Kaur. 

During  a  later  sally  to  the  village,.  Sundari 
and  Dharam  Kaur  come  upon  a  badly  wounded 
Mughal  soldier.  They  give  him  first  aid  and 
bring  him  blindfolded  to  their  hideout  for 
treatment.  After  the  Mughal  regains  health,  he 
is  taken  blindfolded  to  the  village  and  released. 
This  Mughal  is  a  retainer  of  the  chief  who  had 
taken  a  fancy  to  Sundari  and  recognizes  her. 
He  lays  a  trap  for  Sundari  a  few  days  later.  She 
is  captured  and  carried  off  tied  hand  and  foot 
in  a  palanquin. 

Bijla  Singh,  the  ace  Sikh  spy,  disguised  as 
a  wandering  Sufi  faqir  tracks  the  Mughal  party 
and  helps  Sundari  attack  her  captor  and  flee. 
She  is  again  captured  by  the  chief,  who  is  out 
duck-shooting,  but  is  providentially  rescued  by 
her  brother,  and  soon  joins  the  guerrilla 
company  which  is  marching  towards  the 
foothills  to  join  the  main  body  of  the  Khalsa. 

As  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  comes  out  in 
April  1752  on  his  third  invasion,  thirty 
thousand  Sikhs,  including  Sundari's  band  fight 
for  Mir  Mannu,  the  Governor  of  Lahore. 
Sundari,  whose  injured  pony  ambles  back 
slowly  as  Mannu's  forces  disperse,  is  left  far 
behind  Dharam  Singh  and  hi$  wife.  Spotting  a 
wounded  Mughal  soldier,  she  dismounts  to 
help  him.  Restored  to  consciousness  and 
discovering  her  identity,  the  Mughal  inflicts  a 
severe  wound  on  Sundari  and  she  falls  down 
unconscious,  but  not  before  inflicting  a  fatal 
wound  on  the  assailant. 

She  is  spotted  and  picked  up  by  the  same 
old  chief  who  also  had  participated  in  the 
battle.  Under  the  diligent  care  of  the  chief  s 


physician,  Sundari's  wound  heals,  though  her 
fever  continues.  The  chief,  who  wants  her  to 
marry  him  willingly,  engages  a  Hindu  maid, 
Radha,  for  her  and  removes  her,  on  the 
suggestion  of  the  physician,  to  an  open  spot 
on  the  bank  of  the  river.  Both  Radha  (who  is 
in  reality  Dharam  Kaur  in  disguise)  and  the 
physician  have  been  planted  by  the  Sikhs  to 
secure  Sundari's  removal  to  a  place  from  where 
she  could  be  easily  rescued. 

Sundari  is  rescued  and  joins  her  brethren 
in  their  old  hideout.  But  her  health 
deteriorates.  Realizing  that  her  end  is  near, 
Sundari  gets  an  unbroken  recitation  of  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  arranged.  On  the  service 
following  the  conclusion  of  the  recitation 
coming  to  a  close,  Sundari,  in  a  valedictory 
address  to  the  assembly,  exhorts  them  to 
maintain  their  high  moral  standards,  hold 
women  in  high  regard  and  never  to  stray  from 
their  faith  in  one  God  into  superstition  in 
search  of  transitory  worldly  joys.  She  then 
makes  obeisance  to  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
and  does  not  raise  her  head  again.  Her  death 
plunges  the  entire  Sikh  people  into  gloom. 

Sundari  is  both  a  social  and  literary 
phenomenon.  The  prime  motivation  behind 
its  writing  was  avowedly  reformist.  It  was  the 
product  of  the  late  nineteenth-century  Sikh 
fears  and  aspirations-fears  that  Sikhism  might 
die  out  if  corruption  and  decadence  which  had 
overtaken  Sikh  church  and  society  were  not 
remedied;  and  aspirations  that  Sikhism  should 
take  the  place  of  pride  to  which  it  was  entitled 
by  reason  of  the  excellence  of  its  doctrine  and 
die  virility  of  its  tradition.  This  novel,  according 
to  its  author,  who  was  one  of  the  principal 
protagonists  of  the  reform  movement,  was  a 
small  attempt  to  rebuild  "the  crumbled  Panthic 
edifice"  by  rousing  the  Sikhs  to  an  awareness 
of  the  glory  of  their  epic  past  through  a  graphic 
representation  of  their  not  too  distant 
forebears'  dedication,  stamina,  and  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice. 

The  representation  turned  out  to  be  a 
historical  romance  of  unusual  power  and 


SUNDARl,  MATA 


277 


SUNDARl,  MATA 


beauty,  notwithstanding  several  literary  flaws. 
Bhai  Vir  Singh's  knowledge  of  the  history  of 
the  times,  which  Sundari  depicts,  is  sure  and 
intense;  his  imagination,  sensitive  and 
profound.  His  conception  of  the  social 
conditions  obtaining  in  those  hard  times  is 
vivid.  The  result  is  that  in  Sundari,  as  in  his 
other  two  historical  romances,  Bijay  Singh  and 
Satvant  Kaur,  a  dead  age  comes  alive.  And  this 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  his  characters  are 
mostly  ideal  types  and  their  conduct,  very  often, 
too  lofty  or  too  degraded  to  carry  conviction. 
Major  historical  figures  such  as  Diwan  Kaura 
Mall,  Sardar  Sham  Singh,  Sardar  Jassa  Singh, 
Lakhpat  Rai  and  Mir  Mannu  who  figure  in  the 
tale  lend  it  a  keener  sense  of  historical 
verisimilitude.  Quite  often  history  is  presented 
through  direct  narration  or  through  discussion 
among  the  characters.  Such  excursions  into  the 
history  sometimes  jar  and  appear  to  be 
irrelevant.  But  the  story,  on  the  whole,  is  deftly 
told  in  crisp  and  suggestive  prose.  The  story 
makes  liberal  use  of  coincidence,  but  is  never 
illogical.  On  several  occasions,  the  narration  is 
interrupted  by  homilies  and  sermons.  In  spite 
of  its  technical  shortcomings  as  a  novel  Sundari 
has  continued  to  sway  the  mass  of  Punjabi 
readers.  No  other  Punjabi  novel  has  been  read 
more  or  influenced  more  lives. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Harbans  Singh,  Bhai  Vir  Singh.  Delhi,  1972 

2.  Talib,  Gurbachan  Singh,  and  Attar  Singh,  eds.  Bhai 
Vir  Singh :  Life,  Time  and  Works.  Chandigarh,  1973 

3.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  and  Harnam  Singh  Shan, 
eds.,  Bhai  Vir  Singh,  Jivan,  Sarnari  te  Rachna. 
Chandigarh,  1973 

Kj.S. 

SUNDARI,  MATA  (d.  1747),  the  second  wife 
of  Guru  Gobind  Singh  (1666-1708),  was  the 
daughter  of  Bhai  Ram  Saran,  a  Kumarav  Khatri 
of  Bijvara,  in  present-day  Hoshiarpur  district 
of  the  Punjab.  She  was  married  to  Gumi  Gobind 
Singh  at  Anandpur  on  4  April  1684.  On  26 
January  1687,  at  Paonta,  she  gave  birth  to 


Sahibzada  Ajlt  Singh,  the  eldest  son  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  Consequent  upon  the 
evacuation  of  Anandpur  on  the  night  of  5-6 
December  1705,  Mata  Sundari,  along  with  Mata 
Sahib  Devah,  was  escorted  by  Bhai  Man!  Singh 
to  Delhi.  She  re-joined  Guru  Gobind  Singh  in 
1706  at  Talvandl.  Sabo,  where  she  heard  the 
news  of  the  martyrdom  of  her  son  and  the 
other  Sahibzadas  as  also  of  the  death  of  her 
aged  mother-in-law,  Mata  Gujari.  She  went  back 
to  stay  at  Delhi  while  Guru  Gobind  Siiigh  left 
Talvandi  Sabo  for  the  South.  At  Delhi,  Mata 
Sundari  adopted  a  young  boy  whom  she  named 
Ajit  Singh  because  of  his  resemblance  to  her 
own  late  son.  After  the  passing  away  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  at  Nanded  in  October  1708,  the 
Sikhs  looked  up  to  her  for  guidance.  She 
appointed  Bhai  Mani  Singh  to  manage  the 
sacred  shrines  at  Amritsar  and  also 
commissioned  him  to  collect  the  writings  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh.  She  also  issued  under  her 
own  seal  and  authority  huJcamnamas  to  sarigats. 
The  huJcamnainas  since  discovered  and 
published  bear  dates  between  12  October  1717 
and  10  August  1730. 

Mata  Sundari  was  disappointed  in  her 
adopted  son,  Apt  Singh.  Emperor  Bahadur 
Shah  treated  him  as  the  successor  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh,  called  him  to  his  court  and  gave 
him  a  robe  of  honour  in  September  1710.  This 
went  to  his  head  and  he  started  living  in  style 
as  a  courtier.  He  grew  arrogant  and  haughty 
even  towards  Mata  Sundari  who  disowned  him, 
and  migrated  to  Mathura.  Ajit  Singh  was  later 
convicted  for  murder  and  was  put  to  death  on 
18January  1725.  Mata  Sundari  returned  to  live 
in  Delhi  where  she  died  in  1747.  A  memorial 
in  her  honour  stands  in  the  compound  of 
Gurdwara  Bala  Sahib,  New  Delhi. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kuir  Singh,  GorbiJas  Patshahi  10.  Patiala,  1968 

2.  Chhibbar,  Kesar  Singh,  Barisavalihama  Dasari 
Patshahian  Ka.  Chandigarh,  1972 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,    Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 


SUNDAR SHAH 


278 


SUNDAR  SINGH,  I1HAI 


4.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh. 
Chandigarh,  1967 

5.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

S.S.A. 

SUNDAR  SHAH  (d.  1640),  a  Muslim  saint  of 
Devnagar,  probably  the  present-day  Deogaoh 
in  Azamgarh  district  of  Uttar  Pradesh,  is 
remembered  in  Sikh  tradition  for  his 
admiration  for  Bhai  Bidhi  Chand,  a  prominent 
Sikh  of  the  dme  of  Guru  Hargobind.  Bhai  Bidhi 
Chand  was  preaching  in  the  eastern  parts  when 
Sundar  Shah  had  the  chance  of  meeting  him. 
They  became  attached  to  each  other  and, 
before  Bhai  Bidhi  Chand  left,  Sundar  Shah 
made  him  promise  that  he  would  return  and 
spend  his  last  days  with  him.  According  to 
Gurbilas  Chhevln  Patshahi,  Bidhi  Chand 
remembered  his  word  and,  as  he  saw  his  end 
drawing  near,  he  took  his  leave  of  Guru 
Hargobind  and  went  to  Devnagar.  The  two 
friends,  after  discoursing  about  Guru  Nanak 
and  his  Sabda  or  message  for  three  days,  died 
at  the  same  dme  on  14  August  1640. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurbilas  Patshahi  Chhevin.  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa. 
[Reprint],  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikli  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

B.S. 

SUNDAR  SINGH,  BHAI  (1881-1921),  one  of 
the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  belonged  to 
Nizampur  Deva  Singhvala,  near  Dharovali  in 
Sheikhupura  district.  His  original  name  was 
Sudh  Singh.  He  was  the  son  of  Bhai  Chanda 
Singh  Kamboj  and  Mai  Hukami  and  was  born 
in  July-August  1881,  at  their  ancestral  village 
Nizampur  in  Amritsar  district.  The  family  had 


shifted  as  colonizers  to  Sheikhupura  district 
during  the  mid-1890's.  Sudh  Singh  took  the 
vows  of  the  Khalsa  at  Sri  Akal  Takht.  Amritsar, 
and  received  the  new  name  of  Sundar  Singh. 
He  attended  the  Dharovali  conference  on  1-3 
October  1920  and  pardcipated  in  the  liberadon 
of  Gurdwara  Khara  Sauda  on  30  December  the 
same  year.  He  also  joined  Bhai  Lachhman 
Singh  Dharovali's  jatha  for  the  liberation  of  the 
Gurdwara Janam  Asthan  at  Nankana  Sahib  and 
fell  a  martyr  to  the  bullets  of  the  opponents  of 
reform  on  the  morning  of  20  February  1921. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jlvan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

SUNDAR  SINGH,  BHAI  (1882-1921),  one  of 
the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  born  on  1  Assu 
1939  Ilk/ 15  September  1882,  the  son  of  Bhai 
Chugatt  Singh  and  Mai  Jio,  of  Gurdaspur 
district.  The  family  migrated  to  Chakk  No.  33 
Dharovali  in  Sheikhupura  district  (now  in 
Pakistan).  Sundar  Singh  enlisted  himself  in  the 
army  and  served  with  the  1 1  th  Cavalry  for  seven 
years.  Once  displaying  to  those  present  pictures 
of  Bhai  Hazara  Singh  and  Bhai  Hukam  Singh, 
killed  by  the  priests  of  Tarn  Taran,  Bhai 
Lachhman  Singh  of  Dharovali  appealed  for 
volunteers  to  indemnify  the  sacrilege  which 
had  been  going  on  in  the  gurdwaras  under  the 
administration  of  the  mahants.  Bhai  Sundar 
Singh  offered  his  services  on  the  spot.  His  offer 
was  accepted  on  the  condition  that  he  would 
strictly  abide  by  the  Khalsa  rahit.  Sundar  Singh 
took  the  vows  of  Khalsa  at  Gurdwara  Khara 
Sauda  and  was  formally  registered  as  an  Akali 
volunteer.  On  receiving  the  call  for  liberating 
Gurdwara  Janam  Asthan  at  Nankana  Sahib,  he 
joined  the  Dharovali  jatha  massacred  to  a  man 
by  the  hired  assassins  of  Mahant  Narain  Das 
on  20  February  1921. 

Bhai  Sundar  Singh  was  survived  by  his 
mother  and  wife  to  whom  a  son  was  born  in 
July    1921.    The    Shiromani  Gurdwara 


SUNDAR  SINGH, BHAI 


279 


SUNDAR  SINGH  JATHEDAR,  BHAI 


Parbandhak  Committee  settled  upon  them  an 
annual  pension  of  Rs  160,  besides  paying  off 
the  family's  debt  of  Rs  1488. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

SUNDAR  SINGH,  BHAI  (1898-1924),  one  of 
the  Jaito  martyrs,  was  boim  the  son  of  Bhai 
Mansa  Siiigh  and  Mai  Raj  Kaur  of  Karamgarh 
Satrah  village,  20  km  west  of  Bathinda.  After 
attending  school  for  two  years  at  the  village  of 
Kot  Bhai,  he  shifted  over  to  a  Gurmukhi  school 
where  he  practised  the  reading  of  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  He  received  the  rites  of  the 
Khalsa  at  the  age  of  12  and  stayed  for  a  few 
years  at  Amri tsar  further  to  study  the  Sikh  texts. 

He  enlisted  during  World  War  I  in  the 
transport  wing  of  the  army,  and  served  in  the 
Peshawar-Landi  Kotal  region  of  the  North- 
West  Frontier  Province  for  a  few  years.  Sundar 
Singh  resigned  soon  after  the  Nankana  Sahib 
occurrence  and  turned  an  Akali  activist.  He  was 
named  secretary  of  the  Bathinda  tahsil  Akali 
Jatha.  Shortly  before  the  tragedy  at  Jaito,  he 
had  injured  his  knee  in  a  fall  from  his  horse, 
but  he  insisted  on  going  to  watch  the  progress 
of  the  first  Shahidi  Jatha,  and  assisted  by  his 
elder  brother  Indar  Singh  andjathedar  Kheta 
Singh,  met  the  Jatha  at  its  last  halt  at  Bargari. 
He  was  limping  along  a  flank  of  the  front  lines 
of  the  Jatha  during  its  march  towards  Jaito  on 
21  February  1924  when  on  its  approach  near 
Gurdwara  TibbI  Sahib,  the  Nabha  state  forces 
opened  fire  on  the  advancing  multitude.  Bhai 
Sundar  Singh  was  hit  in  the  neck  and  killed  on 
the  spot. 

G.S.G 

SUNDAR  SINGH,  BHAI  (d.  1924),  of  the 
village  of  Chida  near  Bagha  Purana,  in  Moga 
sub-division  of  present-day  Faridkot  district  of 
the  Punjab,  was  sibout  60  years  old  v/hen  he 
received  the  initiation  rites  of  the  Khalsa  at  the 


hands  of  Sant  Sundar  Singh  Bhindrahvala.  To 
intensify  the  Akali  campaign  at  Jaito,  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
sent  out  from  Amritsar  in  February  1924,  a 
Shahidi  Jatha  or  martyrs'  column,  consisting 
of  500  volunteers  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives 
to  have  the  interrupted  aJchand  path 
recommenced  at  Gurdwara  Gahgsar  at  Jaito, 
in  Nabha  state  territory.  The  march  of  the  Sikhs 
through  the  Majha  and  Malva  districts  of  the 
Punjab  generated  a  great  deal  of  enthusiasm 
among  the  people.  Bhai  Sundar  Singh  and 
several  others  from  his  village  joined  the 
column  on  21  Feburary  1924  during  the  last 
lap  of  its  journey.  As  it  reached  near  Gurdwara 
Gahgsar,  Jaito,  a  strong  posse  of  police  and 
army  blocked  its  way  and  subjected  it  to  rifle 
and  machinegun  firing.  Bhai  Sundar  Singh  was 
hit  in  the  stomach  and  lay  grievously  wounded. 
The  Nabha  state  police  removed  him  to 
prisoners'  camp  where  he  succumbed  to  his 
injury. 

G.S.G 

SUNDAR  SINGH  JATHEDAR,  BHAI  (1869- 
1921),  one  of  the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was 
the  son  of  Bhai  Bishan  Singh  and  Mai  Indar 
Kaur  of  village  Dhudial,  in  Jalandhar  district. 
His  ancestors  came  from  Bandala  village  in 
Amritsar  district  where  they  had  served  in  the 
chiefship  of  Sardar^  Baghel  Singh  of  the 
Karorsihghia  misl.  Sundar  Singh  learnt 
Gurmukhi  in  the  village  gurdwara  and  fondly 
recited  passages  from  the  Sikh  texts.  He  had 
received  the  vo  ws  of  the  Khalsa  at  Sri  Anandpur 
Sahib  and  had  since  punctiliously  observed  the 
Khalsa  rahit.  On  19  February  1921,  as  the  call 
for  action  came,  he  led  out  a  15-strong  jatha 
and  joined  Bhai  Lachhman  Singh  Dharovali's 
men  on  their  waiy  to  Nankana  Sahib.  He  laid 
down  his  life  along  with  others  on  the  morning 
of^O  February  1921.  See  NANKANA  SAHIB 
MASSACRE. 

The  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  paid  off  the  family's  debt  of  Rs  502 
and  granted  it  a  pension  of  Rs  200  per  annum 


SUNDAR  SINGH  LYALLPURl 


280 


SUNDAR  SINGH  LYALLPURl 


jointly  to  the  two  widows.  The  villagers  of 
Dhannuana  raised  a  memorial,  Shahid  Gary 
(lit.  martyrs'  memorial).  Weekly  congregations 
took  place  on  Sundays.  Likewise  an  annual 
memorial  fair  which  drew  a  large  number  of 
people  to  the  site  kept  the  memory  of  the 
martyrs  alive.  This  continued  up  to  the 
partidon  of  the  country  in  1947  which  cut  the 
Punjab  into  two  parts  obliterating  several  such 
signposts. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G 

SUNDAR  SINGH  LYALLPURl,  MASTER 
(1885-1969),  teacher.journalist  and  politician, 
was  born  on  4  April  1885,  the  son  of  Lakhmlr 
Singh  Kamboj  and  Ram  Kaur,  of  the  village  of 
Bahoru,  12  km  south  of  Amritsar.  The  family 
later  moved  to  the  canal  colony  in  Sheikhupura 
district  where  they  founded  a  new  village, 
Chakk  No.  18  Bahoru.  Having  completed  his 
early  education  in  Bahoru  and  in  Shahkot, 
district  Sheikhupura.  Sundar  Singh  took  his 
B.A.  (Honours)  degree  at  Khalsa  College, 
Amritsar,  and  his  B.T  at  Government  Training 
College,  Lahore.  In  1908,  he  joined  Master 
Tara  Singh,  the  future  Akali  supremo,  to  teach 
at  Khalsa  High  School,  Lyallpur,  on  an 
honorarium  of  barely  15  rupees  a  month.  Later 
he  served  successively  at  Khalsa  High  School 
at  Chakk  No.  41  and  at  Sahgla. 

What  brought  Master  Sundar  Singh 
Lyallpur!  into  politics  was  his  contact  with 
Sardar  Harchand  Singh  of  Lyallpur,  active  in 
the  nationalist  movement.  In  1908,  the  Punjab 
Government  changed  the  constitution  of  the 
governing  body  of  the  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar, 
in  order  to  ensure  firmer  control  over  the 
affairs  of  the  college.  Master  Sundar  Singh 
published,  in  July  1909,  a  strongly-worded 
pamphlet  endded  Ki  Khalsa  College  Sikkhah 
Da  Hai  ?  (  "Does  the  Khalsa  College  belong  to 
the  Sikhs?"  ).  He  argued  therein  that  the  British 


intended  to  rob  the  Sikhs  of  their  college  as 
they  had,  by  a  grave  breach  of  faith,  previously 
swallowed  up  their  kingdom.  He  also  castigated 
Sundar  Singh  MajTthla,  the  secretary  of  the 
Khalsa  College  Council,  for  having  brooked 
official  intei  ference.  The  same  year,  he  started 
publication  from-Lyallpur  of  a  Punjabi 
newspaper,  Sachcha  Dhandora  (  "The  True 
Proclamation"  ).  According  to  a  report  from 
the  then  Assistant  Director  of  Criminal 
Intelligence,  dated  11  August  1911,  it  printed 
"largely  echoes  of  the  violently  nationalistic 
writings  which  were  then  appearing  in  the 
Punjab  press  and  which  culminated  in  a  series 
of  press  prosecutions  during  1909-10."  Sachcha 
Dhandora  too  fell  a  victim  to  prosecution  and 
suppression.  Sundar  Singh  was  also  in  the 
forefront  of  the  agitation  against  the 
demolition  of  a  wall  of  Gurdwara  Rikabgahj  to 
suit  the  government's  construction  plans  in 
New  Delhi. 

To  promote  the  cause  of  Gurdwara 
reform,  Master  Sundar  Singh  launched  from 
Lahore  on  21  May  1920  a  daily  newspaper,  the 
Akali.  The  main  objectives  announced  by  the 
Akaiiwere  democratic  control  of  Sikh  shrines 
and  of  the  Khalsa  College,  reconstruction  of 
the  demolished  wall  of  Gurdwara  Rikabgahj, 
political  and  national  awakening  among  the 
Sikh  masses,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
representative  Sikh  body  based  on  democratic 
principles.  Sohan  Singh  Josh,  Akali  Morchiah 
da  hihas,  describes  Master  Sundar  Singh  as  "the 
life  and  soul  of  the  Akali."  In  July  1922,  Akali 
was  amalgamated  with  Pradesi  Khalsa  and 
published  as  Akali  te  Pradesi  from  Amritsar. 
Master  Sundar  Singh  was  arrested  on  26 
November  1921  at  Ajnala  during  the  agitation 
for  the  restoration  to  the  Sikhs  of  the  keys  of 
the  Golden  Temple  treasury  and  was  sentenced 
to  six  months'  imprisonment  with  a  Fine  of 
4,000  rupees.  However,  he  did  not  support  the 
agitation  launched  by  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  in  1923  for  the 
reinstatement  of  the  deposed  Maharaja  of 
Nabha.  He  was  of  the  view  that  it  would  not  be 


SUNDAR  SINGH  MA|lTHIA 


281 


SUNDAR  SINGH  MAJITHIA 


correct  for  the  Shiromanii  Committee  which 
was  a  religious  body  to  involve  itselfin  politics 
and  that  the  Nabha  questiion  had  better  be 
dealt  with  by  the  Central  Sikh  League.  Master 
Sundar  Singh  was  among  the  Akali  detenues 
who  refused  to  accept  release  from  jail  on  the 
condition  that  they  would  implement  the  Sikh 
Gurdwaras  Act  of  1925. 

Besides  his  articles  in  his  newspaper, 
Master  Sundar  Singh  published  tracts  on 
burning  topics  of  the  day  in  which  he  also  made 
use  of  his  poetic  talent.  The  topics  covered 
varied  from  the  lives  of  the  Gurus  to  the  evil 
of  drinking  and  scenes  from  Guru  ka  Bagh 
agitation.  In  1924,  he  restarted  the  Akali,  this 
time  in  Urdu,  from  Lahore,  and  launched  the 
Hindustan  Times  from  Delhi,  but  they  did  not 
long  survive  his  arrest  soon  after  they  had  made 
their  appearance.  The  Guru  Khalsa,  Daler 
Khalsa,  Melu,  Kundan  and  Navari  Yug  were 
some  of  the  other  papers  he  started,  but  none 
of  them  lived  long.  Sundar  Singh  tried  his  hand 
at  business  and  set  up  a  shop  in  Bombay,  but  it 
had  to  be  closed  down  within  two  years.  After 
Independence,  he  was  awarded  a  pension  and 
allotted  some  land  in  Hissar  district.  He  died 
at  his  new  home  on  5  January  1969. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Piar  Singh,  Teja  Singh  Samundri.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Pratap  Singh,  GianI,  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir,  Amritsar,  1975 

3.  Josh,  Sohan  Singh,  Akali  Morchian  da  Itihas. 
Delhi,  1972 

4.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Shromani  Gurdwara 
Prabandhak  Committee  da  Panjah  Sala  Itihas. 
Amritsar,  1982 

5.  Ganda  Singh,  ed. ,  Some  Confidential  Papers  of 
the  Akali  Movement.  Amritsar,  1965 

M.S. 

SUNDAR  SINGH  MAJITHIA,  SARDAR 
BAHADUR  SIR  (1872-1941),  statesman  and 
reformer,  was  the  younger  son  of  Raja  Surat 
Singh  (d.  1881).  He  was  born  on  17  February 
1872  atMajitha  (3r--38'N,  74"-52'E) ,  a  village 


18  km  northeast  of  Amritsar  (hence  the 
surname  Majlthia).  He  was  educated  at 
Government  School,  Amritsar,  and  Aitchison 
College,  Lahore,  finally  joining  Government 
College,  Lahore,  to  pass  the  intermediate 
(undergraduate)  examination.  Soon  after 
leaving  college,  he  joined  Sri  Guru  Singh 
Sabha,  Amritsar,  affiliated  to  the  Khalsa  Diwan, 
Amritsar,  taking  over  as  its  secretary  in  1894. 
In.  1895,  he  became  a  member  of  the  governing 
council  of  the  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar,  for  the 
establishment  of  which  he  had  worked  with 
unsparing  energy.  He  was  the  secretary  of  the 
college  council  from  1902  to  1912  and 
president  of  the  council  as  well  as  of  the  college 
managing  committee  from  1920  till  his  death 
in  1941.  Sundar  Singh  was  a  founder-member 
of  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan,  established  in 
October  1902,  holding  the  office  of  secretary 
from  1902  to  1920  and  again  from  1934  to  1937. 
In  1932-33,  he  acted  as  the  president  of  the 
Diwan.  He  took  a  leading  part  in  the  founding 
of  the  Sikh  Educational  Conference  in  19C 
and  presided  at  its  annual  sessions  in  1911, 19' 
and  1935.  He  also  inaugurated  Khalsa 
Advocate,  an  English  monthly,  to  propagate 
the  policy  and  activities  of  the  Chief  Khalsa 
Diwan. 

Sardar  Sundar  Singh's  political  career 
began  in  1909  when  he  was  nominated  a 
member  of  the  Viceroy's  Legislative  Council. 
In  the  Council  he  worked  assiduously  to  steer 
the  Anand  Marriage  Bill  which  had  been 
introduced  by  Tikka  Ripudaman  Singh  of 
Nabha  during  his  tenure  as  a  member.  He  was 
mainly  instrumental  in  having  the  ban  on  the 
carrying  of  a  full-sized  kripan  or  sword  by  Sikhs 
as  their  religious  emblem  lifted  throughout 
India  and  Burma  and  in  having  a  20  per  cent 
share  for  Sikhs  reserved  in  government  services 
in  the  Punjab.  On  16  November  1920,  he  was 
elected  the  first  president  of  die  ShiromanI 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  which  office 
he  resigned  early  during  the  following  year 
after  his  election  to  the  Punjab  Legislative 
Council  and  appointment  as  an  executive 


SUNDAR  SINGH  MAjlTHIA 


282 


SUNDAR  SINGH,  RAGl 


councillor  and  revenue  minister  in  the  Punjab 
Government.  At  the  time  of  the  Round  Table 
Conference,  he  led  a  Sikh  deputation  which 
met  the  Commander-in-chief  on  8  July  1931 
and  the  Viceroy  on  9  July  1931  to  present  a 
charter  of  1 7  demands  on  behalf  of  the  Sikhs 
to  secure  protection  for  them  as  a  minority. 

During  the  first  legislative  elections  held 
in  1936  under  the  Government  of  India  Act 
1935,  Sundar  Singh  was  elected  to  the  Punjab 
Legislative  Assembly  from  Batala  constituency 
on  the  nomination  of  the  Khalsa  National  Party 
which  he  and  Sirjogendra  Singh  had  founded, 
and  joined,  on  1  April  1937,  the  Unionist 
Coalition  government  in  the  Punjab  under  the 
premiership  of  Sir  Sikandar  Hayat  Khan  as 
revenue  minister.  He  retained  his  Cabinet  seat 
until  his  death  at  Lahore  shortly  after  the 
midnight  of  1-2  April  1941.  The  cremation  took 
place  at  Amritsar  on  the  premises  of  his 
permanent  residence. 

Sundar  Singh's  field  of  activities  extended 
to  commerce  and  industry  as  well.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Punjab  and  Sind  Bank 
established  at  Amritsar  in  1908.  He  was  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  sugar  industry  in  India  and  set 
up  in  1911a  mill  at  Sardarnagar,  in  Gorakhpur 
district  of  Uttar  Pradesh.  He  was  nominated 
one  of  the  governors  of  the  Imperial  Bank  of 
India  in  1933.  In  politics,  Sundar  Singh  was 
essentially  a  moderate,  and  he  received  from 
the  British  Government  several  honours  and 
awards.  He  was  made  a  Sardar  Bahadur  in  191 1 
and  Companion  of  the  Indian  Empire  (CLE.) 
in  1920.  He  was  knighted  in  1926.  In  1926,  the 
University  of  the  Pahjab  awarded  him  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Oriental  Learning  (D.O.L) 
honoris  causa. 

Sundar  Singh  had  in  1887  married  the 
daughter  of  Sardar  Bishan  Singh  Kandaula,  in 
Ludhiana  district,  maternal  uncle  of  Raja 
Bikram  Singh  of  Faridkot.  After  her  death  the 
same  year,  he  married  the  daughter  of  Sardar 
Sir  Attar  Singh  of  Bhadaur.  He  had  three  sons, 
two  of  whom  -  Kirpal  Singh  Majithia  and  Surjit 
Singh  Majithia  -  entered  politics.  After 


Independence,  Surjit  Singh  was  elected  to 
Parliament  and  became  a  deputy  minister  in 
Jawaharlal  Nehru's  government. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Griffin,  Lepel  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1940 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

3.  Gopal  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikh  People  (1469- 
1978).  Delhi,  1979 

4.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Princeton,  1966 

5.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

N.I.S. 

SUNDAR  SINGH,  RAGI  (1892-1937),  head 
musician  at  Sri  Harimandar  at  Amritsar,  was 
born  at  Amritsar  in  1892,  the  son  of  Bhai  Amar 
Singh  Arora,  himself  a  musician  of 
considerable  standing.  Sundar  Singh  served  his 
apprenticeship  with  Bhai  Atra,  a  well-known 
rababi  (rebeck-player),  who  was  a  disciple  of 
Bhai  Moti,  a  rababi  of  still  greater  repute  in 
his  time.  He  further  chiselled  his  style  under  a 
noted  Sikh  musician,  Uttam  Singh.  On  10 
September  1932,  he  was  appointed  rag!  at  the 
Harimandar  where  he  soon  rose  to  be  the  head 
musician.  He  had  a  rich  melodious  voice  and 
his  favourite  instruments  were  dilruba,  a  string- 
instrument,  and  harmonium,  and  his  favourite 
mode  was  Khayal.  He  ranked  among  the 
leading  Sikh  musicians  of  his  day  and  was 
invited  to  perform  kirtan  from  distant  parts. 
In  1937,  he  led  a  chorus  to  the  village  of  Ahla, 
in  Phalia  tahsil  (sub-division)  of  Gujrat  district 
(now  in  Pakistan),  where  a  gurdwara  had 
suffered  mob  violence  in  which  one  of  the 
officiants  had  lost  his  life.  The  Muslims  of  the 
area  who  formed  about  80  per  cent  of  the 
population  obstructed  the  Sikhs  entering  the 
village.  In  the  attack  they  launched,  one  Bhagat 
Singh  was  killed  on  the  spot  and  several  others 
seriously  wounded,  among  them  Bhai  Sundar 
Singh.  Bhai  Sundar  Singh  was  removed  to  the 


SUNDAR  SINGH,  SANT  GIANl 


283 


SUNN 


civil  hospital  at  Gujriit  where  he  succumbed  to 
his  injuries  on  17  June  1937.  His  dead  body 
was  brought  to  Amritsar  and  cremated  on  18 
June. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Khalsa  te  Khalsa  Advocate.  Amritsar.  19 June  1937 

2.  Khalsa  Sevak.  Amritsar,  21-23  June  1937 

S.S.Am. 

SUNDAR  SINGH,  SANT  GIANI  (1883-1930), 
teacher  of  the  sacred  texts  and  exegete  from 
whose  seat  in  his  native  village  the  Bhindranvala 
school  of  Sikh  learning  derived  iis  name,  was 
born  on  18  August  1883,  the  son  of  Khazan 
Singh  and  Mahitab  Kaur  alias  Tab  Kaur,  a 
devoted  couple  of  Bhindar  Kalari,  in  2'ira  tahsll 
of  district  Firozpur,  in  the  Punjab.  He  received 
his  early  education  at  the  village  gurdwara,  and 
started  reading  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  at  the 
age  of  ten.  As  he  grew  up,  he  learnt  Sanskrit 
from  a  Brahman  at  Dharmkot,  8  km  northwest 
of  his  native  village,  and  later  successively  from 
two  Udasi  scholars,  Pandit  Javala  Das  and 
Pandit  Bhagat  Ram.  He  visited  seats  of  learning 
in  the  Malva  region  and  in  the  holy  city  of 
Amritsar  in  search  of  a  teacher  who  could 
instruct  him  in  Sikh  philosophy,  and  ultimately 
became  the  pupil  of  Sant  Bishan  Singh  of 
village  Murala,"  in  Gujrat  district  (now  in 
Pakistan).  Sundar  Singh  arrived  at  Murala,  on 
8  March  1906  and  carried  on  with  his  study  of 
the  Sikh  texts  till  the  death,  on  28 January  1908, 
of  his  mentor.  He  now  launched  on  his  career 
of  expounding  the  sacred  word  and  holding 
special  gatherings  to  administer  to  the  seekers 
the  initiatory  rites  of  the  Khalsa.  To  this  end, 
he  travelled  extensively  in  the  Punjab, 
especially  in  the  Pothohar,  Malva  and  Lower 
Chenab  Canal  Colony  (Lyallpur  and 
Sheikhupura  districts)  areas.  Twice  he  went  on 
pilgrimage  of  principal  Sikh  shrines  outside  the 
Punjab  such  as  Nanded  and  Patna  Sahib. 
During  the  summer  of  1925,  he  preached  in 
Kashmir  valley. 

Sant  Sundar  Singh  also  accepted  pupils 


whom  he  trained  in  the  interpretation  of 
Scripture.  At  inter/als  he  took  out  batches  of 
his  students  with  him  on  his  preaching  tours 
which  were  devoted  primarily  to  delivering 
katha,  i.e.  explanatory  discourses  on  the  entire 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  from  beginning  to  end.  He 
conducted  19  such  courses  during  his  lifetime, 
besides  two  similar  full-scale  ones  on  the  Dasam 
Granth.  Instruction  was  similarly  provided  in 
the  works  of  Bhai  Gurdas  and  Bhai  Santokh 
Singh.  Sant  Sundar  Singh  also  established 
permanent  teaching  centres  in  gurdwaras  at 
several  places  of  which  the  most  important  were 
at  his  native  Bhindar  Kalah,  at  Bopa  Rai  in 
Ludhiana  district  and  at  Takhtupura.  in 
present-day  Moga  district.  For  public 
instruction,  he  founded  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
school  at  the  village  of  Rode,  near  Moga,  since 
upgraded  into  a  college  affiliated  to  Pahjab 
University,  Chandigarh. 

Besides  his  world  of  letters  and  theology, 
Sant  Sundar  Singh  involved  himself  in  the 
wider  issues  of  religious  and  social  reform  then 
engaging  the  attention  of  the  Sikhs.  He  took 
part  in  the  Akali  agitation  and  helped  in  having 
the  historical  shrines  at  Muktsar  and  Hehrah 
brought  under  the  control  of  the  reformists. 
He  visited  Nankana  Sahib  soon  after  the 
massacre  of  the  Akalis  on  20  February  1921  and 
participated  in  Guru  ka  Bagh  morcha  (1922) 
and  the  morcha  atjaito  (1923-25). 

Sant  Giani  Sundar  Singh  was  taken  ill  with 
dropsy  and  died  at  Bopa  Rai  on  15  February 
1930.  His  work  was  carried  on  by  his  successor, 
Sant  Gurbachan  Singh  Khalsa. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kartar  Singh  Khalsa,  Khalsa  Jivan  ate  Gurmat 
Rahk  Maryada.  Mehta,  1977 

H.S.D1. 

SUNN,  a  Punjabi  form  of  the  Sanskrit  term 
sunya  (Pali,  sunna),  is  derived  from  the  root 
svi  which  is  connected  with  the  root  su;  both 
these  roots  mean  'to  swell',  'to  expand'  or  'to 
increase'.  From  the  etymological  standpoint 


SUNN 


284 


SUNN 


the  term  sunya  is  often  used  in  the  sense  of 
'zero'  or  'cipher'  (Arabic,  sifr),  a  symbol  of 
naught.  However,  'zero'  again,  when  used  by  a 
mathematician  with  a  figure,  increases  the 
value  of  that  figure  ten  times. 

The  word  sunya  belongs  to  the  religious 
and  philosophical  terminology  of  India.  Its 
meaning  has  to  be  explored  in  relation  to  two 
other  cognate  words,  viz.  sunyata  and 
sunyavada.  The  words  sunya  and  sunyata  have 
attained  widespread  currency  chiefly  through 
the  agency  of  Buddhist  literature:  while 
'sunyavada'  is  the  name  given  one  of  the 
systems  of  Buddhistic  thought,  the  word  siinya 
means  void,  empty,  a  lonely  place  or  solitude. 
The  word  sunyata  means  voidness,  emptiness, 
vacuity  or  nothingness.  The  word  'sunyavada' 
has  been  translated  as  'the  ism  of  void'  or  'the 
doctrine  of  empty'.  The  barrenness  of  this 
translation  is  inherent  in  the  pejorative  force 
which  gave  birth  to  this  name  in  anti-Buddhist 
circles.  It  is  on  the  authority  of  anti-Buddhist 
Brahmanical  sources  that  Monier-Williams 
described  'sunyavada'  in  1899  as  'the 
(Buddhist)  doctrine  of  the  non-existence  (of 
any  spirit  either  supreme  or  human), 
Buddhism,  atheism.' 

As  a  mater  of  fact,  it  is  in  the  work  of  the 
Brahmanical  theologians,  such  as 
Kumarilabhatta  and  Sahkaracarya,  that  the 
name  'Sunyavada'  is  employed  for  the 
Madhyamika  School  of  Buddhist  philosophy. 
The  Buddhist  philosophers  themselves  have 
never  used  or  approved  this  nomenclature. 

At  numerous  places  in  the  Pali  scriptures 
it  is  stated  that  the  world  (loka)  is  empty 
(sunya);  it  is  empty  of  self  (atman)  and  empty 
of  anything  belonging  to  self.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  world  with  which  one  could  identify 
one's  self,  or  of  which  one  could  say,  'this  is  my 
self.'  A  whole  section  of  the 
Patisambhidamagga  is  entided  'discourse  on 
the  void.'  In  this  secdon  twenty-five  kinds  of 
void  are  enumerated.  The  Mahayanasutras  and 
Sastras  elaborated  these  teachings  concerning 
suny?.   and   sunyata   and   developed  a 


soteriological  technique  based  on  the 
philosophy  of  Emptiness.  A  class  of  Buddhist 
Sanskrit  literature  consisting  of  the 
Prajhaparamitasutras  is  devoted  to  the 
exposition  of  emptiness. 

The  Prajhaparamitasutras  teach  that 
sunyata  is  the  nature  of  all  phenomenal  things 
or  entities  called  dharmas.  Things  are  empty 
(sunya)  because  they  are  conditioned;  they  are 
conditioned  because  they  depend  on  a 
multiplicity  of  causes.  Nothing  is.  uncaused, 
therefore  nothing  is  free  from  sunya, 
emptiness.  The  dependence  of  entities  on 
causes  and  conditions  constitutes  their 
emptiness.  All  things  or  phenomena  are  subject 
to  dependent  origination  (pratitya- 
samutapada)  ;  therefore  all  phenomena  are 
characterized  by  emptiness  (sunyata) .  This  fact 
is  called  dharma-sunyata,  the  emptiness  of 
dharmas  or  the  phenomena. 

Nagarjuna  who  flourished  in  the  first 
century  AD  is  the  main  originator  of  the 
doctrine  of  sunya  which  in  fact  offers  the 
critique  of  all  the  philosophies.  Going  beyond 
the  viewpoints  of  asti  (is)  nasti  (is  not)  about 
the  Supreme  Truth,  the  sunyavadins  adopt  a 
dialectical  method  which  seeks  to  abolish  all 
viewpoints  but,  side  by  side,  they  do  not  claim 
to  have  sunyavad,  a  viewpoint  in  itself.  The  aim 
of  this  teaching  is  soteriological  and  not 
philosophical. 

£unya  means  that  all  the  objects  of  the 
world  are  lacking  in  their  'own-nature' 
(svabhava  dharma  or  'self-existence' 
(atmabhava)  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  dharmas  are 
without  an  essence  of  inward  nature  of  their 
own  and  are  without  self.  The  absence  of  own- 
nature  (nihsvabhavata)  and  the  absence  of  self 
(nairatmya)  are  thus  synonyms  of  emptiness. 
Not  only  the  persons  are  characterized  by 
emptiness  (pudgala-nairatmya)  but  also  the 
things  are  characterized  by  emptiness  (dharma- 
nairatmya).  He  who  realizes  this  twofold 
emptiness  (sunyata)  attains  transcendental 
wisdom  (prajhaparamita) . 

The  Prajhaparamitasutras  have  employed 


SUNN 


285 


SUNN 


the  master  symbol  sunyata  not  only  for  the 
phenomenal  things  but  also  for  the  Absolute. 
The  phenomenal  things  are  called  sunya 
because  they  are  dependent  on  causes  and 
conditions.  The  Absolute  is  called  sunya 
because  it  is  devoid  of  distinctions  and 
discriminations.  Sunyata  demonstrates  the 
ultimate  unreality  of  entities  and  the 
unseekability  of  the  Absolute  which  transcends 
thought  and  speech. 

The  concept  of  Sunya  (sunn)  was 
transmitted  by  the  Siddhas  and  the  Nathas  to 
the  sant-poets  of  medieval  Vaisnavisrn.  In  the 
works  of  the  Sikh  Gurus  we  find  the  last  phase 
of  the  development  of  the  concept  of  sunya 
ouside  Buddhism.  The  Sikh  Gurus  have  used 
the  words  sunn,  sunn  kala,  anahat-sunn  and 
sunn-samadhi  numerous  times  in  their 
religious  compositions.  A  careful  analysis  of  the 
use  of  these  key-terms  in  the  Sikh  canon  shows 
that  their  meaning  is,  in  most  cases,  different 
from  that  found  in  Buddhism.  In  one  case, 
however,  there  seems  to  be  a  continuity  of  the 
word  and  meaning  from  the  time  of  the 
Buddhist  Sutras  to  that  of  the  hymns  sung  by 
the  Gurus.  This  continuity  is  found  in  those 
cases  in  which  sunn  or  sunya  is  employed  as  a 
symbol  of  the  Absolute.  Thus,  for  example,  it 
is  said  that  when  one  is  awakened  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Guru,  one  merges  into  the  Void 
(sunn  samaia)  even  while  alive-  jivat  sunni 
samania  gur  sakhijagl  (GG,  857).  Of  course  the 
concept  of  the  Absolute  in  Sikhism  diffe  rs  from 
that  in  the  Madhyamika,  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Absolute  is  called  sunn  because 
it  is  devoid  of  duality  and  discrimination.  This 
negative  structure  in  speech  with  regard  to  the 
Reality  is  the  basic  function  of  the  symbol  sunn. 
All  positive  descriptions  imply  limitation  and 
determination.  The  word  sunn  declares  that 
the  Truth  is  beyond  limitations  and  determi- 
nations. Emptiness  of  Buddhism  means  'no 
doctrine  about  Truth';  sunn  in  Sikhism  means 
'no  conception  about  the  Inconceivable.' 

An  important  feature  of  the  conception 
of  the  Void  in  Sikhism  is  that  it  can  be  realized 


through  transcendental  devotion  (nam)  which 
consists  in  the  constant  mindfulness  of  the 
Divine  (simaran).This  feature  brings  in  many 
positive  elements  as  a  matter  of  course  and 
consequently  the  ecstatic  experience  of  the 
Divine  is  characterized  by  positive  attributes. 
Nevertheless,  these  positive  attributes  do  not 
exhaust  the  Innate  state  of  sahaj  or  the  Void 
(sunn).  Kabir  uses  sunn  in  the  sense  of  space, 
finite  as  well  as  infinite,  i.B^  ghatakash  and 
mahakash.  The  three  lokas  enveloping  sunya 
is  nothing  but  Brahman  with  maya  but  the 
fourth  sunya  about  which  Guru  Nanak  stresses 
more  is  pure  Brahman  who  is  nirakar  and 
nirguna.  In  Rag  Maru,  Guru  Nanak  defines 
sunn  as  the  creative  power  of  the  Almighty- 
paunu  pani sunnai  te  saje  (GG,  1037).  The  sense 
of  nada  has  also  been  exacted  from  the  term 
sunn  in  the  Sidha  Gosti  where  Guru  Nanak 
says  :  "nau  sar  subhar  dasavai  pure  tab  anahat 
sunn  vajavahi  ture-after  filling  up  the  nine 
pitchers  with  love,  through  the  tenth  gate  the 
entry  is  made;  the  anahat  sunya  in  the  form  of 
melodies  is  realized"  (GG,  943).  The  term  sunn 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  thus  used  in  a 
variety  of  senses,  of  which  predominantly  are 
Brahman  with  and  without  maya,  the  creation, 
the  power  of  Brahman  and  nada. 

Here  the  unstruck  sound,  inaccessible  to 
ears,  goes  on  as  'the  music  of  spheres'  as  it  were, 
and  the  wonderful  (acharaj)  bewilderment 
(bismad)  characteristic  of  it  cannot  be 
described  (kahanu  najai).  Peace  (santl),  bliss 
(sukh,  ana n da)  and  satiety  (santokhu)  are 
attained  in  this  state.  But  here  in  the  ultimate 
state  there  is  neither  he  who  attains  these 
things  nor  he  who  listens  to  their  description  ; 
void  has  gone  to  Void,  emptiness  had  merged 
into  Emptiness.  He  says  :  sunnahi sunnu  milia 
samdarsi-  the  individual  spirit  has  joined  the 
supreme  spirit  (GG,  1103). 

Bhai  Gurdas,  explicator  of  Gurbani,  uses 
sunya  in  the  sense  of  cosmic  silence-  did  bangi 
nivaji  kari  sunni  samani  hoa  jahana  (1.35).  As 
in  the  I  Iathayogapradipika,  Guru  N;mak  also 
accepts  that  sunya  is  within,  sunya  is  without 


SURAIN  SINGH,  BHAI 


286 


SURA)  MALL 


and  the  three  lokas  are  also  imbued  with  sunya. 
Whosoever  becomes  the  knower  of  the  truth, 
sunya,  goes  beyond  sins  and  virtues.  He 
transcends  both  error  and  excellence. 

It  may  be  observed  that  like  the  word 
Nirvana,  the  word  sunya  also  underwent  a 
gradual  process  of  transformation  in  its 
meaning  and  use  in  the  literature  of  medieval 
India.  The  Madhyamika  conception  of  sunyata 
was  almost  completely  changed  in  Nathapantha, 
Kabirpantha  and  Sikhism. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Monier-Williams,  Sanskrit-English  Dictionary 

2.  Dutt,  N.,  Pancavimsatisahasrika  Prajnaparamita- 
sutra.  London,  1934 

3.  Robinson,  Richard  H.,  Early  Madhyamika  in 
India  and  China.  Wisconsin,  1967 

4.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1969 

5.  Dasgupta,  Surendranath,  Indian  Idealism. 
Cambridge,  1961 

6.  Kabirgranthavali 

7.  Jodh  Singh,  The  Religious  Philosophy  of  Guru 
Nanak.  Delhi,  1989 

L.M.J. 

SURAIN  SINGH,  BHAI  ( 1 895-1 92 1 ) ,  one  of  the 
Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  came  from  Chakk  No. 
80  Nizampur  Mula  Sihghvala,  district 
Sheikhupura.  He  was  the  second  of  the  six 
children  of  Bhai  Ram  Singh  and  Mai  Hukam 
Kaur.  He  learnt  Gurmukhi  from  the  village 
priest  and  was  initiated  into  the  Khalsa  Panth 
at  a  divan  held  at  the  nearby  village  of 
Nizampur  Deva  Sihghvala.  He  served  for  some 
time  in  the  army  during  the  Great  War  (1914- 
18) ,  and  after  his  release  reverted  to  the  family 
occupadon  of  agriculture.  He  was  member  of 
the  village  choir  and  was  on  19  February  1921 
performing  kirtan  at  a  marriage  in  the  village 
when  the  call  came  for  the  liberation  of 
Gurdwara  Janam  Asthan,  Nankana  Sahib.  He 
at  once  got  ready  to.  accompany  other 
volunteers,  who  joining  the  Dharovaii/atha  fell 
martyrs  the  following  morning  in  the  indis- 


criminate firing  by  the  opponents  of  reform. 

The  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  setded  upon  his  widow,  Bibi  Bhag 
Kaur,  a  family  pension  which  was  stopped  on 
her  remarriage. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

SURAIN  SINGH,  BHAI  (1898-1921),  one  of  the 
Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  born  on  1  April 
1 898,  the  son  of  Bhai  Mit  Singh  and  Mai  Chand 
Kaur  of  Chakk  No.  38  Nizampur  Deva  Sihghvala 
in  Sheikhupura  district  (now  in  Pakistan).  He 
read  Urdu  at  the  village  primary  school.  He 
learnt  Gurmukhi  on  his  own  and  went  through 
the  vows  of  the  Khalsa.  As  the  movement  for 
the  reformadon  of  Sikh  shrines  got  underway, 
he  found  himself  in  the  thick  of  it.  During  the 
Dharovali  conference  (1-3  October  1920),  he 
collected  rations  for  it  and  served  in  the  Guru 
ka  Lahgar.  He  participated  in  the  liberation  of 
Gurdwara  Khara  Sauda,  Chuharkana  (30 
December  1920)  and  also  offered  himself  as  a 
volunteer  for  the  demolished  Gurdwara  wall 
in  Delhi.  On  19  February  1921,  he  joined  the 
jatha  led  by  Bhai  Lachhman  Singh  of  Dharovali 
and  fell  a  martyr  in  the  firing  on  it  the  next 
morning.  See  NANKANA  SAHIB  MASSACRE. 
He  was  survived  by  his  mother,  wife  and  a  two- 
year  old  daughter.  The  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  besides  paying  off  the 
family's  debt  of  Rs  410,  paid  it  a  pension  at  Rs 
150  per  annum. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

SORAJ  MALL,  son  of  Guru  Hargobind,  was 
born  to  Mata  Maha  Devi  Marvahi,  at  Amritsar 
on  9  June  1617.  He  was  married  on  23  April 
1629  to  Khem  Kaur  daughter  of  Bhai  Prem 


SURAT  SINGH 


287 


SURAT  SINGH  MAJITHlA,  RAJA 


Chand  of  Kartarpur,  in  present-day  Jalandhar 
district  of  the  Punjab.  A  son,  Dip  Chand,  was 
born  to  them  in  1633.  Suraj  Mall's  death 
followed  that  of  his  mother,  Mata  Marvahi,  in 
1645.  Dip  Chand  had  two  sons,  Gulab  Rai  (b. 
1660)  and  Shyam  Chand  (b.  1662),  who  received- 
the  rites  of  Khalsa  and  became  Gulab  Singh 
and  Shyam  Singh,  respectively.  The  Sodhis  of 
Anandpur  are  descendants  of  the  latter. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurbilas  Patshahi  Chhevih.  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Chhibbar,  Kesar  Singh,  Bahsavalinama  Dasan 
Patshahian  Ka  (ed.  Ratan  Singh  Jaggi). 
Cliandigarh,  1972 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion. 
Oxford,  1909 

M.G.S. 

SURAT  SINGH,  a  warrior  Sikh  of  the  time  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  who,  according  to  Sarup 
Singh  Kaushish,  Guru  kian  Sakhian,  fell 
fighting  valiantly  in  the  battle  of  Nirmohgarh 
(7  October  1700). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Padam,  Piara  Singh,  and  Garja  Singh.  Giani,  eds., 
Guru  kian  Sakhian.  Patiala,  1986 

Gn.S. 

SURAT  SINGH  MAJITHlA,  RAJA  (d.  1881), 
son  of  Atar  Singh  Majithia,  was  a  soldier, 
commander  and  notable  sardar  of  the  Sikh 
Darbar.  Details  of  his  early  career  and  of  his 
service  under  Maharaja  Ranjlt  Singh  are  scanty. 
Surat  Singh  was  commandant  of  the  Sikh 
battalion  posted  at  Peshawar  during  the  first 
Anglo-Sikh  war.  After  the  peace  settlement  of 
1846,  he  was  retained  in  the  Sikh  army  by 
British  Resident  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  and 
posted  to  Lahore.  He  fell  foul  of  Wazir  Lai 
Singh  who  became  his  enemy  and  ordered  the 
resumption  of  his  jagir. 

Surat  Singh  played  a  prominent  role  in 


events  leading  to  the  Sikh  national  rising 
against  the  British  in  1848.  He  commanded 
2,000  men  in  the  division  sent  under  Sher 
Singh  Atarivala  to  Multan  to  quell  Diwan  Mul 
Raj's  revolt.  In  September  1848,  he  as  well  as 
Sher  Singh's  troops  joined  the  rebels.  His 
appeal  to  the  Khalsa  troops  in  the  name  of  their 
sovereign,  Duleep  Singh,  and  his  call  to  arms 
against  the  feringhees  brought  an  immediate 
response.  Many  disbanded  Sikh  soldiers, 
religious  leaders  and  laymen  joined  the 
standard  of  revolt.  Mul  Raj's  troops  deserted 
and  rallied  round  him.  He  moved  northwards, 
plundered  Chiniot  and  Jhahg  and  fought  the 
British  at  Sadullapur,  Cheliahvala  and  Gujrat 
along  with  Sher  Singh's  force  which  had  swelled 
to  12,000  men  and  28  guns.  At  Sadullapur,  6 
km  from  the  town  of  Ramnagar,  at  a  principal 
ford  on  the  River  Jehlum,  the  Sikhs  nullified 
General  Thackwell's  manoeuvre  against  their 
flank  and  safely  crossed  the  river  tojoin  Chatar 
Singh's  force.  At  Gujrat,  the  force  under  Surat 
Singh  was  the  last  to  yield. 

After  the  annexation  of  the  Punjab,  Surat 
Singh's  jagirs  were  confiscated  and  he  was 
removed  to  Banaras  with  an  annual  pension 
of  Rs  720.  He  lived  at  Banaras  in  privation  till 
1857,  when  during  the  mutiny  he  helped  the 
British  and  saved  the  Banaras  treasury,  which 
contained  the  jewellery  of  Maharanijind  Kaur, 
on  6  July  1857,  he  received  a  sword-cut  on  his 
leg  which  made  him  lame  for  the  rest  of  his 
life.  For  these  services,  Surat  Singh  was  allowed 
to  return  to  the  Punjab,  his  pension  was  raised 
to  Rs  4,800  and  he  was  granted  a  permanent 
jagir  in  Gorakhpur  district.  In  his  village  of 
Majitha  to  which  he  came  back  in  1861,  he  was 
appointed  an  honorary  magistrate  and  was 
invested  with  civil  andjudicial  powers.  In  1877, 
the  titles  of  Raja  and  Companionship  of  the 
Star  of  India  were  conferred  upon  him.  He  died 
in  1881  at  Majitha. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Surl,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  u t—Twarikh .  Lahore, 
1885-89 


SURDAS 


288 


SURjlT  SINGH  MAjlTHIA 


2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  Chiefs  and  Families  of  Note  in  the 
Punjab.  Lahore,  1940 

3.  Hasrat,  Bikrama Jit,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations  (1 799- 
1849).  Hoshiarpur,  1968 

BJ.H. 

SURDAS,  one  of  the  medieval  Indian  bhakta 
poets  whose  verses  have  been  incorporated  in 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Surdas,  whose  original 
name  was  Madan  Mohan,  is  said  to  have  been 
born  in  1529,  in  a  high-ranking  Brahman 
family.  As  he  grew  up,  he  gained  proficiency  in 
the  arts  of  music  and  poetry  for  which  he  had 
a  natural  talent.  He  soon  became  a  celebrated 
poet,  singing  with  deep  passion  lyrics  of  Divine 
love.  He  attracted  the  attention  of  Emperor 
Akbar  who  appointed  him  governor  of  the 
parganah  of  Sandila.  But  Surdas'  heart  lay 
elsewhere.  He  renounced  the  world  and  took 
to  the  company  of  holy  men  dedicating  himself 
solely  to  the  Lord.  He  died  at  Banaras.  A  shrine 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  honours  his  memory. 

The  Guru  Granth  Sahib  contains  one 
hymn  by  Bhakta  Surdas,  in  the  Sararig  measure. 
In  fact,  it  is  not  a  complete  hymn  but  a  single 
line  :  "O  mind,  abandon  the  company  of  those 
who  turn  away  from  God."  It  is  believed  to  be 
the  refrain  of  a  complete  hymn  composed  by 
Surdas  in  which  he  described  one  who  had 
turned  away  from  God  as  an  incorrigible  sinner 
for  whom  there  was  no  hope  of  redemption. 
Guru  Arjan  omitted  the  rest  of  the  hymn 
probably  because  it  ran  counter  to  the  Sikh 
belief  in  God's  grace  even  for  the  worst  of 
sinners.  He  therefore  composed  a  hymn  to 
explain  and  supplement  the  single  line  of 
Surdas.  Its  refrain  is  :  "Men  of  God  abide  with 
the  Lord." 

Surdas  whose  verse  Figures  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  is  to  be  differentiated  from  the 
blind  poet  of  the  same  name  who  wrote  Sur 
Sagar. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Gurdit  Singh,  Giani,   Itihas  Sri  Guru  Granth 


Sahib  (Bhagat  Ban!  Bhag) .  Chandigarh,  1990 

3.  Sahib  Singh,  Bhagat  Ban!  Sauk.  Amritsar,  1959- 
60 

4.  Chaturvedi,  Parshu  Ram,  Uttari  Bharat  ki  Sant 
Parainpara.  Allahabad,  1964 

5.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

T.S. 

SURI,  BHAI,  a  village  headman,  received 
initiation  at  the  hands  of  Guru  Arjan.  Once,  as 
he  was  on  a  visit  to  Amritsar,  the  Guru 
impressed  upon  him  the  sanctity  and 
significance  of  the  holy  place  for  the  Sikhs.  His 
name  appears  in  the  list  of  Guru  Arjan 's  Sikhs 
in  Bhai  Gurdas,  Varan,  XL  23. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhah  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

SURJIT  SINGH  MAJITHIA  (1912-1995)  with 
acquiline  features  and  large  luminous  eyes 
was  a  very  handsome-looking  man.  He  cut 
an  extraordinarily  impressive  figure  on  the 
field  of  sport.  Alert  and  agile,  he  was  a 
cricketer  of  considerable  repute.  Besides,  he 
filled  several  leadership  roles  in  the  social 
and  political  spheres  of  life.  He  was  a  ranking 
politician,  parliamentarian  and  diplomat. 

He  was  educated  at  the  Khalsa  College 
at  Amritsar,  an  institution  which  his  forbears 
had  reared  with  singular  love  and 
dedication.  His  father,  Sardar  Sundar  Singh 
Majlthla,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Imperial  Council  and  subsequently  a  cabinet 
minister  in  the  Punjab  government  was  a 
leading  figure  in  the  Sikh  awakening  at  the 
beginning  of  the  twentieth  century.  He  was 
the  son  of  Raja  Surat  Singh  who  had  suffered 
detention  at  the  hands  of  the  British  upon 
the  occupation  of  the  Punjab  by  them. 


SURjlT  SINGH  MAJITHIA 


289 


SUTHRASHAHIS 


Sir  Sundar  Singh,  by  his  thrift  and  acumen 
had  built  up  a  big  industrial  estate.  Into  this 
opulent  family,  was  Surjit  Singh  born  on  8 
August  1912.  Debonair  and  athletically 
inclined,  he  went  through  his  college  courses 
comfortably,  playing  cricket  and  tennis. 

Surjit  Singh  was  married  into  the  old 
family  of  the  Wazirs  of  the  princely  state  of 
Nabha.  His  father-in-law,  General  Shivdev 
Singh,  was  a  wealthy  landlord,  wealthiest  in  the 
Punjab  in  crisp  money  as  the  legend  then  ran. 
His  father  was  keen  that  his  children  grow  up 
as  true  Sikhs,  faithful  to  their  .religious  tenets 
and  customs.  Surjit  Singh  did  not  disappoint 
him.  He  was  not  enthusiastic  about  the  tiger 
hunt  parties  hosted  by  his  eldest  brother 
Kirpal  Singh  Majithia,  who  was  a  leading  shikari 
of  his  day.  Nor  was  he  much  inclined  to 
cultivate  the  company  of  his  first  cousin,  the 
fabulous  Amrita.  Sher-gil  (1913-1941),  the 
painter,  and  her  husband  Dr.  Victor  Egan,  who 
was  a  medical  doctor  in  her  father's  factory. 

Fresh  from,  his  college,  Surjit  Sjrigh 
Majithia  entered  the  Indian  Air  Force  and 
reached  the  rank  of  Squadron  Leader.  Taking 
out  his  discharge  from  the  Air  Force,  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Central  Legislative 
Assembly  in  1945.  From  1947  to  1949  he  was 
India's  ambassador  to  the  neighbouring 
country  of  Nepal.  He  participated  in  elections 
to  the  first  Lok  Sabha,  i.e.  Indian  Parliament, 
which  took  place  in  1952  and  which  he  won 
comfortably.  He  won  his  parliamentary  seat 
again  in  1957  as  well  as  in  1962.  From  1952  to 
1962  he  served  as  India's  deputy  defence 
minister.  He  was  President  of  the  Wrestling 
Federation  of  India  from  1964  to  1976  and 
President,  Cricket  Control  Board  of  India  from 
1956  to  1958.  He  became  the  first  President  of 
the  Yachting  Association  of  India  when  it  was 
established  in  1960.  In  1944  he  became 
President  of  Khalsa  College,  Aniritsar.  He 
continued  in  the  office  for  upwards  of  three 
decades. 

Surjit  Singh  Majithia  died  in  Delhi  on  27 
September  1995. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Griffin,  Lepel  and  C.F.  Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1940 

2.  Jubilee  Book.  Amritsar,  1935 

S.S.B. 

SUTHRASHAHIS,  a  mendicant  order  which 
owes  its  origin  to  Suthra  Shah  (1625-82),  a 
disciple  of  Guru  Hargobind.  Not  much  is 
known  about  the  life  of  Suthra  Shah.  The 
legend  goes  that  he  was  born  in  a  Nanda  Khatri 
family  of  Bahrampur,  now  in  Gurdasur  district, 
with  a  black  mark  on  his  forehead  and  with  his 
teeth  cut,  on  which  account  he  was 
pronounced  to  be  unlucky.  His  parents 
neglected  him,  but  Guru  Hargobind,  sixth  in 
the  spiritual  line  from  Guru  Nanak,  took  him 
under  his  care.  He  named  the  child  then  called 
Kuthra,  i.e.  dirty  or  ugly,  Suthra  which  means 
pure  or  spotless.  Among  the  Sikhs  he  came  to 
be  known  as  Suthra  Shah,  the  suffix  'Shah'  in 
Punjabi  being  the  equivalent  of  the  English 
word  'esquire.'  Suthra  Shah  was  reputed  for 
his  devotion  to  Guru  Hargobind  and  his 
humorous  manner.  He  was  appointed  by  Guru 
Har  Rai,  Guru  Hargobind's  successor,  to  preach 
Sikh  faith. 

As  time  passed,  Suthra  Shah's  followers, 
drawn  from  among  both  Hindus  and  Muslims, 
turned  into  a  separate  sect.  They  sang  mystic 
songs  in  honour  of  Guru  Nanak,  but  they  had 
taken  to  mendicancy  and  forsworn  all 
established  social  norms.  They  received  novices 
into  their  order  after  a  rigorous  testing.  They 
were  made  to  lake  a  pledge  to  abide  by  the 
rules  of  the  order.  According  to  the  testimony 
of  a  contemporary  historian,  a  candidate 
seeking  admission  into  the  sect  was  at  first 
dissuaded  from  the  course  and  warned  of  the 
hard  and  austere  life  ahead  where  he  was  to 
"subsist  by  begging,  remain  celibate  and  not 
to  quarrel  even  if  abused." 

The  initiates  were  required  to  remain 
celibate  and  break  off  all  family  ties.  They  were 
to  live  on  alms  and  to  avoid  liquor  and  flesh. 
Coloured  clothes  being  forbidden  for  a  Suthra, 


SUTHRASHAHIS 


SVAPAN  NATAK 


he  wore  white,  with  a  sehli  (necklet  of  black 
wool)  round  his  neck  and  a  kullah  (high 
peaked  cap)  on  head,  and  such  other  garments 
as  gave  him  a  funny  look.  He  applied  a  black 
mark  on  his  forehead  in  imitation  of  the  saffron 
frontal  mark  of  the  upper-edge  Hindu.  He 
invariably  carried  two  small  sticks  (dandas) 
each  about  half  a  yard  in  length,  which  they 
clashed  rhythmically  together  or  struck  against 
their  iron  bracelets  while  soliciting  alms.  These 
sticks  served  as  a  sort  of  license  certifying  the 
holder  to  be  a  Suthra  sent  by  the  mahant  of  a 
dera  to  beg  alms  for  himself  as  well  as  for  those 
who  happened  to  lodge  in  the  dharamsala 
attached  to  the  dera.  This  practice  of  playing 
of  the  dandas  was  introduced  by  Jhangar  Shah 
who  came  to  this  order  from  the  aristocratic 
family  of  a  near  relative  of  Lakhpat  Rai,  the 
minister  of  Nawab  Zakariya  Khan,  governor  of 
Lahore  (1726-45)  under  the  Mughals.  The 
Suthrashahis  venerated  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
and  recited  hymns  from  it  they  had 
remembered  by  heart.  But  when  they  visited 
Hindu  homes  for  alms,  they  sang  praise  of  the 
Devi,  the  goddess.  They  shared  popular  Hindu 
beliefs  and  observed  Hindu  customs  and  rites 
like  burning  their  dead  and  consigning  the 
remains  to  the  River  Gahga. 

Suthrashahis  owed  allegiance  to  their 
living  guru  and  had  their  mahants  or  priests  to 
manage  their  deras  and  dharamsalas  in 
different  places.  They  roamed  around 
extensively  and  established  their  centres  in 
distant  parts.  Besides  several  in  the  Punjab  in 
towns  such  as  Sanavari,  Behrampur,  Batala  (all 
in  Gurdaspur district),  Nur  Mahal  (Jalandhar), 
Amritsar  and  Lahore,  their  dcris  were  known 
to  exist  in  Jaunpur,  in  South  India  and  in 
Qandahar,  in  Afghanistan.  A  dharamsala  built 
by  Jhangar  Shah  outside  the  walled  city  of 
Lahore,  between  the  Masti  Darwaza  and  the 
Raushnai  Darwaza,  enjoyed  the  patronage  of 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  and  was  endowed  by 
him. 

Some  of  the  Suthrashahi  saints  wrote 
religious  verse,  Vedantic  in  tone.  Suthra  Shah 


himself  is  credited  with  having  written  a 
baramasa,  a  calendar  poem  after  the  twelve 
(faara)  months  (masa). 

The  sect  flourished  considerably  during 
the  reign  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh,  but 
gradually  its  members  became  lax  and  lost  their 
original  religious  fervour.  They  took  to 
gambling  and  drinking  and  paid  scant  regard 
to  moral  and  ethical  values  or  the  opinion  of 
Sikhs  and  Hindus.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
evolved  their  own  norms  of  behaviour  attractive 
more  for  idlers  and  escapists.  This 
deterioration  in  their  moral  standards  resulted 
in  the  decline  of  the  sect  and  ultimately  in  its 
virtual  extinction. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Rose,  H.A.,  ed.,  A  Glossary  of  Tribes  and  Castes 
of  the  Punjab  and  North-West  Frontier  Province. 
Lahore,' 1911-19 

2.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

3:  Latif,  Syad  Muhammad,  History  of  the  Punjab. 
Calcutta,  1891 

4.  Gian  Singh,  GianI,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

5.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

B.S.N. 

SVAMI  DAS,  BHAI,  a  Vadhavan  Khatri  of 
Burhanpur,  who,  according  to  Bhai  Gurdas, 
Varan,  XI.  30,  once  accompanied  the  sangat 
of  his  town  to  Amritsar  to  receive  instruction 
from  Guru  Hargobind. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

B.S. 

SVAPAN  NATAK,  lit.  dream  play,  is  an 
allegorical  poem  in  Braj,  comprising  133 


SVAPANNATAK 


291 


SVAPAN  NATAK 


stanzas,  by  Giani  Ditt  Singh,  a  leading  figure 
in  the  Lahore  Singh  Sabha.  Published  in  the 
supplement  to  the  issue,  dated  16  April  1887, 
of  the  Khalsa  Akhba  r,  a  Punjabi  newspaper  of 
which  Giani  Ditt  Singh  himself  was  the  editor, 
the  poem  led  to  a  defamation  suit  filed  on  14 
June  1887  against  the  author  by  Bed!  Udai 
Singh,  a  nephew  of  the  famed  Baba  Khem 
Singh  Bedi,  leader  of  the  rival  Amritsar  faction 
of  the  Singh  Sabha.  Although  the  author 
claimed  that  the  poem  was  produced  as  a  text 
book  with  the  aim  of  improving  the  morals  of 
young  men  as  also  of  enriching  Punjabi 
literature  with  the  addition  of  a  new  category 
of  writing,  the  composition  clearly  burlesques 
several  of  the  men  belonging  to  the  Amritsar 
group.  The  plot  of  the  Svapan  Natak  projects 
the  archetypal  war  between  the  forces  of  truth 
and  falsehood  culminating  in  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  virtue  over  vice.  One  of  the 
protagonists  of  the  poem  is  King  Ahahkar  (i.e. 
egotism  and  conceit)  symbolizing  Raja  Bikram 
Singh,  ruler  of  Faridkot  state  who  wais  the 
patron  of  the  Amritsar  Khalsa  Diwan  to  which 
one  group  of  the  Singh  Sabha  was  affiliated. 
The  princely  group  comprising  Baba  Khem 
Singh  Bedi,  Mahant  Sumer  Siiigh  of  Patna, 
Giani  Badan  Singh  of  Faridkot,  Giani  Sant 
Singh  of  Kapurthala  and  others  are  all  referred 
obliquely  and  satirically.  Giani  Jhanda  Singh, 
an  employee  of  Faridkot  state,  is  given  the 
appellation  of  Mittar  Ghat  (Slaughterer  of 
Friends)  and  Bedi  Udai  Singh  who  became  the 
complainant  in  the  defamation  case,  that  of 
Kubudh  Mrigesh  (Stupid  Lion).  Khem  Siiigh 
Bedi  himself  is  referred  to  in  the  language  of 
innuendo  and  given  the  name  of  Dambhi 
Purohit  (Hypocritical  Priest).  The  King 
Ahaiikar  and  his  friends  are  pitted  against 
Gurmukhjan  (i.e.  righteous  men),  allegorically 
representing  Lahore  leader,  Professor 
Gurmukh  Singh,  and  his  friends. 

The  campaign  is  organized  in  accordance 
with  a  scheme  hatched  by  Dambhi,  the  royal 
priest,  and  approved  and  blessed  by  King 
Ahahkar.  As  the  battle  begins,  Badan  Manohar 


(Body  Handsome,  ironical  name  for  Giani 
Badan  Singh)  arrays  himself  against  Sat  (truth) 
and  Suhird  (sincerity)  representing  Gurmukh 
Jan,  who  are  assisted  by  two  women  called  Bidya 
(knowledge)  andBuddhi  (reason).  The  villain- 
hero  fights  for  the  annihilation  of  the  Gurmukh 
Jan.  According  to  the  plan,  Manmukh, 
translated  in  the  court  file  as  a  Devil's  disciple, 
was  to  murder  the  believers  :  Ignorance  was  to 
murder  Knowledge.  Likewise  Folly  was  to 
thwart  Reason  while  Kubuddh  Mrigesh,  the 
Stupid  Lion,  was  to  confound  and  ensnare  the 
virtuous.  The  drama  has  its  denouement  in  the 
inevitable  rout  of  the  forces  of  evil  and  the 
victory  of  the  Truth,  Knowledge  and  Reason. 

A  close  reading  of  the  poem,  however, 
reveals  that  it  has  a  complex  matrix.  It  has  a 
polemical  end  to  serve,  and  here  the  poet's 
powers  of  caricature  and  lampoonery  come 
into  full  play.  The  poem's  concern  with  the 
larger  issue  of  social  and  religious  reform,  the 
central  thrust  of  the  Singh  Sabha  movement, 
is  unmistakable.  In  delineating  his  moral 
theme,  with  its  personified  abstractions,  the 
poet  uses  a  highly  allusive  diction  bristling  with 
puns  on  the  names  of  the  characters,  their 
appearances  and  their  habitual  characteristics. 
The  significance  of  the  poem  lies  in  preserving 
in  its  line  some  of  the  characters  of  the  early 
days  of  the  Singh  Sabha  and  in  the  amusement 
it  holds  as  a  literary  satire,  almost  without 
precedent  in  Punjabi  literature.  The 
defamation  case  decided  by  an  English  judge, 
W.A.  Harris,  is  also  a  landmark  in  the  cultural 
history  of  the  Sikhs.  While  finding  the 
complaint  substantial,  the  judge  decided  to 
award  Giani  Ditt  Singh  only  a  token 
punishment,  obviously  impressed  by  his 
learning  and  literary  skill. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Daljit  Singh,  Singh  Sabha  de  Modhi  Gian  Singh 
Ji,  Amritsar,  1951 

2.  Jagjit  Singh,  Singh  Sabha  Lahir.  Ludhiana,  1974 

3.  Harbans Singh, 7heHeritageoftheSikhs.Delhi,1983 

Gdt.S. 


SWARAN.  SINGH 


292 


SWARAN  SINGH 


SWARAN  SINGH  (1907-1994).  Tall  and  wiry, 
Sardar  Swaran  Singh,  was  born  on  19  August 
1907  in  a  farming  family  of  the  village  of 
Shahkar  in  Jalandhar  district.  He  was  married 
so  Charan  Kaur  (1925).  The  family  laid  much 
store  by  education.  One  of  the  two  sons  was 
sent,  up  to  attend  the  Government  College  at 
Lahore,  where  he  picked  a  prestigious  Master's 
degree  in  one  of  the  sciences.  That  was  Swaran 
Singh  who  had  a  legendary  career  as  a  team- 
mate of  India's  charismatic  prime  minister, 
Jawaharlal  Nehru. 

Swaran  Singh  had  taken  his  intermediate 
from  Randhir  College,  Kapurthala.  After  his 
M.Sc.  from  Government  College,  Lahore,  he 
worked  as  a  lecturer  in  Physics  at  Khalsa 
College,  Lyallpur.  In  1946,  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Punjab  Legislative  Assembly 
and  secretary  of  the  Panthic  Party.  After  Sardar 
Baldev  Singh's  induction  into  India's  Interim 
Government  he  was  called  upon  to  join  the 
Punjab  Government  as  a  minister.  His 
experience  at  the  bar  was  his  best  asset  as  a 
minister.  He  always  prepared  his  brief  with 
diligence  and  treated  everyone  with  great 
politeness.  He  soon  became  famous  for  his  very 
charming  and  immaculate  personal  manner. 
He  never  spoke  loudly  to  anyone. 

He  spent  23  years  of  his  life  as  a  ranking 
Cabinet  Minister  in  the  Government  of  India. 
He  was  a  brilliant  debater  never  dropping  a 
point  in  polemics.  He  was  a  most  cool-headed 
and  adroit  negotiator.  When  he  needed  to  do 
it  for  diplomatic  reasons,  he  kept  the  entire 
international  corps  enthralled  by  the  magic  of 
his  words  for  as  long  as  he  wished,  actually 
having  little  to  say  or  wishing  little  to  give  away. 
He  handled  with  incredible  calmness  many  a 
sizzling  issue.  He  was  familiar  with  several 
languages  and  could  play  them  around  his 
fingers  with  perfect  ease.  Once  he  kept  the 
entire  audience  spell-bound  with  an 
uncommon  display  of  his  linguistic  virtuosity. 
The  occasion  was  the  annual  function  of  the 
Punjab  Languages  Department.  Sardar  Swaran 
Singh  was  presiding  at  the  conference.  He 


turned  it  into  a  sparkling  display  of 
pyrotechnics.  The  occasion  was  for  honouring 
Dr  Ganda  Singh,  the  Punjab  historian  and 
savant.  There  were  four  conference  languages 
and  one  had  the  choice  to  use  anyone  of  these. 
Swaran  Singh  who  was  presiding  started  off 
speaking  in  English.  Midway  he  suddenly 
switched  over  to  his  polished  Urdu.  Then  it 
was  his  precious  Hindi,  and  finally  his  vintage 
Doaba  Punjabi.  He  combined  with  his  bon 
mots  and  witticisms  his  inborn  wisdom  and 
maturity.  That  was  Swaran  Singh,  at  his 
oratorical  best. 

Speech  was  not  Swaran  Singh's  only  forte. 
He  was  a  deep-thinking,  very  level-headed 
statesman.  He  could  see  through  intricate 
problems  with  a  clear,  undimmed  eye.  He  was 
Jawaharlal's  closest  adviser  on  matters  political 
as  well  as  diplomatic.  In  the  corridors  of  power, 
his  advice  was  regarded  with  special  attention. 

Swaran  Singh  joined  Jawaharlal  Nehru's 
Cabinet  when  it  was  formed  after  the  nation's 
first  general  elections  in  1952.  He  was  minister 
for  Works,  Housing  and  Supply  in  that  Cabinet, 
1952-57  ;  for  Steel,  Mines  and  Fuel,  1957-62  ; 
for  Railways,  1962  ;  for  Food  and  Agriculture, 
1963-64  ;  for  Industry  and  Supply  in  Lai 
Bahadur  Shastri's  Cabinet,  1964  ;  for  External 
Affairs,  1964-66  ;  for  Defence  with  Indira 
Gandhi  ,  1966-70  ;  and  for  External  Affairs, 
1970-74  ;  and  for  Defence,  again,  1974-75. 

He  assisted  Jawaharlal  Nehru  in  his  talks 
with  the  Chinese  leader,  Chou-En-Lai,  on  the 
Indo-China  border-question  in  1960.  He  was 
with  the  Indian  delegation  for  its  six  rounds  of 
talks  with  Pakistan,  1962-63.  He  led  the  Indian 
delegation  to  the  United  Nations  several  times. 
He  attended  all  meetings  of  the  Heads  of 
Commonwealth  nations  and  led  the  Indian 
delegation  at  all  summit  meetings  of  non- 
aligned  governments  during  that  period.  He 
was  named  by  Indira  Gandhi  her  special  envoy 
to  Pakistan,  Indonesia  and  Nigeria  in  1980. 

From  1976-81,  he  was  president  of  Indian 
Council  of  World  Affairs.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Eminent  Persons'  Group  constituted  by  the 


SWARAN  SINGH 


293 


SYMBOLISM 


United  Nations  General  Assembly.  Most  of  his 
retired  years  were  spent  working  for  UNESCO 
where  he  again  earned  a  great  name  for  himself 
for  his  application  and  readiness  of  mind.  He 
was  Vice-Chairman  of  the  UNESCO  Board, 
1984-86.  The  last  years  of  his  life  were  reserved 
for  the  Bhai  VIr  Singh  Sadan,  an  institute 
devoted  to  the  study  of  Sikh  letters. 

The  catalogue  of  portfolios  held  by  him 
from  time  to  time  will  show  how  indefatigable 
Swaran  Singh  was.  And  how  versatile  :  From 
Railways  to  External  Affairs,  he  proved  equal 
to  anything  that  came  his  way.  He  never  lost 
his  natural  cool  or  his  human  touch.  In  his 
personal  life  he  was  the  cleanest  of  men, 
completely  above  personal  aggrandizement. 
He  was  of  very  simple  habits.  Simple  living  was 
the  overarching  principle  of  his  life.  He  drove 
his  own  car.  Attending  international  meetings 
and  conferences  on  behalf  of  the  nation,  he 
himself  washed  his  personal  linen.  His 
daughters  cycled  to  school.  He  joined  most 
naturally  occasions  of  sorrow  and  joy  in  his 
village.  He  was  most  informal  of  men.  He  never 
travelled  to  his  village  with  the  eclat  of  a 
Cabinet  minister.  He  was  a  man  of  long-lasting 
friendships.  His  closest  friend  in  the  village  was 
a  patvarl,  the  aged  Harbans  Singh. 

Swaran  Singh's  virtues  were  those  he  had 
inherited  from  his  father  who  had  served  as  a 
non-commissioned  officer  in  the  Indian  army. 
After  his  retirement  his  father,  Jam  adar  Partap 
Singh,  was  a  member  of  the  Punjab  Legislative 
Council.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  character  and 
possessed  outstanding  administrative  talent.  He 
diligently  served  the  Shiromanii  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  as  president  to  which 
office  he  was  called  in  1933.'  He  was  a  man  of 
strict  personal  rectitude  and  discipline.  As 
president  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  he  established  a  firm 
functional  apparatus  imparting  viability  to 
Gurdwara  legislation. 

Swaran  Singh  died  at  the  residence  of  his 
daughter,  Dr.  Paramjeet  Kaur,  in  Delhi  on  30 
October  1994.  Cremation  took  place  at  the 


Lodhi  Road  Crematorium,  New  Delhi. 

S.S.B. 

SYLHET  (24°-53'N,  9P-52E),  a  district  town 
in  present-day  Bangladesh,  was  visited  by  Guru 
Nanak  in  1507-08.  A  Sikh  sangat  was 
established  and  a  dharamsala  constructed  here 
to  commemorate  the  holy  visit.  The  sarigatwas 
in  existence  in  the  time  of  Guru  Go  bind  Singh 
which  fact  is  attested  by  a  hukamnama  issued 
by  Guru  Gobind  Singh  to  sarigats  in  Dhaka, 
Chittagong,  Sondip  and  Sylhet  asking  them  to 
send  a  war  elephant  to  the  Guru.  In  another 
hukamnama,  these  four  sarigats  have  be'en 
directed  to  send  their  offerings  of  cash,  cloth, 
weapons  and  shields  through  Bhai  Hulas 
Chand  alone  who  would  take  them  to  the  Guru 
on  the  occasion  of  Divali.  The  shrine  is  known 
to  have  existed  until  the  partition  of  the 
country  in  1947.  Later,  the  East  Pakistan 
government  acquired  the  building  and 
converted  it  into  residential  and  office 
accommodation. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  GurdUarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  Travels  of  Guru  Nanak. 
Chandigarh,  1969 

B.S. 

SYMBOLISM.  The  poetry  of  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  is  noteworthy  especially  for  the  wealth 
and  variety  of  its  images  and  symbols.  The 
Gurus  and  sants  whose  compositions  form  part 
of  the  Holy  Book  have  rendered  their  mystical 
and  spiritual  experience  in  the  idiom  of  poetry. 
A  large  number  of  similes  and  metaphors  and 
numerous  other  forms  of  figurative  expression 
enrich  the  text.  Most  of  the  imagery  has  come 
from  the  storehouse  of  Indian  culture,  but 
there  are  in  the  text  allusions  to  Islam  and  the 
Islamic  way  of  life  as  well. 

The  symbolism  adopted  is  more  akin  to 


SYMBOLISM 


294 


SYMBOLISM 


the  theme  of  the  hymn  than  a  mere 
embellishment.  Most  of  the  imagery  in  the  text 
has  been  derived  from  the  ordinary  house- 
holder's life.  For  example,  the  experience  of 
bliss  from  the  union  of  a  human  soul  with  the 
Supreme  Soul  is  expressed  with  the  help  of  an 
image  of  conjugal  union.  Apart  from  numerous 
such  symbols  scattered  throughout  the 
Scripture,  the  whole  of  Phunhe,  a  composition 
of  Guru  Arjan's  included  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  after  the  Gatha  verses,  is  couched  in 
figurative  speech  wherein  the  'woman'  is 
adjured  to  love  her  'spouse'  because  that  would 
be  for  her  like  ablution  in  'he  ambrosial  water 
of  the  Divine  Name  that  should  purify  'her'  of 
all  sloth  and  sin  and  bring  to  'her'  the  bliss  of 
union  with  the  Divine.  The  symbol  of  lotus, 
which  grows  and  blooms  in  muddy  water  but 
still  remains  unsullied,  has  often  been  used  to 
bring  home  the  idea  that  to  realize  God  man 
need  not  renounce  the  world.  He  should  lead 
a  life  of  detachment  living  amid  worldly 
temptations. 

According  to  Sikh  teaching,  God  is 
nirahkar,  i.e.  without  form.  He  is  Infinite, 
Inaccessible,  Indescribable,  Ineffable  and 
Unknowable.  To  make  Him  comprehensible 
to  the  common  man,  various  symbols  and 
metaphors  have  been  resorted  to.  He  has  been 
called  the  Sultan,  i.e.  the  king,  husband,  father, 
gardener,  farmer,  et  al.  He  is  the  creator  of  this 
universe  and  of  all  that  is  there  in  it  and  like  a 
true  gardener  or  farmer,  He  takes  very  good 
care  of  it.  He  rules  over  the  entire  universe 
where  His  will  reigns  supreme.  He  loves  His 
creation  as  the  husband  loves  his  wife.  For  the 
family,  He  is  the  father.  He  has"  the 
responsibility  of  looking  after  it. 

Man's  self  or  soul  is  a  spark  of  the 
Supreme  Self.  Its  essential  attributes  are  sat 
(real),  chit  (consciousness),  and  anand, 
(perennial  bliss).  It  is  immortal  and  rewarded 
or  punished  according  to  its  good  or  evil  deeds 
in  this  life.-  It  transmigrates  from  one  body  to 
the  other  depending  on  its  deeds.  The  process 
of  transmigration  into  a  low  or  high  species  is 


explained  with  the  metaphor  of  the  Persian 
wheel :  the  buckets  on  the  chain  of  the  wheel 
ascend  and  descend  in  turn,  implying  a  soul's 
migration  into  the  body  of  a  higher  or  lower 
species.  The  second  commonly  used  metaphor 
for  the  soul  is  that  of  mundh  or  dhan,  i.e.  a 
woman  whose  husband  is  away  and  who  is 
pining  for  union  with  him. 

Man,  i.e.  mind,  of  man  is  an  attribute 
which  raises  him  higher  than  any  other  form 
of  creation  in  this  universe.  Going  through  the 
process  of  transmigrations  man  has  come  by 
this  rare  opportunity  which  he  must  now  avail 
himself  of  fully.  Among  the  various  functions 
of  man,  also  called  hirda,  are  surti,  i.e. 
concentration,  and  budhi,  i.e.  intellect.  It  has 
been  compared  with  the  lotus  both  in  its 
upward  (sudha)  and  downward  (ulta) 
condition  ;  whereas  the  former  condition 
denotes  its  receptive  nature,  the  latter  refers 
to  its  perverted  or  non-receptive  nature.  These 
qualities  of  man  have  been  brought  forth  with 
the  help  of  figures  of  maigal,  i.e.  a  mad 
elephant,  which  destroys  everything  that  comes 
its  way  ;  of  khar,  i.e.  ass,  which  is  downright 
obstinate  ;  of  karhala,  i.e.  camel,  which  is 
tempted  by  the  wayside  creepers  of  desires  ;  of 
kala  haran,  i.e.  black  buck,  which  contains  the 
musk  in  its  own  body,  but  ignorant  of  this  runs 
around  looking  for  it  among  the  bushes  ;  of 
dadar,  i.e.  frog,  which  is  happy  in  the  mud  and 
does  not  learn  a  lesson  from  the  lotus  which 
remains  above  the  mud  though  born  out  of  it; 
of  sasi,  i.e.  moon,  which  has  no  light  of  its  own 
but  shines  in  the  light  of  the  sun  ;  of  haran, 
i.e.  deer,  which  gets  enchanted  by  the  fragrance 
emanating  from  its  own  body  and  of  a  bail,  i.e. 
bullock,  which  pulls  the  burden  of  the  body. 

The  two  attitudes  of  mind,  when  it  is 
attracted  towards  God  or  towards  the  world  by 
the  material  comforts  of  life,  belong 
respectively  to  the  categories  of  gurmukh  and 
manmukh.  The  inner  instincts  of  these  two  are 
explained  with  the  help  of  metaphors  of  hans 
(swan)  for  gurmukh  which  picks  at  pearls  and 
thus  has  the  power  of  discrimination  and  of 


SYMBOLISM 


295 


SYMBOLISM 


bagli  (crane)  for  manmukh  which  is  known 
for  its  hypocrisy  for  it  stands  on  one  leg  with 
its  eyes  half  closed  as  of  meditating  but  pounces 
upon  the  small  fish  as  soon  as  it  comes  within 
its  reach.  The  uselessriess  to  society  of  a 
manmukh  is  brought  out  with  the  help  of 
metaphors  of  simal  (oak)  tree  ;  andhla  (blind 
man)  who  cannot  see  ;  and  of  kaihari  (bronze 
metal)  which  glitters  but  shows  up  its  true  worth 
when  rubbed. 

Like  the  musk  of  a  black^deer,  the  man 
resides  in  human  body  which  is  called  kacbi 
gagar  (unbaked  earthen  pitcher),  pinjar 
(cage),  rath  (chariot),  etc.  The  world  where 
the  human  soul  spends  a  certain  period 
equivalent  to  the  life  of  its  mortal  frame  has 
been  described  in  the  various  metaphors  of  an 
inn  the  visitor  stays  in  for  a  while  ;  of  a  van 
(garden)  ;  oipekaghar  (parents'  home)  where 
the  bride  (human  being)  lives  only  until  her 
marriage  (death)  after  which  she  leaves  for 
sahura  ghar  (in-laws'  house)  ;  of  bhavjal  or  the 
rising  ocean  ;  of  gandharb  nagari,  i.e.  an 
illusory  abode  ;  and  of  such  others. 

Sikhism  attaches  a  great  deal  of 
importance  to  the  institution  of  guru.  The 
Guru  has  been  described  as  a  setu  (bridge) 
between  God  and  man.  The  importance  of 
Guru  in  the  spiritual  uplift  of  man  and  in 
making  him  worthy  of  acceptance  at  the  Divine 
Portal  is  explained  with  the  help  of  various 
metaphors  and  symbols  taken  from  mundane 
life,  such  as  that  of  khevat  (boat-man  or  sailor) 
who  ferries  the  boat-of-life  across  the  river  of 
life  to  a  place  where  the  Lord  abides  ;  of  sarovar 
(sacred  pool)  where  gurmukhs  (swans)  dwell 
and  pick  up  pearls  (good  deeds)  as  their  diet ; 
of  tlrath  (lit.  a  holy  place  for  a  dip,  but  originally 
the  safe  place  to  cross  the  river )  which  enables 
man  to  wade  through  the  river  of  life  ;  of  sur 
(sun)  which  enlightens  the  sasi  (moon)  or  the 
dark  minds  ;  of  vicbola  (mediator)  who  helps 
arrange  the  marriage  of  man  (with  God)  ;  of 
anjan  and  kajal  (collyrium)  which  improves  the 
sight  of  our  mind's  eye  ;  of  pabarua  (the 
watchman)  who  drive  away  the  thieves  of  kam 


(lust),  krodh  (anger),  lobh  (greed),  mob 
(infatuation)  and  ahankar  (ego)  ;  of  sura 
(warrior)  who  wields  the  sword  of  jnana 
(knowledge)  and  drives  away  the  evil  of 
ignorance  ;  of  jot  (light)  which  illuminates  the 
dark  recesses  of  the  human  mind  ;  and  paras, 
the  philosopher's  stone  which  tur^is  dross  into 
gold.  He  is  also  likened  to  a  siddha  (the  perfect 
being),  the  joglor  yogi  (who  is  in  cQmmunion 
with  the  mata  (mother),  pita  (father)  and  the 
bandhap  (relative). 

Meditation  on  the  name  of  God  has  been 
recommended  time  and  again  as  the  only 
means  of  realizing  Him,  but  the  nature  of  His 
Name  and  the  method  of  meditation  have  not 
been  elaborated.  However,  there  are  many 
symbols  and  images  used  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  which  reveal  to  us  the  nature  of  His 
Name  ;  it  is  called  the  amrit  (nectar)  which 
rejuvenates  man  ;  mat  dudh  (mother's  milk) 
which  nourishes  the  child  and  the  energy 
gained  from  it  works  in  man  throughout  the 
life-period  ;  sayan  or  mitar  (friend),  mata 
(mother)  and  pita  (father)  who  are  man's  real 
well-wishers  ;  tuJha  (raft)  which  enables  man 
wade  across  the  ocean  of  life  ;  pauri  (ladder) 
with  the  help  of  which  man  can  climb  to  the 
Lord's  seat  ;  a  kbarag  (sword)  which  cuts 
asunder  the  net  of  evil  ;  and  paras,  i.e.  the 
philosopher's  stone  which  transforms  the  gross 
mind.  Nam  has  also  been  called  nidhan,  i.e. 
the  treasure  of  all  excellence  and  darii  or 
aukbad  which  relieves  man  of  all  his  evil 
propensities. 

The  metaphysical  or  mystical  experiences 
have  been  made  comprehensible  in  images 
taken  from  household  life.  The  endre  poetic 
diction  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  surcharged 
with  symbolic  meaning.  When  Guru  Nanak 
says-  tu  suni  harna  kaba  ki  variai  rata  ram 
(listen  o  black  deer,  why  are  you  in 
intoxication).  Black  deer  is  actually  no  black 
deer,  it  is  symbolic  of  human  mind  and  the  field 
is  no  piece  of  land,  but  this  vast  world  of  earthly 
pleasures.  .Rata  is  also  symbolic  as  it  connotes 
deeply  dyed  in  Lord's  love.  Farid  says  sarvar 


SYMBOLISM 


296 


SYMBOLISM 


pankhi  hekro  phahival  pachas  (at  the  pool 
there  is  but  a  solitary  bird,  but  the  captors  ready 
to  seize  it  can  be  counted  by  the  fifties)  ;  the 
sarvar  (tank)  here  is  symbolic  of  the  world,  the 
pankhi,  bird,  is  symbolic  of  man,  and  phahlval 
(captor),  of  the  temptations  of  worldly 
pleasures.  Raga  Suhl  opens  with  this  line  of 
Guru  Nanak :  bhanda  dhoi  bais  dhupu  devahu 
tau  dudhai  kau javahu  (wash  the  vessel,  smoke 
it  for  disinfection,  then  go  to  fetch  the  milk)  ; 
bhanda,  vessel,  is  the  symbol  of  mind,  dhupu 
(incense)  is  the  symbol  of  purity,  and  milk  is 
the  symbol  of  the  nam,  Name  ;  if  it  is  so,  then 
washing,  disinfecting  and  going  also  becomes 
symbolic  language.  So  is  sapu  pirai palai  bikhu 
antari  mani  rosu  (If  a  snake  is  put  in  a  basket, 
it  continues  to  have  poison  and  to  nurse  wrath) . 


Here  sapu  (snake)  stands  for  the  mind,  pirai 
(basket)  stands  for  ritualisdc  restraints,  bikhu, 
poison  stands  for  evil  tendencies,  sifati 
salahanu  chhadi  kai  karahgi  laga  hansu 
(abandoning  praise  of  the  Lord,  the  swan  is 
chasing  the  carcase).  The  swan  is  the  holy 
person  or  the  soul,  carcase  stands  for  the  evil 
pleasures. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  A  Critical  Study  of  Adi 
Granth.  Delhi,  1961 

2.  Sekhon,  Sant  Singh,   A  History  of  Panjabi 
Literature,  Vol.  I.  Patiala,  1993 

3.  Taran  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib Ji  da  Sahitak 
Itihas.  Amritsar,  n.d 

T.S. 


T 


TABFDARI,  lit.  subordination  or  obedience, 
was  a  system  of  non-proprietory  but  permanent 
and  hereditary  land  tenure  during  Sikh  rule 
in  the  Punjab.  The  holders  of  tabi'daxi  tenure 
were  equivalent  to  those  who  since  Mughal 
times  had  been  known  as  muzari'an-i-maurusi 
or  occupancy  tenants.  It  was  prevalent  in 
villages  that  formed  part  of  permane  nt  jagirs 
such  as  dharmarth  or  charity,  madad-ii-ma'ash 
or  subsistence,  and  in'am  or  reward  grants 
and  in  pattidari  holdings.  Grantees  of  such 
jagirs  who  were  called  mu'aildars  enjoyed,  in 
addition  to  a  specified  part  or  whole  of  the 
revenue  income  of  their  lands,  some 
additional  rights  over  their  tenants.  Tenants 
were  broadly  categorized  into  muzari'an 
mustaqul  or  muzariari-i-maurusj  (hereditary 
occpancy  tenants)  and  muzariari-i-ghair 
mustaqil  (tenants-at-will) .  During  the  time  of 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh,  muzari'  an-mustaqil 
were  further  categorized  into  asamiah-i-qadlm 
coming  down  from  old  times,  purana 
mustaqil  who  started  cultivating  around  1810, 
and  mustaqil  jadid  who  had  newly  acquired 
hereditary  occupancy  rights.  The  third 
category  covered  afoadkarari,  lit.  cultivators  of 
virgin  lands,  banjarsh-shigafah,  lit.  breakers 
of  wastelands,  and  those  who  made 
permanent  improvements  in  their  holdings 
like  sinking  a  well,  raising  embankments  and 
digging  channels  for  irrigation. 

Under  the  tabi'dari  system  the 
occupancy  tenants  differed  from  peasant- 
proprietors  in  that,  in  addition  to  land 
revenue  due  to  the  government,  they  had  to 
make  certain  additional  payments  and  render 
occasional  service  to  the  landlords.  The 
additional  dues  most  common  were  called 


malikana  or  proprietorship  tax  (malik,  in  Punjabi, 
means  proprietor),  ranging  from  1-1/2  to  25% 
of  the  land  revenue,  However,  they  could  not 
be  dispossessed  of  their  holdings  except,  in 
exceptional  cases,  when  a  proprietor  required 
the  land  for  his  own  use.  Even  the  non- 
cultivating  residents  had  permanent  occupancy 
right  over  the  land  on  which  they  had  built  their 
houses:  The  right  was  inheritable,  but  not 
transferable. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Banga,  Indu,  Agrarian  System  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1978 

H.R.G. 

TAHIKAN,  a  seventeenth-century  poet,  was  the 
son  of  Rahgil  Das,  a  Chopra  Khatri  of  Jalalpur, 
in  present-day  Gujrat  district  of  Pakistan.  A 
soldier  by  profession,  he  rendered  into  Hindi 
verse  AmarKosa  and  "Asvamedha  Parva"  of  the 
Mahabharata.  He  titled  the  former  work  Ratan 
Dam.  Several  Sikh  scholars  such  as  Baba  Sumer 
Singh,  Bhai  Gian  Singh,  Bhai  Kahn  Singh  and 
Bhai  VIr  Singh  count  Tahikan  among  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  poets,  although  there  is  no 
explicit  reference  to  the  Guru  in  his  work.  His 
Asvamedha  Parva  is  dated  1726  Bk/AD  1669  by 
the  poet  himself.  It  is  possible  that  as  the  work 
of  rendering  the  ancient  texts,  into  Bhakha,  in 
Gurmukhi  script  under  the  patronage  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  was  in  progress  Tahikan's 
manuscripts  were  brought  to  him  by  the  poet 
himself  or  by  someone  else.  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
may  have  got  them  transcribed  into  Gurmukhi. 
The  manuscript  of  Asvamedha  Parva  preserved 
in  the  Sikh  Reference  Library  at  Amritsar  (No 
5026)  was  dated  1753  Bk/AD  1696  by  Balgovind 


TAHILPURA 


298 


TAHIA  SAHIB,  GURDWARA 


Fateh  Chand,  one  of  the  scribes  serving  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  The  manuscript  (No.  2420), 
entided  Ratan  Dam  (Amar  Kosa  Bhakha),  is 
preserved  in  the  Central  Public  Library  at  Patiala. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Bachkra  Natak 

2.  Sainapati,  Sri  Gur  Sobha,  ed.  Ganda  Singh. 
Patiala,  1967 

3.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Ji  de 
Darbari  Ratan.  Patiala,  1976 

P.S.P. 

TAHILPURA,  a  small  village  in  the  interior  of 
Fatehgarh  Sahib  district  was  visited  by  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  in  the  course  of  one  of  his 
journeys  through  the  Malva  region.  A  small 
raised  platform  marked  the  spot  where  he  had 
put  up.  Later  some  Nirmala  sadhus  established 
a  place  of  worship  and  installed  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  Afterwards,  Maharaja  Karam 
Singh  of  Patiala  (1798-1845)  had  a  Mahji  Sahib 
constructed  here  which  still  exists.  At  the  back 
of  the  Mahji  Sahib  there  is  an  old  pipai  tree 
which  is  believed  to  have  existed  since  the  time 
of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's  visit.  The  Gurdwara  is 
maintained  by  the  village  sarigat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975. 

2.  Gian  Singh,  GianI,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavah  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

M.G.S. 

TAHIL  SINGH,  BHAI  (1875-1921),  one  of  the 
Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  born  in  1875,  the 
eldest  son  of  Bhai  Chanda  Singh  and  Mai 
Rukko,  Kamboj  residents  of  Nizampur  village 
in  Amritsar  district.  On  the  opening  of  the 
Lower  Chenab  Canal  Colony  in  western  Punjab 
(now  Pakistan),  the  family  moved,  in  1892,  to 
Chakk  No.  38  Nizampur  Deva  Sihghvala  in 
Sheikhupura  area.  In  1902  Tahil  Singh  went 


abroad  to  Malaya  (now  Malaysia)  where  he 
worked  as  a  watchman  in  Kuala  Lumpur.  He 
came  back  to  India  in  1909  but  left  again  after 
two  years.  In  1915  he  finally  returned  home 
on  his  father's  death.  He  began  associating 
himself  with  progressive  and  reformist 
movements.  He  enlisted  as  a  volunteer  for  the 
Rikabgahj  agitation,  preached  reformists' 
policies  and  programmes  in  the  surrounding 
villages,  took  an  active  part  in  the  political 
conference  held  at  Dharovali  on  1-3  October 
1920,  participated  in  the  liberation  of 
Gurdwara  Babe  di  ber,  Sialkot,  Gurdwara  Khara 
Sauda,  Chuharkana,  and  Sri  Darbar  Sahib,  Tarn . 
Taran.  On  19  February  1921,  he  marshalled 
20  volunteers  from  his  own  village  and  joined 
the  jatha  led  by  Bhai  Lachhman  Singh 
Dharovali  proceeding  to  liberate  Gurdwara 
Janam  Asthan,  Nankana  Sahib.  As  the  jatha 
approached  the  shrine  in  the  early  morning 
of  20  February,  Chaudhari  Pal  Singh  Lyallpuri, 
a  local  leader,  happened  to  meet  them  and 
informed  them  about  the  Shiromani 
Committee's  decision  to  postpone  action  and 
advised  them  to  go  back.  At  this  Bhai  Tahil 
Singh  pushed  forward  and  declared  that  they 
had  said  their  ardas  and  pledged  their  word  to 
the  Guru  not  to  turn  their  back  on  their 
resolution  and  that  any  retreat  at  that  stage  was 
unthinkable.  At  this  the  entire  jatha  went  at  a 
sprint  and  entered  the  compound  of  Gurdwara 
Janam  Asthan  where  the  hired  assassins  of 
Mahant  Narain  Das,  already  alerted  and 
equipped  with  lethal  arms  and  material  for  a 
mass  pyre,  butchered  them  en  masse. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

TAHLA  SAHIB,  GURDWARA,  sacred  to  both 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  and  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
is  in  the  revenue  limits  of  Rajgarh  Kubbe,  a 
village  5  km  southeast  of  Maur  Kalah  (30"-4'N, 
75"-14E),  in  Bathinda  district  of  the  Punjab. 


TAHL  SINGH  CHHACHHl 


299 


TAHMASNAMAH 


Lying  2.5  km  to  the  west  of  the  village,  there 
used  to  be,  in  the  time  of  the  Gurus,  only  a 
copse  of  tahli trees  (Albergia  sissoo)  and  a  pool 
of  water  where  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  often  came 
from  Maur  Kalah  while  put  for  his  afternoon 
ride.  Guru  Gobind  Singh  visited  the  place  once 
from  Talvandl  Sabo  during  chase.  The 
memorials  raised  in  honour  of  the  Gurus  were 
later  enclosed  in  what  carne  to  be  known  as 
Gurdwara  Tahla  Sahib,  which  also  lends  its 
name  to  the  small  habitation  which  has  since 
grown  beside  it.  The  square  domed  room  in 
the  middle  of  the  brickpaved  walled  compound 
of  the  Gurdwara  is  called  Mahji  Sahib  in  which 
a  few  old  weapons  are  on  display.  The  Gurdwara 
is  managed  by  the  local  sahgat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra.  Asthan, 
Paramparavan  te  Yad  Ch'mh.  Patiala,  1976 

2.  Kahn  Singh,  Gurushabad  Ratanakar  Mahan  Kosh 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

M.G.S. 

TAHL  SINGH  CHHACHHl  (d.  1785),  a  Kohli 
Khatri,  first  entered  the  service  of  the  Khattar 
sardars  but  later  joined  Sardar  Charhat  Singh 
Sukkarchakkla  and  received  from  him,  in  1741, 
jagirs  comprising  several  villages,  including 
Mian  Daud  Khel.  Tahl  Singh  also  made 
conquests  on  his  own  account  and  captured 
territories  from  the  Pathans  of  Makhad.  He 
died  in  1785  and  was  succeeded  in  his  jagirs  by 
his  sons  Jassa  Singh,  Fateh  Singh  and  Sher 
Singh.  Jassa  Singh  died  in  1790,  but  his 
brothers,  Fateh  Singh  and  Sher- Singh,  served 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  through  his  early 
campaigns  and  received  large  additions  to  their 
estates  at  Sahival  and  Kuhjah. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 

G.S.N. 

TAHMASNAMAH,  variously  known  as 
Tahmasphamah,  Tazkirah-i-Tahmasp,  Hikayat 


or  Qissa-Tahmas  Miskin,  is  a  Persian 
manuscript  preserved  in  British  Library, 
London  (Or.  1918).  In  India,  photostat  copies 
are  available  in  the  Oriental  Public  (Khuda 
Bakhsh)  Library,  Patna,  and  in  the  Sikh  History 
Research  Department  at  Khalsa  College, 
Amritsar  (No.  1283).  The  manuscript 
consisting  of  354  pages  of  16  lines  each  is  by 
Tahmas  Khan,  originally  named  Zahir  and  then 
Taimur,  who  adopted  Miskin  (lit.  humble)  as  a 
pseudonym.  Written  in  autobiographical 
discursive  style,  the  memoir  is  without  any  dates 
and  is  divided  haphazardly  into  108  sections 
designated  as  hikayats  or  dastans  (lit.  stories) 
of  unequal  length.  The  author,  however, 
provides  valuable  and  often  original 
information  gathered  at  first  hand  about  events 
that  took  place  in  the  Punjab  during  over  three 
decades  ending  with  1782. 

Tahmas  Khan  Miskin  was  of  Armenian  or 
Kurdish  extracdon.  Born  in  a  village  in  Asia 
Minor,  he  was  captured  in  infancy  by  Nadir 
Shah's  Uzbeks.  He  was  brought  to  India  at  the 
age  of  seven  and  was  offered  as  a  present  to 
Mu'in  ul-Mulk,  commonly  known  as  Mir 
Mannu,  the  governor  of  Punjab,  (1748-53), 
who  trained  him  for  military  service.  On  the 
death  of  his  master,  he  condnued  to  serve  his 
widow,  Mughlani  Begam,  whose  close  confidant 
he  became  and  whom  he  accompanied  during 
her  flight  from  Lahore  to  Sirhind  and  thence 
to  Delhi.  He  later  fell  out  with  the  Begam  and 
served  successively  under  Zabita  Khan  Ruhila 
(d.  1785)  and  Mirza  Najaf  Khan  (d.  1782). 

Miskin  saw  much  acdve  service  and  took 
part  in  several  operations  against  the  Sikhs.  He 
writes  with  personal  knowledge  about  events 
such  as  Diwan  Kaura  Mall's  death  in  battle 
against  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  in  1752  and  the 
occupation  of  Lahore  by  the  Sikhs  jointly  with 
the.  Marathas  in  April  1758.  In  fact,  one  of  the 
most  striking  features  of  Tahmasnamah  is  the 
information  it  provides  about  the  sustained 
rebellion  of  the  Sikhs,  their  guerilla  tactics,  the 
persecution  they  suffered.  Mir  Mannu  set  up 
special  mobile  columns  armed  with  jaza'ils, 


TAIMUR  SHAH 


300 


TAKHT 


long-firing  swivel  guns,  to  be  used  against  thefn. 
Miskin  writes :  "Mu'in  appointed  most  of  them 
(jaza'ilchis)  to  the  task  of  chastising  the  Sikhs. 
They  ran  after  these  wretches  up  to  28  kos  in  a 
day  and  slew  them  wherever  they  stood  up  to 
oppose  them.  Anyone  who  brought  Sikhs' 
heads  to  Mu'in  received  a  reward  of  Rs.  10  per 
head.  Anyone  who  brought  a  horse  belonging 
to  a  Sikh  could  keep  it  as  his  own.  Whosoever 
lost  his  own  horse  fighting  with  the  Sikhs  got 
another  in  its  place  from  the  state  stables."  At 
another  place  he  records,  "The  Sikhs  who  were 
captured  alive  were  sent  to  hell  by  being  beaten 
with  wooden  mallets.  At  times  Adina  Beg  Khan 
sent  40-50  Sikh  captives  from  the  Doab  ;  they 
were  as  a  rule  killed  with  the  strokes  of  wooden 
hammers."  He  also  gives  accounts  of  the  Vadda 
Ghallughara  of  5  February  1762  in  which, 
according  to  him,  25,000  Sikhs  were  killed  ; 
the  sack  of  Sirhind  by  the  Sikhs  two  years  later; 
and  the  Sikhs'  plundering  raids  into  the 
Gahga-Yamuna  Doab.  Once,  says  Miskin,  he 
along  with  Rustam  Khan,  the  faujdarof  Sialkot, 
was  made  captive  by  Sudej  Sikhs,  and  though 
a  zamindar  came  miraculously  to  his  rescue, 
both  had  to  pay  ransoms  for  their  release. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

S.H.A. 

TAIMUR  SHAH  (1746-1793),  son  and 
successor  of  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  was  born 
in  December  1746  at  Mashhad,  in  Iran,  where 
his  father  was  in  the  service  of  Nadir  Shah. 
Taimur  was  educated  at  home  and  received 
practical  training  in  the  art  of  warfare  by 
accompanying  his  father  on  many  of  his 
expeditions.  He  was  present  in  Delhi  in  January 
1757  during  Ahmad  Shah's  fourth  inroad  into 
India.  In  February  1757,  Taimur  was  married 
at  the  age  often  to  the  daughter  of  the  Mughal 
Emperor,  'Alamgir  II.  While  heading  a 
detachment  carrying  booty  from  Delhi  in 
March  the  same  year,  he  was  deprived  of  a  large 


part  of  it  by  Ala  Singh,  founder  of  the  Patiala 
dynasty,  and  other  Sikh  sardars  at  Sanaur  and 
Malerkotla.  In  May  1757,  Taimur  was  appointed 
viceroy  of  the  Punjab  by  his  father  with  Jahan 
Khan,  the  commander-in-chief,  as  his  guardian 
and  deputy.  After  the  departure  of  Ahmad 
Shah  Durrani,  Taimur  and  Jahan  Khan  directed 
their  attention  towards  chastising  the  Sikhs  who 
had  not  been  fully  subdued.  Their  stronghold 
at  Amritsar,  Ram  Rauni,  was  attacked  and  razed 
to  the  ground,  the  sacred  tank  was  filled  up 
and  the  Harimandar  and  other  places  of 
worship  were  defiled.  The  Sikhs  angered  by  the 
sacrilege,  ravaged  the  whole  country  around 
Lahore.  Taimur  engaged  them  on  several 
occasions  but  was  worsted  each  time.  After  an 
year's  stay  in  the  Punjab,  he  was  eventually  driven 
out  by  the  combined  forces  of  the  Sikhs,  the 
Marathas  and  Adina  Beg  Khan  in  April  1758. 

Taimur  became  the  ruler  of  Afghanistan 
in  1773  after  the  death  of  his  father,  Ahmad 
Shah  Durrani.  He  shifted  his  capital  from 
Qandahar  to  Kabul.  The  possessions  of  the 
Sikhs  extended  at  this  time  from  Saharanpur 
in  the  east  to  Attock  in  the  west,  and  from 
Multan  and  Sindh  in  the  south,  to  Kangra, 
Jammu  and  Bhimbar  in  the  north.  Taimur 
Shah  made  several  attempts  to  recover  his  lost 
territories  and  consolidate  his  empire,  but  all 
he  could  do  was  to  hold  on  to  Kashmir  and 
eject  the  Bhaiigi  sardars  from  Multan. 

Taimur  Shah  died  in  Kabul  on  18  May  1793. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ganda  Singh,  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani.  Bombay, 
1959 

2.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Delhi,  1978 

3.  Sarkar,  Jadunath,  Fall  of  the  Mughal  Empire,  vol. 
II.  Delhi,  1971 

4.  Kliushwam  singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  I. 
Princeton,  1963 

G.S.D. 

TAKHT,  Persian  word  meaning  a  throne  or 
royal  seat,  has,  besides  its  common  literal  use, 


TAKHT 


301 


TAKHT 


other  connotations  in  the  Sikh  tradition.  In 
Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the  Sikh  Scripture,  phrases 
such  as  sachcha  takht  (true  throne)  and  ptira 
takht  (perfect  throne)  have  been  used  to 
signify  God's  seat  of  divine  justice.  Guru  Nanak 
in  Var  Malar  KJ  alludes  to  the  created  universe 
as  His  sacha  takht  (GG,  907),  but  also  qualifies 
that  "His  is  the  sacha.  or  everlasting  takht  while 
all  else  comes  and  goes"  (GG,  1279).  God  in  Sikh 
metaphysics  is  described  as  Formless  but  to 
make  Him  intelligible  to  the  lay  man  He  is 
sometimes  personified  and  referred  to  as  sacha 
sah,  sultan,  patsah  meaning  the  true  king  or 
sovereign.  As  such  his  seat  is  appropriately 
referred  to  a  sachcha  takht  sitting  on  which  he 
dispenses  sachcha  niaon,  true  justice.  Bhai 
Gurdas  (d.  1636),  poet  and  exegele,  also 
describes  sadh  sarigat,  holy  fellowship,  as  God's 
takht  {Varan, XI.  5). 

Guru  in  Sikhism  is  believed  to  be  one  with 
God,  and  it  became  commo  n  among  the  Sikhs, 
at  least  by  the  time  of  Guru  Aijan  ( 1 563-1 606) , 
to  refer  to  the  Gurus  too  as  sachcha  patshah 
and  to  their  gaddi  or  spiritual  seat  as  takht.  The 
bards  Balvand,  Nalya  and  Mathura,  in  their 
verses  included  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  use 
takht  in  this  sense. 

Guru  Hargobind  (1595-1644)  in  fact 
adopted  a  princely  style.  He  constructed  a  high 
platform  opposite  Harimandar,  the  Golden 
Temple  of  modern  day,  for  his  investiture  as 
Guru,  in  1606.  It  was  named  Akal  Takht.  the 
Throne  of  the  Timeless  One.  Subsequently  a 
building,  Akal  Bunga,  was  raised  over  it  so  that 
the  Akal  Takht  continues  to  be  its  popular 
name.  Here  the  G-uru  conducted  the  secular 
affairs  of  the  community.  Sitting  on  high  takht 
he  held  his  court,  received  offerings,  heard  the 
bards  recite  heroic  poetry  and  issued 
hukamnamahs  or  edicts  to  Sikhs  and  distant 
sarigats.  In  the  open  space  between  the 
Harimandar  and  the  Akal  Takht  were  held 
tournaments  of  physical  feats  in  the  afternoons. 
The  Akal  Takht  became  for  the  Sikhs  the 
highest  seat  of  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual 
authority.  The  Sikhs  recognize  four  other  holy 


places  as  takhts.  They  are  connected  with  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  ( 1666-1 708)-Takht  Sri 
Harimandar  Sahib,  Patna,  where  he  was  born  ; 
Takht  Sri  Kesgarh  Sahib,  Anandpur,  where  he 
created  the  Khalsa ;  Takht  Sachkhand  Sri  Hazur 
Sahib,  Abchalnagar,  Nanded,  in  Maharashtra, 
where  he  passed  away ;  and  Takht  Sri  Damdama 
Sahib  ,  Talvandi  Sabo,  where  he  stayed  for 
several  months  in  1 706.  While  the  other  Takhts 
were  recognized  as  such  in  the  Sikh  Gurdwaras 
Act,  1925,  the  one  at  Talvandi  Sabo  was  officially 
declared  a  Takht  by  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  at  its  general  meeting 
held  on  18  November  1966. 

Takhts  are  equally  regarded  as  high  seats 
of  religious  authority,  but  the  Akal  Takht  at 
Amritsar  enjoys  a  special  status  as  the  religious 
capital  of  the  Sikhs. 

For  example,  meetings  of  the  Sarbatt 
Khalsa  or  a  general  assembly  representative  of 
the  entire  panth,  can  be  summoned  only  by 
the  Jathedar  of  Akal  Takht  and  it  is  only  there 
that  cases  connected  with  serious  religious 
offences  committed  by  prominent  Sikhs  are 
heard  and  penalties  imposed  where  necessary. 
Important  JuiJcamnamaJis,  edicts  or 
proclamations  on  behalf  of  the  Panth,  issued 
by  the  Akal  Takht  have  precedence  over  those 
issued  by  other  Takhts.  According  to 
conventions  evolved  over  the  centuries,  the 
Takhts  as  a  matter  of  policy  have  refrained  from 
entering  political  controversies  or 
administrative  questions  unless  a  question  also 
touches  matters  of  religious  faith  or  doctrine. 
Although  ever  since  the  rise  of  the  Akali 
movement  religious  and  political  rnorchas 
(agitations)  were  generally  conducted  from  the 
Akal  Takht,  administration  of  religious  places 
is  vest  ed  in  a  statutory  representative  body,  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
of  whichjathedars  of  all  the  five  Takhts  are  ex- 
officio  members,  and  political  affairs  of  the 
panth  are  handled  by  the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Teja  Singh,  Sikhism;  Its  /deals  and  Institutions. 


TAKHT  MALI. 


302 


TAKHT  SINGH,  BHAI 


Bombay,  1937 

2.  Dilgeer,  Harjinder  Singh,  The  Akal  Takht. 
Jalandhar,  1980 

3.  Sukhdial  Singh,  Akal  Takht  Sahib.  Patiala,  1984 

H.S.Ch. 

TAKHT  MALL,  a  Khahira  Jatt  and  chaudhari 
or  headman  of  Khadur,  accepted  the  Sikh  faith 
in  the  time  of  Guru  Ahgad  (1504-52).  He 
served  the  Guru  with  devotion  and  always 
brought  ample  provisions  for  Guru  ka  Lahgar, 
the  community  kitchen. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Macauliffe,  M.A.,   The  Sikh  Religion.  Oxford, 
1909 

Gn.S. 

TAKHT  MALL,  a  masand  or  preacher  and  the 
collector  in  the  Nakka  region  western  part  of 
Lahore  district)  during  the  time  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  (1666-1708),  was  so  scared  when 
he  heard  of  the  Guru  sending  for  some 
masands  and  punishing  those  found  guilty  of 
misappropriation  of  sarigat's  offerings  that  he 
went  to  the  Guru's  mother  and  importuned 
her  to  intercede-with  the  Guru  on  his  behalf. 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  finding  him  repentant  and 
remorseful  pardoned  him. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa.  Patiala, 
1970 

3.  Macauliffe,  M.A.,  The  Sikh  Religion.  Oxford,1909 

P.S.P. 

TAKHT  SINGH,  BHAI  (1870-1937),  a  pioneer 
of  women's  education,  was  born  at  Firozpur 
around  1870.  His  father,  Deva  Singh  Nihahg, 
is  said  to  have  fought  in  both  of  the  Anglo- 
Sikh  wars  (1845-46  and  1848-49).  Takht  Singh 
passed  the  High  Proficiency  (Vidvan) 


examination  in  1887  from  the  Oriental 
College  at  Lahore,  where  two  of  his  teachers, 
Bhai  Gurmukh  Singh  and  Giani  Ditt  Singh, 
both  leading  figures  in  the  Singh  Sabha  reform 
movement,  deeply  influenced  him.  Takht 
Singh  returned  from  Lahore  resolved  to 
dedicate  himself  to  the  cause  of  women's 
education  among  Sikhs.  To  a  modest  open-air 
school  he  had  established  at  Firozpur,  he  added 
in  1904  a  boarding  house  which  marked  the 
beginning  of  the  Sikh  Kanya  Mahavidayala.  The 
institution,  the  first  of  its  kind,  gave  a  fillip  to 
education  among  Sikh  women  and  became  a 
centre  of  cultural  and  literary  activity.  In 
running  this  school,  Bhai  Takht  Singh  received 
great  support  from  his  wife,  Bibi  Harnam  Kaur. 
Upon  her  decease  in  1906  he  married,  on  17 
September  1910,  Bibi  Agya  Kaur,  who  also 
proved  a  worthy  helpmate.  Bhai  Takht  Singh 
travelled  to  distant  places,  such  as  Rangoon, 
Malaya  and  Singapore  to  raise  funds  for  the 
Mahavidayala.  In  1907  was  begun  the  erecdon 
of  the  main  building  of  the  school.  The  same 
year  was  launched  a  literary  . and  social 
magazine,  the  Panjabi  Bhain  (Punjabi  Sister). 
At  the  Sikh  Kanya  Mahavidayala,  Bhai  Takht 
Siiigh  started  assembling  books,  manuscripts, 
journals  and  newspapers,  mainly  in  Punjabi. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  what  in  course  of 
time  grew  into  a  prestigious  collection,  named 
Bhai  Ditt  Singh  Library  in  honour  of  his 
teacher  of  Oriental  College  days.  The 
collection  came  to  the  Punjabi  University  at 
Patiala  in  1983.  Bhai  Takht  Singh  remained 
actively  associated  with  the  Sikh  Educational 
Conference  and  was,  as  a  rule,  called  upon  to 
say  ardas,  supplication  prayer,  at  its  annual 
sessions.  Such  was  the  quality  of  his  dedication 
to  his  work  that  his  colleagues  affectionately 
called  him  Zinda  Shahid,  the  Living  Martyr. 

Bhai  Takht  Singh  died  on  18  December 
1937. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Bhagat  Lakshman  Singh: 
Autobiography.  Calcutta,  1965 


TAKHTU.  BHAI 


303 


TAKHTU PURA 


2.  Lai  Singh,  Giani,  Guru  Bansavali.  Singapore  1939 

3.  Karam  Singh,  Jivan  BlbJ Hamam  Kaur.  Firozpur, 
1907 

Gsh.S. 

TAKHTU,  BHAI,  a  Dhir  Khatri,  embraced  Sikh 
faith  during  the  time  of  Guirii  Arjan.  He  lived 
up  to  the  time  of  Guru  Hargobind  -when  he 
earned  a  name  for  himself  as  a  soldier 
participating  in  the  encounters  with  the 
Mughal  troops.  "Once",  as  says  Bhai  Mam 
Singh,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala,  "Bhai  Takhtu, 
accompanied  by  Bhai  Dargah  Tuli,  Bhai 
Mansadhar,  and  Bhai  Tirath  Uppal,  waited  on 
Guru  Hargobind  and  said,  "Venerable  True 
King  !  We  listen  to  discourses  given  by 
enlightened  Sikhs  and  they  do  afford  us  mental 
peace,  but  when  Bhai  Nivala  or  Bhai  Nihala 
expound  the  sacred  word;,  it  is  a  different 
experience  altogether.  We  feel  spiritually 
elated.  Whence  comes  the  difference,  Master?" 
Guru  Hargobind  said,  "The  Sacred  Word  is  the 
fount  of  eternal  bliss.  But  preachers  vary  as  do 
the  listeners."  According  to  the  Sikhan  di 
Bhagat  Mala,  the  Guru  then  enumerated 
fourteen  qualities  each  of  a  good  preacher  and 
of  a  good  listener.  A  model  preacher  practised 
what  he  said  and  a  model  liste  ner  acted  on  what 
he  heard. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Man!  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

TAKHTUPURA.  village  5  km  east  of 
Nihalsihghvala  (30"-35'N,  75"~16'E)  in  present- 
day  Moga  district  of  the  Punjab,  is  sacred  to 
Guru  Nanak  (1469-1539),  Guru  Hargobind 
(1595-1644)  and  Gum  Gobind  Singh  (1666- 
1708).  Three  separate  shrines  close  to  one 
another  and  collectively  called  Nanaksar  after 
the  name  of  the  sarovar  or  sacred  pool 
commemorate  the  Gurus'  visits. 


GURDWARA  PATSHAHI  PAHIU,  on  the  bank  of 
Nanaksar  sarovar,  marks  the  site  where  Guru 
Nanak  had  discoursed  with  a  few  Siddha-yogis 
who  lived  on  a  nearby  mound.  The  building, 
raised  by  the  local  sahgat  on  the  site  of  an  old 
mud  hut,  was  constructed  in  1975  by  Sant 
Darbara  Singh  of  Lopoh.  The  new  six-storeyed 
edifice  is  a  marble-floored  hall,  with  the 
sanctum  at  the  far  end.  The  upper  storeys  built 
over  the  sanctum  have  above  them  a  lotus 
dome  topped  by  a  gold-plated  pinnacle. 

GURDWARA  PATSHAHI  CHHEVIN  commemorates 
the  visit  of  Guru  Hargobind,  who  came  here 
after  the  battle  of  Mehraj  in  December  1634. 
According  to  local  tradition,  Bhai  Jakko,  a 
leading  farmer  of  the  village  served  him  with 
devotion.  For  a  long  time  only  a  platform  set 
up  as  memorial  had  existed  here.  The  present 
Gurdwara  was  built  by  Sant  Suhdar  Singh 
Bhindrahvale  in  1921.  The  sanctum  is  in  the 
middle  of  a  high-ceilinged,  marbled  hall,  with 
a  gallery  at  mid-height.  There  is  a  basement 
below  and  domed  pavilion  above  the  sanctum 
topped  by  a  gold-plated  pinnacle. 

GURDWARA  PATSHAHI  DASVlN,  on  the  eastern 
bank  of  the  sarovar,  is  dedicated  to  Guru 
Gobind  Singh,  who  visited  Takhtupura  en  route 
to  Dina  in  December  1705.  He  is  said  to  have 
bathed  in  the  sacred  Nanaksar.  The  old 
building,  constructed  by  an  Udasi  saint,  Bishan 
Das,  collapsed  during  the  abnormally  heavy 
rains  in  1955,  and  was  replaced  by  the  present 
complex  raised  by  Sant  Darbara  Singh  of 
Lopoh  in  1962.  It  comprises  a  marble-floored 
hall,  with  the  sanctum  in  the  middle. 

NANAKSAR,  the  rectangular  sarovar,  was  partly 
lined  by  Dhanna  Singh  Malval,  a  general  under 
Maharaja  Ranjlt  Singh.  It  was  desilted  and 
completed  with  a  marbled  circumambulatory 
terrace  in  1921  under  the  supervision  of  Sant 
Sundar  Singh  Bhindrahvale. 

These  shrines  are  administered  by  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee. 


TALAPUR 


304 


TANKHAH 


Besides  the  daily  services  and  the  ob  servance 
of  important  anniversaries  on  the  Sikh 
calendar,  a  largely-attended  divan  is  held  on 
every  new-moon  day.  The  major  function  of 
the  year,  however,  is  a  3-day  religious  fair  held 
to  mark  the  popular  festivals  of  Lohri  and 
Maghi  (mid-January).  The  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  also  runs  at 
Takhtupura  an  educational  institution,  Guru 
Nanak  Khalsa  High  School,  managed  by  a 
separate  1 1-member  committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,    Twarikh  Gurduariaii. 
Amritsar,  n.d 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

Gn.S. 

TALAPUR,  a  village,  3  km  east  of  Chamkaur 
Sahib  (30"-53'N,  76n-25'E)  in  Ropar  district  of 
the  Punjab,  has  a  historical  shrine,  Gurdwara 
Tibbi  Sahib.  It  stands  on  the  top  of  a  sandy 
mound  (tibbi,  in  Punjabi)  along  a  link  road 
half  a  kilometre  away  from  the  village.  On  6 
December  1705,  Guru  Gobind  Singh  with  his 
two  elder  sons  and  40  Sikhs  is  said  to  have 
halted  on  this  mound  to  survey  the  country  in 
front  before  marching  on  to  Chamkaur.  The 
platform,  constructed  to  mark  the  site,  has 
recently  been  replaced  by  a  modest-looking 
single-room  Gurdwara.  The  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
is  seated  inside  the  sanctum  and  is  attended 
by  Nihahg  Sikhs. 

M.G.S. 

TALVARA,  locally  known  as  Rampur-Talvara 
because  of  its  close  proximity  to  a  village  called 
Rampur,  lies  near  Sri  Hargobindpur  (31"-41N, 
75"-29'E)  in  Gurdaspur  district  of  the  Punjab. 
It  claims  a  historical  shrine,  Gurdwara 
Damdama  Sahib,  dedicated  to  Guru 
Hargobind,  who  is  said  to  have  preached  here 
after  the  batttle  of  Ruhela,  as  Sri  Hargobindpur 


was  then  called.  The  Gurdwara  has  a  domed 
sanctum,  octagonal  in  shape,  in  the  middle  of 
a  walled  compound  entered  through  a  two- 
storeyed  gateway,  with  residential  suites  on 
either  side.  A  rectangular  hall  was  constructed 
near  the  sanctum  in  1928.  The  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  is  seated  in  this  hall  too.  A  60-metre 
scjuare  sarovar  is  close  to  the  Gurdwara 
compound,  to  the  east  of  it.  The  Gurdwara  is 
affiliated  to  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  but  is  presently 
administered  by  Nihahg  Sihghs.  Annual  fairs 
are  held  to  celebrate  Hola  Mohalla  and 
Baisakhi. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduariaii.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Siiraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

4.  Gurbilas  Chhevin  Patshahi.  Patiala,  1970 

M.G.S. 

TANKHAH.  from  Persian  tankbwah.  generally 
meaning  pay  or  salary,  has  an  additional, 
ironical  connotation  in  Sikh  vocabulary.  The 
word  in  this  sense  means  expiatory  penalty 
levied  upon  a  Sikh  from  breach  of  rahit,  i.e. 
the  prescribed  code  of  conduct  or  of  a  vow 
religiously  made.  This  use  of  the  term  appears 
to  have  come  into  vogue  during  the  first  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  earliest  use  of 
the  term  tankhab  and  tankbabi  or  tankbabia 
appears  in  Tankhabnama  attributed  to  Bhai 
Nand  Lai,  Rahitnamas  ascribed  to  Bhai  Daya 
Singh,  Bhai  Chaupa  Singh  (dales  not  specified) 
and  Gur  Ratan  Mai  (Sau  Sakhi)  compiled  by 
Sahib  Singh  in  1724  (or  1734).  While  Bhai 
Nand  Lai's  Tankhabnama  and  Chaupa  Singh's 
Rabitnama  list  faults  of  omission  or  commission 
which  render  a  Sikh  tankbabia,  i.e.  liable  to 
penalty,  Bhai  Daya  Singh's  Rahiriiaina  also 
suggests  amounts  of  fine  for  some  of  the 
misdemeanours  and  mistranslations.  Chaupa 


TANKHAH 


305 


TANKHAH 


Singh,  on  the  authority  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
lays  down  a  general  rule  with  regard  to  the 
administration  of  tankhah  :  "If  someone  who 
has  committed  a  kurahit  (breach  of  the  code) 
stands  up  with  folded  hands  before  all,  i.e.  the 
sangat,  pardon  him  :  do  not  be  adamant. 
Realize  tankhah,  but  bear  him  no  rancour  or 
animosity." 

Ordinarily  it  is  only  the  sarigat,  holy 
assembly  of  Sikhs  or  Panj  Piare,  five  Sikhs 
chosen  or  appointed  by  it,  who  have  the 
authority  to  declare  a  person  tankhahia  and 
impose  tankhah.  The  sangat  or  Panj  Pj'are  will 
confront  the  offending  member  of  the 
community  with  the  charge  and  seek  his 
explanation  which,  if  found  unsatisfactory, 
leads  to  his  being  declared  a  tankhahia,  who 
generally  accepts  with  humility  the  tankhah 
levied  on  him  by  way  of  penance  for  his  error 
and  who  after  undergoing  the  "punishment" 
returns  to  the  fold  ridding  himself  of  all 
blemish.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  a  Sikh  who 
has  violated  the  religious  discipline  on  any 
count  to  confess  to  the  sangat  or  Panj^Piare 
and  voluntarily  attract  tankhah  in  expiation. 
Since  the  purpose  of  tankhah  is  to  reclaim  the 
defaulter,  it  generally  requires  him  to  perform 
certain  religious  acts  such  as  reciting  for  a  given 
number  of  times  specified  scriptural  texts  in 
addition  to  the  daily  regimen  of  prayers,  and 
humble  service  at  a  gurdwara  which  may  be  in 
the  form  of  dusting  the  shoes  of  the  devotees 
or  scrubbing  used  utensils  in  Guru  ka  Lahgar 
or  the  community  refectory.  One  may  also  have 
to  make  an  offering  of  karah  prksad  worth  a 
declared  sum  or  make  a  cash  contributron 
towards  the  Guru's  golak  or  the  common  fund. 
In  case  of  one  or  more  of  the  four  bajar 
kurahits  or  major  lapses,  i.e.  cutting  of  hair, 
smoking,  adultery  and  consumption,  of  kuttha 
or  halal  (flesh  of  an  animal  slaughtered 
according  to  Muslim  practice),  occurring,  a 
tankhahia  after  due  atonement  must  also  be 
reinitiated. 

When  an  act  of  an  individual  affects  the 
community  as  a  whole,  the  authority  of  Akal 


Takht  at  Amritsar  is  invoked.  The  procedure  is 
the  same  as  followed  by  local  sarhjats  in  dealing 
with  violation  of  the  religious  code.  In  cases, 
rare  so  far,  where  a  person  refuses  to  accept  its 
verdict,  the  Akal  Takht  has  the  power  to 
excommunicate  him/her. 

The  first  recorded  instance  of  the  award 
of  religious  punishment  involved  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  himself.  According  to  Gur  Ratan  Mai, 
the  Guru  once  travelling  through  Rajputana 
reached  Naraina,  also  called  Dadudvara  after 
the  Saint  Dadu  who  had  lived  there,  where  he 
saluted  the  sepulchre  of  the  saint  by  lifting  an 
arrow  to  his  head.  The  Sikhs  accompanying 
him  took  exception  to  this  and  wished  to 
impose  tankhah  for  he  had  infringed  his  own 
edict  :  gor  mzrhl  mat  bhul  na  mane  (worship 
not  even  by  mistake  graves  or  places  of 
cremation).  The  Guru  appreciated  the  Sikhs' 
vigilance  and  immediately  offered  to  pay  the 
fine.  The  Sikhs  then  debated  the  quantum  of 
tankhah,  adds  another  old  source,  Ma/va  Des 
Ratan  di  Sakhi  Pothi.  They  in  the  end  asked 
him  to  pay  Rs.125  which  amount  they  spent 
on  the  purchase  of  a  tent  for  Guru  ka  Lahgar. 

In  1733,  a  Sikh,  Bhai  Subeg  Singh,  who 
was  an  employee  of  the  Mughal  government 
at  Lahore  and  who  was  deputed  to  negotiate 
peace  with  the  Khalsa.  was,  on  reaching  the 
appointed  venue,  first  declared  tankhahia  for 
being  in  the  service  of  the  oppressors  and 
allowed  to  commence  parleys  only  after  he  had 
made  good  the  tankhah.  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh 
(1780-1839)  was  once  summoned  to  the  Akal 
Takht  and,  held  guilty  of  moral  and  religious 
misdemeanour,  was  awarded  tankhah  including 
physical  punishment  which  he  readily 
accepted.  The  latter  punishment  was,  however, 
waived  by  Akali  Phula  Singh,  then  jathedar,  of 
the  Akal  Takht.  More  recent  instances  are  those 
of  the  imposition  of  tankhah  on  Babi\  Kartar 
Singh  Bedi,  one  of  the  direct  descendants  of 
Guru  Nanak,  for  supporting  Mahant  Narain 
Das,  the  head  priest  of  the  Nankana  shrine, 
who  had  started  a  campaign  against  the 
reformist  Sikhs  culminating  in  an  open 


TANKHAH 


306 


TANKHAHNAMA 


massacre  of  them  on  20  February  1921; 
proclamation  ofjathedar  Teja  Sirigh  Bhuchchar 
as  tankhahia  and  his  expulsion  from  the 
membership  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  for  his  defiance  of  and 
disrespect  towards  the  Pahj  Piare  who 
inaugurated  kar-seva  or  cleansing  by  voluntary 
service  of  the  holy  tank  at  Amritsar  in  June 
1923;  and  the  excommunication  on  6  August 
1928  of  Babu  Teja  Singh  of  the  Pahch  Khalsa 
Diwan,  Bhasaur,  and  his  wife  for  garbling  the 
scriptural  texts  and  altering  the  form  of 
gurmantra  as  well  as  of  ardas. 

In  November  1961,  five  Sikhs,  eminent  in 
the  religious  hierarchy,  were  named  as  Pahj 
Piare  to  investigate  and  decide  upon  an 
allegation  that  Master  Tara  Singh,  the 
seniormost  political  leader  of  the  Sikhs,  had 
broken  his  solemnly  made  religious  vow  during 
an  agitation  against  the  government.  Tara 
Sirigh  was  pronounced  guilty  of  having  gone 
back  on  his  plighted  word  and  of  having 
blemished  thereby  the  Sikh  tradition  of 
religious  steadfastness  and  sacrifice  in  that  he 
had  abandoned  his  fast  begun  after  ardas  or 
prayer  at  Sri  Akal  Takht  Without  achieving  the 
stipulated  goal.  He  was  laid  under  expiation 
to  have  an  akhand  path  or  unbroken  reading 
of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  performed  at  the 
Akal  Takht,  daily  to  recite  for  one  month  an 
extra  path  of  the  Japu,  offer  karah  prasad  of 
the  value  of  Rs.125  and  to  clean  the  shoes  of 
the  sahgat  and  dishes  in  the  Guru  ka  Lahgar 
for  five  days.  The  Pahj  Piare  exonerated  Sant 
Fateh  Singh,  another  political  leader,  of  a 
similar  charge  saying  that  he  had  given  up  his 
fast,  which  preceded  Master  Tara  Singh's, 
under  the  command  of  Pahj  Piare  and  the 
sahgat  in  general,  though  he  too  was  held 
guilty,  along  with  eight  members  of  the 
Working  Committee  of  the  Shiromani  Akali 
Dal,  for  acquiescing  in  Master  Tara  Singh 
breaking  his  fast.  Fateh  Singh  was  to  recite  for 
one  month  an  additional  path  of  the  Japu  and 
wash  dishes  in  Guru  ka  Lahgar  for  five  days. 
Other  members  of  the  Working  Committee 


were  to  broom  the  Golden  Temple  precincts, 
and  clean  dishes  in  Guru  ka  Larigar  for  two  days. 

In  1984,  Giani  Zail  Singh,  then  President 
of  India,  Buta  Singh,  a  Central  minister,  and 
Santa  Singh,  leader  of  the  Buddha  Dal  of 
Nihahgs,  were  declared  tankhahias  by  the  Akal 
Takht.  the  first  for  allowing  the  army  to  march 
into  the  premises  of  Golden  Temple  in  June 
1984,  and  the  other  two  for  subsequently 
holding  an  unauthorized  Sarbatt  Khalsa 
meeting  and  taking  up,  on  behalf  of  the 
government  but  against  the  wishes  of  the  Sikh 
community,  the  reconstruction  of  the  Akal 
Takht  building.  Giani  Zail  Singh,  however, 
convinced  the  Pahj  Piare  of  his  innocence  and 
was  pardoned.  The  other  two  failed  to  submit 
their  cases  and  were  consequently 
excommunicated  from  the  Panth.  The 
institution  of  tankhah  has  thus  served  over 
generations  to  ensure  religious  integrity  and 
discipline  among  Sikhs,  at  individual  as  well  as 
at  panthic  level. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sikh  Rahit  Maryada.  Amritsar,  n.d 

2.  Attar  Singh,  ed.,  Malva  Des  Ratan  di Sakhi  Pothi. 
Amritsar,  1950 

3.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  ed.,  Rahitname.  Patiala,  1974 

4.  Randhir  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Prem  Sumarag  Granth 
arthat  Khalsa Jivan  Jach.  Amritsar,  1965 

5.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Hesitage  of  the  Sikhs.  New 
Delhi,  1994 

6.  Nripinder  Singh,    The  Sikh  Moral  Tradition. 
Delhi,  1990 

Bb.S.N. 

TANKHAHNAMA.  by  Bhai  Nand  Lai,  is  a  Sikh 
penal  code  laying  down  punishments  and  fines 
for  those  guilty  of  religious  misconduct. 
Tankhah,  a  Persian  word,  actually  means  salary, 
reward  or  profit,  and  nama,  also  Persian 
denoting  an  epistle,  a  code  or  a  catalogue,  in 
Sikh  usage,  however,  tankhah  stands  for  the 
opposite  of  its  original  meaning  andjuxtaposed 
with  nama  it  means  a  religious  penal  code.  Any 
Sikh,  particularly  one  who  received  the  pahul 


TANKHAHNAMA 


307 


TANSUKH  lAHAURl 


(nectar  of  the  double-edged  sword)  for 
initiation  into  the  fold  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
the  Khalsa,  committing  a  breach  of  rahit 
(stipulated  conduct)  and  guilty  of  kurahit 
(misconduct)  is  subject  to  be  punished.  One 
who  is  so  punished  is  called  tankhahla.  It  is 
traditionally  held  that  the  term  tankhah 
meaning  fine  for  a  religious  lapse  or  inf  ringement 
was  first  used  in  the  lifetime  of  Gura  Gobind 
Singh  who  was  once  laid  under  a  penal  levy  by 
his  own  Sikhs  for  saluting  with  his  arrow  the 
tomb  of  the  saint  Dadu  (worship  of  sepulchre 
or  cemetery  being  taboo  according  to  the 
Guru's  injunction).  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
willingly  submitted  to  the  verdict  of  the  Khalsa. 

Bhai  Nand  Lai  was  a  devotee  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  and  a  scholar  of  Persian  in  which 
language  he  wrote  poetry  of  rare  refinement. 
Answering  his  questions  once,  the  Guru 
defined  acts  worthy  of  a  Sikh  and  those  not 
worthy  of  him.  Bhai  Nand  Lai  is  said  to  have 
recorded  the  former  in  his  Rahitnama  and  the 
latter  in  his  Tankhahnama.  For  him  who 
becomes  liable  to  punishment,  he  uses  the 
word  tankhahi,  not  tankhahla. 

In  the  Tankhahnama  itself  a  positive  and 
idealistic  pattern  of  living  has  been  charted  too. 
A  true  Khalsa  must,  for  instance,  lead  a  life  of 
nam  (meditation  on  the  Name,  dan  (charity) 
and  isnan  (purification). 

He  should  overcome  the  five  lusts  and  be 
above  superstition,  pride  and  adultery  ;  and 
he  should  be  constandy  absorbed  in  nam;  he 
should  protect  the  weak  and  the  needy, 
advance  against  the  tyrannical  and  be  armed 
always  to  fight  evil  (verses  27-31).  Negatively,  a 
Sikh  who  does  not  join  the  company  of  the 
holy,  does  not  bow  to  the  sacred  word  being 
recited  and  does  not  treat  with  equality  the 
poorer  members  in  the  fellowship  invites 
retribution  (verses  3-5).  So  will  a  Sikh,  who, 
when  distributing  karah  prasad,  communion 
food,  resorts  to  greed  or  distributes  unevenly 
or  casts  a  wanton  eye  upon  the  womenfolk 
(verses  6,10)  ;  who  bows  to  the  Turks,  tyrannical 
rulers,  or  dishonours  the  arms  by  touching 


them  with  his  feet  ;  a  Sikh  who  is  rash,  who 
gives  away  his  daughter  or  sister  in  matrimony 
for  money  (verse  11);  who  carries  not  his  sword 
and  who  by  deception  robs  a  wayfarer  or  a  guest 
of  his  belongings  (verse  12)  ;  who  does  not 
contribute  dasvandh,  the  prescribed  one-tenth 
of  one's  income,  to  the  community's  funds  and 
who  earns  his  livelihood  by  falsehood  (verse 
14)  ;  who  indulges  in  backbiting  and  does  not 
keep  his  word  (verse  16)  ;who  eats  kosher  meat 
dressed  in  the  Muslim  way  (verse  17);  and  he 
who  goes  about  with  his  head  uncovered  or 
eats  or  distributes  food  with  his  head  uncovered 
(verse  24).  Verses  7-8  describe  the  method  of 
preparing  karah  prasad.  In  verses  32  to  36, 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  tells  Bhai  Nand  Lai  that 
the  Khalsa  who  inflicts  not  pain  on  the  masses 
shall  be  supreme  and  rule  over  the  land  ;  after 
defeating  and  vanquishing  the  Turks,  the 
community  shall  bear  all  the  symbols  of  royaky; 
the  Khalsa  shall  ride  horse  and  keep  hawks  ; 
all  rebels  shall  be  subdued  ;  there  shall  be 
perfect  equality  between  man  and  man-which 
will  be  the  victory  of  the  Supreme  Lord,  the 
Timeless  Being,  who  alone  will  remain  when 
all  else  perishes. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Bhai  Nand  Lai  Granthavali. 
Malacca  (Malaya),  1968 

2.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Rahitname.  Patiala,  1974 

3.  Nripinder  Singh,    The  Sikh  Moral  Tradition. 
Delhi,  1990 

T.S. 

TANSUKH  LAHAURI,  a  devoted  Sikh  of 
Lahore  who  later  lived  at  Ranthambore  in 
Rajasthan.  Tansukh  had  two  of  his  sons  living 
at  Anandpur  under  the  patronage  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  They  sent  a  copy  of  a  translation 
of  Hitopadesa,  made  by  one  of  the  Guru's 
poets,  Lakkhan  Rai,  to  their  father  at 
Ranthambore.  The  prosodic  forms  used  by 
Lakkhan  Rai  were  doha,  or  rhymed  couplet, 
and  soratha  or  couplet  with  centre-rhyme. 
Tansukh  decided  to  reversify  the  contents  using 


TAI'A 


308 


TAPlYA  SINGH,  MAHANT 


the  form  chaupai  or  stanza  of  short-lined 
rhymed  couplets  with  other  metres  interspersed. 
He  completed  the  work  in  1684  and  named  it 
Rajniti  Granth.  Its  language  is  Hindi. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Sukha  Singh,  Gurbilas  Dasvin  Patshahi.  Lahore, 
1912 

3.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Sn  Guru  Gobind  Singh  JI 
cle  Darbari  Ratan.  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Vidiarthi,  Devinder  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  Abhinandan.  Amritsar,  1983 

P.S.P. 

TAP  A  (lit.  a  practitioner  of  physical  austerities) 
is  the  name  given  by  Sikh  chroniclers  to  an 
ascetic  who  once  came  to  Guru  Ram  Das  and, 
proud  of  the  penances  he  had  undergone,  said, 
"Thy  Sikhs  are  very  proud  ;  they  acknowledge 
not  the  Vedas  and  the  Puranas  ;  they  make  no 
pilgrimages  ;  nor  do  they  fast  or  observe  the 
varnasrama  dharma  or  distinctions  of  caste. 
Thy  Sikhs  only  reverence  thee  and  recognize 
thy  compositions.  Their  adoration  is  confined 
to  the  utterance  of  Vahigaru.  I  see  no  religious 
disposition  in  them  whatsoever.  However  will 
they  attain  the  comfort  of  heaven  ?"  Guru  Ram 
Das,  says  the  Mahima  Prakash,  said,  "Thou  dost 
not  know  the  comfort  of  sadh  sarigat,  fellowship 
of  the  holy.  Pious  fellowship  is  what  Sikhs  seek. 
They  desire  not  heaven.  You  are  proud  of  your 
penances  and  pilgrimages.  Sikhs  derive 
comfort  from  serving  others  with  humility."  The 
Tapa  fell  at  the  Guru's  feet  and  took  his  precept. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Autiiors.  Oxford, 
1909 

Gr.S. 

TAPA,  a  small  market  town  19  km  southwest 


of  Barnala  (30"-22'N,  75"-32'E)  in  Saiigrur 
district  of  the  Punjab,  claims  a  historical  shrine, 
Gurdwara  Tibba  Sahib  Patshahi  IX,  dedicated 
to  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  The  old  building 
constructed  by  Maharaja  Karam  Singh  (1798- 
1845)  of  Patiala  has  since  been  replaced  by  a 
more  spacious  complex  raised  by  Baba  Narain 
Suigh  Mom,  who  also  has  continued  to  manage 
it.  The  central  building  is  a  rectangular  hall, 
with  canopied  seats  for  the  Holy  Volumes.  Guru 
ka  Lahgar  is  near  the  entrance  gate,  and  a  small 
walled  sarovar  just  outside  the  compound. 
Besides  the  daily  prayers  and  kirtan,  largely 
attended  assemblies  take  place  on  the  first  of 
each  Bikrami  month.  All  major  anniversaries 
on  the  Sikh  calendar  are  observed. 

BIBLIOGRPAHY 

1.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian. 
Amritsar,  n.d 

M.G.S. 

TAPIYA  SINGH,  MAHANT  (1892-1980),  was  a 
master  of  the  Sikh  scholarly  texts  besides  being 
learned  in  Ayurveda  and  Sanskrit  grammar.  He 
was  born  into  a  Sarao  Jatt  family  of  Lehal  Kalah 
in  Sahgrur  district.  He  was  a  descendant  of 
Baba  Ark  who  had  been  blessed  by  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  himself.  One  of  his  ancestors,  Bhai 
Mall  Singh,  was  the  founder-Mahant  of 
Dhamtan  Sahib  also  known  as  the  Deori 
(gateway)  of  Hazur  Sahib,  Nanded.  His 
brother,  Bhai  Meva  Singh,  was  the  keeper  of 
the  shrine,  commemorating  the  visit  of  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  to  Lehal  Kalah  and  the  samadhi 
of  Baba  Ark,  adjoining  the  shrine.  Tapiya  Singh 
had  been  a  leading  Sikh  of  the  Bahgar  country. 
In  the  forties  he  received  from  the  Sikh 
Sampradaya  the  historical  tide  of  Mahant  which 
had  been  denied  to  him  by  the  rulers  of  Patiala 
slate.  Under  his  stewardship,  Dhamtan  Sahib 
became  the  rallying  point  of  the  region  which 
now  constitutes  the  heartland  of  Haryana. 

R.S. 


TARA  CHAND,  BHAI 


309 


TARAN  SINGH 


TARA  CHAND,  BHAI,  was  a  masand  or  a  batch 
leader  of  the  Sikhs  in  Kabul.  He  once  led  a 
sangat  of  those  parts  to  the  presence  of  Guru 
Hargobind.  Travelling  through  Lahore, 
Amritsar  and  Khadur,  they  reached  Karigar, 
now  in  Bathinda  district  of  the  Punjab,  where 
the  Guru  then  happened  to  be.  Tara  Chand 
was  asked  by  the  Guru  to  relate  his 
experiences  of  the  long  journey.  While  doing 
so,  Bhai  Tara  Chand  especially  praised  two 
horses  he  had  seen  at  Lahore  in  a  royal 
procession.  He  had  been  so  fascinated  by 
them  that  he  had  even  enquired  their  names 
and  quoted  these  to  the  Guru  as  Dilbagh  and 
Gulbagh.  These  beauties,  he  said,  deserved 
to  be  in  the  Guru's  stables.  The  horses  had, 
as  the  tradition  goes,  been  in  fact  brought  for 
presentation  to  Giuru  Hargobind  by  a  Sikh 
horse  dealer,  Karon  by  name,  but  had  been 
seized  on  the  way  by  the  governor  of  Lahore. 
Bhai  Bidhi  Chand,  a  daring  Sikh,  later 
recovered  the  animals. 

BIBLIOGRPAHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint],  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  ':  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

T.S. 

TARA  CHAND,  DIWAN  (d.  1858),  son  of 
Diwan  Karam  Chand,  entered  the  Sikh  service 
in  1822.  His  first  employment  was  in  Peshawar 
under  Diwan  Kirpa  Ram.  He  was  sent  in  the 
following  year  to  Kahgra,  with  civil  and  military 
authority,  to  collect  the  revenues,  and  in  1832 
was  tranferred  to  Firozpur.  Tara  Chand  was 
afterwards  made  Diwan  and  placed  in  charge 
of  Bannu,  Tonk  and  Dera  Ismail  Khan,  but  was 
unsuccessful  in  controlling_  the  turbulent 
inhabitants  there.  Pleading  ill  health,  he  left 
the  Punjab  in  1838  for  Banaras,  where  he  died 
in  1858. 


BIBLIOGRPAHY 

1.  Surl,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 

S.S.B. 

TARAN  SINGH  (1922-1981),  scholar  and 
teacher  of  Sikh  studies,  was  born  on  18 
February  1922,  the  son  of  Bhai  Nidhan  Singh 
Makan  of  village  Kallar  Kohar  in  Jehlum 
district  (now  in  Pakistan).  Having  received  his 
early  education  in  the  village  school,  he  passed 
his  Giani  (Honours  in  Punjabi)  examination 
of  the  Pahjab  University  in  1940.  In  1941,  he 
passed  the  Intermediate  examination  from- 
Khalsa  College,  Amritsar,  where  he  was  appointed 
a  teacher  in  the  same  year.  He  got  his  Bachelor's 
degree  in  arts  in  1947.  He  passed  his  M.A.  in 
English  from  D. A. V.  College,  Lahore.  The  same 
year  he  became  a  destitute  refugee  as  a  result 
of  the  Partition.  He  had  already  lost  his  father 
during  the  communal  riots  which  engulfed 
Rawalpindi  district  in  March  that  year.  He 
found  ajob  in  1948  as  an  inspector  in  the  Food 
and  Supplies  Department  of  East  Punjab.  In 
1950,  hejoined  Ramgarhia  College,  Phagwara, 
as  a  lecturer  in  English.  In  1952,  he  passed  his 
M.A.  (Punjabi)  andjoined  the  Khalsa  College, 
Amritsar,  as  Professor  of  Divinity.  He  received 
his  Ph.D.  degree  in  1959.  During  1964-66  he 
also  held  charge  as  principal  of  Shahid  Sikh 
Missionary  College  at  Amritsar.  In  1966  he 
joined  Punjabi  University,  Patiala,  as  head  of 
the  Department  of  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Studies. 
He  went  on  missionary  tours  to  Malaya  in  1955 
and  Iran  in  1974.  hi  1978  he  visited  U.S.S.R. 
to  represent  Sikh  religion  in  the  World  Religious 
Conference.  He  wrote  several  books  mostly  on 
Sikh  religious  thought  and  Punjabi  literature. 

Dr  Taran  Singh  died  at  Patiala  on  30 
January  J  981. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Harjinder  Singh  Dilgeer,  Tiie  Sikh  Reference 
Book.  Edmonton  (Canada),  1997 

M.G.S. 


TARAORI 


310 


TARA  SINGH,  HHAl 


TARAORI  (29"-48'N,  76"-56'E),  also 
pronounced  Taravrl,  is  an  old  walled  town  1 2 
km  north  of  Karnal  in  Haryana.  It  claims  a 
historical  Sikh  shrine  known  as  Gurdwara 
Sisgahj  Patshahi  Navlh.  After  the  martyrdom 
of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  at  Delhi  on  Maghar  sudi 
5, 1732  Ilk/ 1 1  November  1675,  his  severed  head 
was  carried  to  Anandpur  by  a  Sikh  named  Jaita. 
At  Taraori,  on  the  Grand  Trunk  road,  Bhai 
Jaita,  who  was  travelling  incognito,  met  one 
Devi  Ram,  a  washerman  of  the  local  garrison, 
washing  clothes  in  the  tank  outside  the  fort. 
Deva  Ram  was  a  follower  of  the  Sikh  faith  and 
knew  that  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  had  gone  to 
Delhi  resolved  to  make  the  ultimate  sacrifice. 
He  enquired  of  Bhai  Jaita  as  a  traveller  coming 
from  Delhi  if  he  knew  what  had  befallen  the 
Guru  there.  The  latter  requested  Bhai  Deva 
Ram  to  escort  him  to  his  house  which  he 
willingly  did.  Bhai  Jaita  reached  with  his  sacred 
charge  Bhai  Deva  Ram's  house,  the  site  of  the 
present  Gurdwara  Sis  Gahj  (formerly  known 
as  Sis  Asthan).  Bhai  Jaita  spent  the  night  there. 

After  Banda  Singh  Bahadur  had  reduced 
Sirhind  in  1710,  the  fort  of  Taraori  was  also 
occupied  by  the  Sikhs.  Attempts  by  the  imperial 
force  to  regain  its  possession  resulted  in  a 
bloody,  but  inconclusive,  battle  at  Amingarh, 
10  km  north  of  Taraori.  The  Sikhs  were  led  by 
Bhai  B^j  Singh,  Ram  Singh  and  Baba  Binod 
Singh  Trehan.  According  to  local  tradition,  the 
bodies  of  the  Sikh  warriors  who  fell  at 
Amingarh  were  cremated  at  Taraori  near  this 
site  where  a  Mahjl  Sahib  was  later  established. 
Upon  the  site  of  the  old  Mahjl  Sahib  marking 
Bhai  Deva  Ram's  house  now  stands  a  tall  five- 
storeyed  domed  building  the  construction  of 
which  commenced  in  1966.  The  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  is  seated  on  the  ground  floor  in  a 
sanctum,  within  a  square  hall.  An  adjoining 
bigger  hall  is  used  for  holding  larger 
assemblies.  The  Guru  ka  Lahgar  is  in  a  separate 
but  adjacent  compound.  The  sarovar,  enclosed 
by  a  high  wall,  is. to  the  west  between  the  central 
building  of  the  shrine  and  the  fort. 

The  Gurdwara  is  administered  by  the 


Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
through  a  local  committee  though  further 
construction  is  the  responsibility  of  Sant 
Hazara  Singh,  a  follower  of  the  late  Sant  Baba 
Gurmukh  Singh. 

BIBLIOGRPAHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavan  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

TARAPUR,  a  village  5  km  east  of  Anandpur 
(31°-  14  N,  76--31  E)  in  Ropar  district  of  the 
Punjab,  is  sacred  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  who 
constructed  a  fortress  here  after  his  return 
from  Paonta  in  1688.  He  also  had  a  baoli  (open 
well  with  steps  leading  down  to  water  level)  dug 
to  ensure  supply  of  water  for  the  garrison.  The 
Taragarh  Fort,  one  of  a  chain  of  defensive 
fortifications  of  Anandpur,  is  no  longer  in 
existence.  The  commemorative  shrine, 
Gurdwara  Qila  Taragarh,  stands  about  250 
metres  east  of  the  village,  and  is  under  the 
control  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee.  Near  the  old  baoli  on 
the  bank  of  a  small  stream,  stands  the  samadhi 
or  cenotaph  of  Bhai  Kanhaiya,  a  dedicated  Sikh 
of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  time  who  served  water 
and  gave  help  to  soldiers  wounded  in  battle, 
without  distinction  of  friend  or  foe. 

BIBLIOGRPAHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

Gn.S. 

TARA  SINGH,  BHAI,  the  eighteenth-century 
Sikh  martyr,  was  a  Buttar  Jatt  of  the  village  Van, 
popularly  known  as  Dall-Van  because  of  its 
proximity  to  another  village  called  Dall,  in 


TARA  SINGH,  BHAl 


311 


TARA  SINGH  GHAIBA 


present-day  Amritsar  district  of  the  Punjab.  His 
father,  Gurdas  Singh,  had  received  the  rites  of 
the  Khalsa  in  the  time  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
and  had  taken  par  t  in  the  battle  of  Amritsar  (6 
April  1709),  in  which  Bhai  Man!  Singh  led  the 
Sikhs  and  in  which  Har  Sahai,  a  revenue  official 
of  PattI,  was  killed  at  his  (Gurdas  Singh's) 
hands.  Tara  Singh,  the  eldest  of  the  five  sons 
of  Gurdas  Singh,  was  born  around  1702. 
Receiving  the  rites  of  initiation  from  Bhai  Man! 
Singh,  he  grew  up  to  be  a  devout  Sikh,  skilled 
in  the  martial  arts.  As  persistent  persecution 
drove  the  Sikhs  out  of  their  homes  to  seek 
shelter  in  hills  and  forests,  Tara  Singh  collectd 
around  him  a  band  of  desperadoes  and  lived 
defiantly  at  Van,  where  he,  according  to  Ratan 
Singh  Bhahgu,  Prachln  Panth  Prakash, 
possessed  a  jagir  or  land-grant.  In  his  vara  or 
enclosure  made  with  thick  piles  of  dried 
branches  of  thorny  trees,  he  gave  refuge  to  any 
Sikh  who  came  to  him  to  escape  persecution. 
A  government  informer,  Sahib  Rai  of 
Naushahra  Pannuari,  complained  to  the 
faujdar  of  Patti,  Jii'far  Beg,  that  Tara  Singh 
harboured  criminals.  The  faujdar  sent  a 
contingent  of  25  horse  and  80  foot  to  Van,  but 
Tara  Singh  fought  back  and  routed  the 
invaders  with  several  dead,  including  their 
commander,  a  nephew  of  the  faujdar.  Ja'far  Beg 
reported  the  matter  to  Zakariya  Khan,  who  sent 
a  punitive  expedition  consisting  of  2,000  horse, 
five  elephants,  40  light  guns  and  four  cannon- 
on-wheels  under  his  deputy,  Momin  Khan.  Tara 
Singh  had  barely  22  men  wi  th  him  at  that  time. 
They  kept  the  Lahore  force  at  bay  through  the 
night,  but  were  killed  to  a  man  in  the  hand-to- 
hand  fight  on  the  following  day.  This  happened 
on  24  December  1732.  A  Gurdwara  now  marks 
the  site  where  Tara  Singh  and  his  companions 
were  cremated. 

BIBLIOGRPAHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Panth  Prakash.  Lahore,  1880 

2.  Bhangu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

B.S. 


TARA  SINGH  GHAIBA  (1717-1807),  chief  of 
the  Dallevalla  clan,  named  after  the  village  of 
Dalleval  to  which  its  founder,  Gulab  Singh, 
belonged.  Tara  Singh  was  a  shepherd-turned- 
outlaw  who  joined  Gulab  Singh  Dallevalla  in 
his  plundering  raids.  His  dexterity  in  lifting 
cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep  and  his  ingenuity  in 
t  ransporting  them  across  the  Ravi  won  him  the 
nickname  Qhaiba  (the  Vanisher).  On  the  death 
of  Gulab  Singh,  Tara  Singh  succeeded  to  the 
leadership  of  the  misl,  and,  within  a  short  time, 
his  intrepidity  and  lust  for  war  and  conquest 
made  the  Dallevalla  confederacy  very  powerful. 
One  of  Tara  Singh's  first  exploits  was  to  rob  a 
detachment  of  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani's  troops 
of  their  horses  and  arms  while  crossing  the  Beih 
river  near  his  village,  Kaiig,  in  Kapurthala 
district.  In  1760,  he  crossed  the  Sutlej  and 
conquered  the  towns  of  Dharamkot  and 
Fatehgarh.  On  his  return  to  the  Doab,  he  took 
Sarai  Dakkhni  from  Sharaf  ud-Din,  an  Afghan 
of  Jalandhar  and  marched  eastwards,  seizing 
the  country  around  Rahoh  in  which  town  he 
took  up  his  residence.  He  next  captured 
Nakodar  from  the  Mahj  Rajputs,  and  other 
groups  of  villages  on  the  right  of  the  Sudej, 
including  Mahatpur  and  Kot  Badal  Khan. 

In  1763,  Tara  Singh  joined  the  Bhahgi, 
Kanhaiya  and  Ramgarhia  misls  against  the 
Pathan  Nawab  of  Kasur,  and,  in  the  sack  of  the 
town,  collected  4,00,000  rupees  as  his  share  of 
the  booty.  He  joined  other  Sikh  sardars  in 
laying  siege  to  Sirhind  (January  1764)  and 
razing  it  to  the  ground  after  defeating  its 
governor,  Zain  Khan.  By  1765,  Tara  Singh  had 
considerably  increased  his  power  and  territories 
in  the  Upper  Jalandhar  Doab,  in  parts  of 
Ludhiana,  Ambala  and  Firozpur  districts-the 
entire  country  south  of  the  River  Sudej  yielding 
an  annual  revenue  of  Rs.  17,00,000. 

Tara  Singh  was  a  close  friend  of  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh's  and  took  part  in  his  early  Malva 
expeditions.  He  died  in  1807  at  the  ripe  age  of 
90.  After  his  death,  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh 
annexed  the  Dallevalla  territories  to  his 
kingdom. 


TARA  SINGH,  MASTliR 


312 


TARA  SINGH,  MASTER 


BIBLIOGRPAHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  Sir  Lepel,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore, 
1890 

3.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1978 

B.J.H. 

TARA  SINGH,  MASTER  (1885-1967),  dominant 
figure  on  the  Sikh  political  scene  for  the 
rniddle-third  of  the  twentieth  century,  was  born 
ad  one  of  four  brothers  and  a  sister  in  a  Hindu 
family  in  a  small  villajge  called  Haryal,  in 
Rawalpindi  district,  nowjin  Pakistan,  on  24 June 
1885,  and  was  named  Nanak  Chand.  His  father, 
Bakhshi  Gopi  Chand,  was  a  Patvari  or  a 
subordinate  revenue  official  and  later  a  money- 
lender, belonging  to  the  Malhotra  sub-caste  of 
the  Kshatriyas,  or  Khatris  as  they  are  known  in 
the  Punjab.  Nanak  Chand's  interest  in  Sikhism 
was  stimulated  while  he  was  still  in  the  primary 
school  by  the  accounts  he  had  heard  of  the 
sacrifices  and  heroism  of  the  Sikhs  at  evening 
meetings  organized  by  his  Sikh  uncle.  For  his 
high  school  education,  he  moved  to  Rawalpindi 
and  there,  living  among  Sikhs,  his  interest  in 
Sikhism  developed  further.  In  1902  while  still 
a  student  in  the  ninth  grade,  he  along  with  an 
elder  brother  and  a  cousin  converted  to 
Sikhism  and  was  named  Tara  Singh.  He 
received  the  rites  of  initiation  at  the  hands  of 
SantAtar  Singh,  much  honoured  in  Sikh  piety. 

At  school,  as  later  at  college,  Tara  Singh 
made  his  mark  both  in  the  classroom  and  on 
the  playfield.  After  passing  high  school  in  1903, 
he  tried  but  could  not  secure  admission  to 
medical  school  because  of  his  short  stature. 
However,  he  received  a  scholarship  and  went 
to  Amritsar  to  study  at  the  Khalsa  College.  It 
was  here  that  he  developed  interest  in  politics. 
This  was  owing  to  certain  contemporary 
happenings-the  partition  of  Bengal  in  1905, 
the  agitation  by  Sikh  peasantry  in  Lyallpur  in 
1907  and  the  local  resistance  to  government 
attempts  at  greater  control  over  the  Khalsa 


College.  In  this  last,  Tara  Singh  was  the 
president  of  the  students  agitation  committee, 
selected  primarily  because  of  his  talent  on  the 
playfield. 

By  the  time  he  graduated  from  college  in 
1907,  Tara  Singh  had  decided  to  devote  his  life 
to  the  service  of  the  panth.  He  joined  a 
teachers'  training  college  at  Lahore  and,  on 
graduation,  like  two  other  colleagues,  he 
offered  his  services  for  a  nominal  salary  of  Rs. 
15  a  month  if  the  community  would  establish 
a  Khalsa  high  school  in  Lyallpur.  This  was  a 
small  sum  with  which  to  support  himself  and, 
already  married,  his  wife.  Tara  Singh's  offer  was 
accepted  and  at  23,  without  any  teaching 
experience,  he  became  the  school's 
headmaster,  and  thus  acquired  thereafter  the 
honorific  "Master".  He  continued  in  this 
position  for  six  years  until  1914  when  he 
prepared  to  leave  for  England  to  serve  as  a 
gran  thi  (priest) ,  but  the  outbreak  of  World  War 
I  prevented  his  departure.  He  taught  for 
another  six  years  at  other  schools,  but  finally 
in  1920  retuned  to  Lyallpur.  In  between,  he 
tried  his  hand  at  business,  but  did  not  succeed. 

The  opening  of  the  1920's  marked  a  new 
stage  in  Tara  Singh's  life,  with  active 
involvement  in  Sikh  politics.  In  March  1921, 
he  was  made  secretary  of  the  newly  established 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
and,  during  the  many  phases  of  the  Gurdwara 
Reform  movement,  he  courted  arrest  several 
times.  In  1923,  a  large  number  of  Sikh  leaders, 
including  Tara  Singh,  were  arrested  on  charges 
of  sedition  and  conspiracy.  After  over  two  years 
in  jail,  they  were  released  in  1926.  Tara  Singh 
became  vice-president  of  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  while  the  eminent 
leader,  Baba  Kharak  Singh,  was  made  its 
president. 

Tara  Singh  was  now  an  important  political 
figure,  but  his  rise  to  the  front  ranks  among 
Sikh  leaders  came  during  the  controversy  over 
the  Nehru  Committee  Report,  of  1928, 
embodying  a  Congress-sponsored  constitution 
for  India.  During    the  Gurdwara  Reform 


TARA  SINGH,  MASTER 


313 


TARA  SINGH,  MASTER 


movement  a  working  alliance  had  come  into 
existence  between  the  Congress  Party  and  the 
Akalis.  Because  of  its  anti-government  nature, 
the  movement  was  considered  part  and  parcel 
of  the  nationalist  endeavour.  As  a  result,  many 
Akali  leaders  simultaneously  held  important 
positions  in  the  Congress  organization  as  well. 
However,  these  leaders  were  intensely  divided 
in  their  attitudes  to  wards  the  Nehru  Committee 
Report.  Tara  Singh  took  up  a  position  which 
combined  opposition  to  the  report  with 
continued  support  for  the  Congress  Party.  In 
this  fashion,  he  was  able  to  outflank  the  group 
led  by  Mahgal  Sihg,rh  that  supported  the  Report 
and  equally  the  group  led  by  Kharak  Singh  that 
had  turned  completely  hostile  towards  the 
Congress  Party.  In  the  process,  Tara  Singh 
acquired  a  distinctive  political  role,  and 
emerged  as  a  leader  ready  to  fight  for  Sikh 
demands  without  alienating  the  nationalist 
organization.  Later,  in  1930,  when  the  Congress 
Party  launched  the  civil  disobedience 
movement,  Kharak  Singh  opposed  it,  but  Tara 
Singh  went  to  jail  in  its  cause.  While  in  jail,  he 
was  elected  president  of  the  ShiromanI 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  and  from 
that  point  on  until  1962,  except  for  short 
periods,  he  retained  control  of  the  ShiromanI 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  and  equally 
of  the  ShiromanI  Akali  Dal  either  directly  or 
through  a  trusted  nominee.  The  Akali  Dal 
under  Tara  Singh's  leadership  remained  the 
most  vociferous  and  militant  group  in  behalf 
of  Sikh  demands. 

During  the  1930's,  Tara  Singh  led  several 
agitations  first  against  the  British  government 
and  then  against  the  government  of  the 
Unionist  Party  in  the  Punjab.  Those  against  the 
British  government  centred  around  the 
management  of  gurdwaras,  the  possession  of 
the  Shahidgahj  Gurdwara,  and  appropriate 
legislative  representation  for  the  Sikhs.  The 
Akali  agitation  became  especially  acute  at  the 
time  of  the  1932  Communal  Award  which  gave 
the  Sikhs  19  per  cent  of  the  legislative  seats 
and  conceded,  in  effect,  a  statutory  majority 


to  the  Muslims  in  the  Punjab  legislature.  The 
agitations  against  the  Unionist  government 
were  based  on  the  assumption  that,  despite  its 
secular  protestations,  the  party  was  essentially 
a  front  for  Muslim  communal  domination.  As 
the  demand  for  Pakistan  gained  popularity, 
Sikhs  trusted  Tara  Singh  to  secure  them 
immunity  against  the  Muslim  ambition  of 
communal  domination.  The  Akali  Dal  under 
his  leadership  put  forth  in  1943  the  Azad 
Punjab  (Free  Punjab)  scheme.  This  scheme 
essentially  involved  the  reorganization  of  the 
Punjab's  boundaries  in  order  to  give  the  Sikh 
community  "the  balance  of  power"  by 
excluding  Muslim-majority  districts.  As  some 
Congress  leaders  seemed  to  have  become 
resigned  to  the  partition  of  India  as  a  way  of 
removing  the  Muslim  barrier  to  independence, 
the  Akali  Dal  was  deeply  perturbed  and 
launched  a  vociferous  condemnation  of  the 
Congress  Party,  widening  further  the  breach 
between  the  two  parties.  Tara  Singh  and  the 
Akali  Dal  now  moved  to  demand  an 
independent  Sikh  State  :  their  position  was 
that  they  were  opposed  to  partition  of  India 
because  it  would  split  the  Sikh  community,  but 
if  there  was  going  to  be  a  partition  then  there 
should  be  an  independent  Sikh  State.  This  was 
the  stand  taken  by  Tara  Singh  at  the  Simla 
Conference  in  1945,  and  before  the  Cabinet 
Mission  in  1946. 

The  Cabinet  Mission's  proposals  were 
especially  disturbing  to  the  Akali  Dal,  for 
though  no  partition  was  envisaged  the  Sikhs 
were  being  placed  under  a  Muslim  majority. 
At  a  large  meeting  in  Amritsar  in  June  1946, 
Tara  Singh  asked  the  panth  "to  prepare  to  die 
in  the  struggle  ahead.  "  Subsequently,  on 
Congress  Party's  appeal,  die  Akali  Dal  accepted 
the  Cabinet  Mission's  proposals  and  Baldev 
Singh  became  the  Akali  representative  in  the 
Interim  government  headed  by  Jawaharlal 
Nehru.  Sikh  hopes  of  concessions  from  the 
Muslim  League  proved  illusory,  and  these  were 
soon  shattered  as  Muslim-Sikh  riots  erupted. 
Tara  Singh  raised  protest  in  Lahore  on  3  March 


TARA  SINGH,  MASTER 


314 


TARA  SINGH,  MASTER 


1947  and  shouted  "Death  to  Pakistan."  Severe 
communal  disturbances  followed,  with  the 
Sikhs  a  special  target  of  Muslim  rioters.  In  an 
environment  of  impending  civil  war,  the  Akali 
Dal  agreed  to  the  Mountbatten  plan  for 
partition  of  India. 

Notwithstanding  the  terrible  sacrifice 
visited  upon  Sikh  refugees,  the  mass  movement 
following  the  partition  created  a  new 
demographic  fact  of  a  Sikh-majority  area  in  the 
districts  of  the  Punjab  (India)  close  to  West 
Pakistan.  These  districts  were  Punjabi-speaking 
as  against  the  eastern  districts  which  generally 
spoke  Hindi  or  dialects  of  it.  Tara  Singh  and 
the  Akali  Dal  now  centred  their  demands 
around  this  new  social  fact  and  pressed 
relendessly  for  reorganization  of  the  Punjab 
boundaries  to  create  a  Punjabi-speaking  state 
(Punjabi  Suba).  Towards  the  achievement  of 
this  goal,  Tara  Singh  and  his  party  launched 
several  agitations.  With  the  Punjabi  Suba 
slogan  agitation  in  1955,  in  which  some  12,000 
people  were  arrested,  Tara  Singh's  political 
power  rose  to  a  new  peak.  Recognizing  the 
extensive  popular  support  in  the  Sikh 
community  behind  the  Akali  Dal,  the 
government  conceded  in  1956  the  formation 
of  regional  committees  within  the  Punjab 
legislature.  In  1960,  Tara  Singh  started  another 
massive  campaign  against  the  government  in 
which,  according  to  official  figures,  30,000  went 
to  jail  and,  according  to  Akali  reckoning  57, 1 29. 
This  agitadon  also  marked  the  arrival  on  the 
Sikh  polidcal  scene  of  a  new  leader,  Sant  Fateh 
Singh,  who  later  wrested  the  Akali  mantle  from 
Tara  Singh.  Fateh  Singh  undertook  a  fast-unto- 
death  in  the  cause  of  Punjabi  Suba  in 
December  1960,  but  was  persuaded  to  give  it 
up  on  the  22nd  day.  As  the  government  stood 
firm  in  its  opposition  to  Punjabi  Suba,  Tara 
Singh  himself  undertook  a  fast-unto-death  in 
1961.  The  fast  lasted  48  days.  Under  a  verdict 
given  by  Panj  Piare  representing  the  authority 
of  the  panth,  Master  Tara  Singh  had  to 
undergo  penance  and  expiation  for  violation 
of  the  solemn  oath  taken  before  the  fast.  A 


major  split  occurred  in  the  Akali  ranks  in  the 
aftermath  of  the  fast,  with  Fateh  Singh  setting 
up  a  rival  Akali  Dal  in  1962.  There  followed 
the  ouster  of  Tara  Singh's  group  from  power 
in  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  and  the  bitter  struggle  between  the 
two  groups  condnued  unabated.  In  early  1965, 
Fateh  Singh's  organizadon  defeated  the  Tara 
Singh  group  in  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  elections  and  thus, 
along  with  the  power  and  patronage  of 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee, 
the  torch  of  Akali  leadership  passed  to  Sant 
Fateh  Singh  as  also  the  leadership  of  the 
Punjabi  Suba  movement. 

Eventually,  the  government  conceded 
Punjabi  Suba  in  1966.  The  Punjabi  Suba 
demand  had  become  synonymous  with  Master 
Tara  Singh.  When  he  died  on  22  November 
1967  he  had  had  the  satisfacdon  that  his  long- 
cherished  dream  had  materialized,  making  the 
Sikhs  the  dominant  polidcal  force  in  the  state. 
With  a  large  following  in  the  Sikh  panth,  Tara 
Singh  was  the  pre-eminent  and  most  durable 
political  leader  of  the  Sikhs.  He  was  as  well  a 
journalist  and  newspaper  editor  as  also  a  writer 
of  fiction  and  tracts.  All  these  activities  were, 
however,  intimately  tied  with  and  subordinate 
to  his  politics.  His  leadership  in  the  Sikh 
community  was  importantly  and  deeply 
involved  in  the  key  political  concerns  of  the 
Sikhs  and  of  the  Punjab.  Underneath  his 
politics  lay  a  stern  and  resolute  philosophical 
position. 

Tara  Singh's  philosophical  position  was 
that  the  Sikhs  organized  as  the  panth  were  a 
distinct  community,  that  religion  and  politics 
were  inseparably  linked  in  Sikhism,  and  that  a 
territorially-based  state  under  Sikh  domination 
was  inherent  in  the  Sikh  ideology.  The  impulse 
to  Sikh  political  power  was,  indeed,  the  key 
dynamic  behind  Tara  Singh's  politics  over 
nearly  a  half-century  notwithstanding  its  many 
shifts.  Loyalty  and  commitment  to  the  panth 
constituted  Tara  Singh's  entire  political 
universe  ;  he  had  little  patience  with  other 


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315 


TARA  SINGH  NAROTAM,  PANDIT 


issues  or  concerns.  He  had  travelled  abroad, 
including  Southeast  Asia  and  England,  but  was 
opposed  to  most  aspects  of  modernity, 
including  movies  and  dance  racitals.  At  schools 
and  college,  he  had  been  called  vatta  or  patthar 
(stone,  rock)  for  his  fearless  participation  in 
soccer  and  hockey ;  the  same  drive,  persistence 
and  courage  characterized  his  political  career. 
The  fact  is  very  interesting.  While  at  school  he 
was  nicknamed  patthar,  he  had  not  mentioned 
this  name  to  anyone  when  he  joined  the 
college.  Yet  they  discovered  the  name-vafta, 
nearest  equivalent  to  his  school  nickname. 

BIBLIOGRPAHY 

1.  Nayar,  Baldev  Raj,  Minority  Politics  in  the 
Punjab.,  Princeton,  1966 

2.  Sarhadi,  Ajit  Singh,  Punjabi  Suba.  Delhi,  1970 

3.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Princeton,  1966 

4.  Gopal  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikh  People  ( 1 469- 
1978).  Delhi,  1979 

5.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

6.  Gulati,  K.C.,  Akalis  Past  and  Present.  Delhi,  1974 

7.  Jaswant  Singh,  ed.,  Master  Tara  Singh  :  Jivan 
Sangharsh  te  Udesh.  Amritsar,  1972 

8.  Nirahjan  Singh,  Jivan  Yatra  Master  Tara  Singh. 
Amritsar,  1969 

9.  Gulshan,  Dhanna  Singh,  Ajj  da  Panjab  te  Sikh 
Rajnhi.  Rampura  Phul,  1971 

B.R.N. 

TARA  SINGH  NAROTAM,  PANDIT  (1822- 
1891),  a  renowned  scholar  of  the  Nirmala 
school,  was  born  in  the  village  of  Raima,  near 
Qadiari,  in  Gurdaspur  district  of  the  Punjab. 
Very  little  is  known  about  his  early  life  except 
that,  under  the  influence  of  his  father,  who  was 
a  devout  Sikh,  he  started  attending  religious 
divans  while  still  very  young.  When  he  was 
about  twenty  years  old,  he  left  his  village  and 
came  to  the  dera  or  hermitage  of  a  Nirmala 
saint,  Gulab  Singh,  at  Kurala,  Hoshiarpur 
district.  Sant  Gulab  Singh  initiated  him  into 
the  Nirmala  order  and  taught  him  the  Sikh 


texts.  For  further  learning  Tara  Singh  went  to 
Amritsar  and  thence  to  Kashi  (Varanasi)  where 
he  studied  Sanskrit  and  Vedic  literature.  He 
spent  some  time  at  the  village  of  Nadia  in  the 
Santipur  area  of  Bengal.  The  Arddha  Kumbha 
fair  in  the  year  1861  took  him  to  Haridvar.  By 
then  his  fame  as  a  scholar  had  spread  far  and 
wide,  and  Maharaja  Narinder  Singh  (1824- 
1862),  the  ruler  of  Patiala,  extended  his 
patronage  to  him.  Accepting  the  Maharaja's 
invitation,  Tara  Singh  came  to  Patiala  and 
made  the  Nirmala  dera,  Dharam  Dhuja,  his 
permanent  seat.  Here  he  immersed  himself  in 
his  scholarly  work.  He  wrote  copiously  and 
taught  several  groups  of  scholars.  His  most 
disdnguished  pupil  was  historiographer  Giani 
Gian  Singh.  After  the  death  of  Mahant  Ram 
Singh  Kuberia  in  1875,  Tara  Singh  was 
appointed  Sri  Mahant  or  the  chief  of  the 
Nirmal  Pahchayati  Akhara  at  Kankhal 
(Haridvar),  the  central  organization  of  the 
Nirmala  sect. 

Among  Pandit  Tara  Singh's  works  may  be 
mentioned  Vahiguru  Sabdarth  (1862),  Tika 
BhagatBaniKa  (1872),  TTka  Guru  Bhkv Dipika 
(1879),  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sahgrahi  (1883), 
Granth  Sri  Gurumat  Nirnaya  Sagar  (1877), 
Sabda  Sur  Kos  (1866),  Akai  Murati  Pradarsan 
(1878),  Guru  Vans  Taru  Darpan  (1878), 
Granth  Guru  Girarth  Kos  (1889),  Prikhia 
Prakaran  (1890),  and  77ka  Sri  Raga  (1885).  It 
is  also  said  that  he  wrote  a  commentary  on  the 
entire  Guru  Granth  Sahib  which  seems  to  have 
been  lost. 

Tara  Singh's  work  can  be  divided  into  four 
categories-  exegetical,  lexicographical, 
theological  and  doctrinal.  In  his  exegetical  and 
doctrinal  wridngs,  he  conforms  to  the  Nirmala 
school  of  interpretation,  presenting  Sikh 
thought  from  within  his  Vedantic  orientadon. 
He  believed  that  the  gurmat,  doctrinally,  is  an 
amalgam  of  the  doctrines  of  Sahkara  and 
Ramanuja,  with  the  exception  that  in  gurmat, 
bhakti  preponderates  over  jhana  and  action. 
He  added  that  bhakti  too  is  based  on  jhana 
only.  He  asserted  that  Guru  Nanak  was  an 


TARA  SINGH-NKHRU  PACT 


316 


TARA  SINGH-NKHRU  PACT 


incarnation  of  Visnu  and  that  Guru  Nanak 
conformed  to  the  path  of  the  Vedas  and  did 
not  deviate  from  that  path  anywhere  except  in 
idol-worship  which  he  rejected  firmly.  He  held 
that  the  Vahiguru  is  another  name  of  Visnu 
only  and  it  could  not  refer  to  the  nirguna 
concept  of  God.  Mukti  in  his  view  was  a  bodiless 
state.  According  to  him,  bam  included  in  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  was  a  revelation  like  the 
Veda.  His  expression  was  highly  Sanskritized 
in  the  manner  of  the  Nirmala  school.  He  was 
deeply  learned  in  the  Vedic,  Sastric  and  Puranic 
lore  and  quoted  from  it  profusely. 

Tara  Singh  Narotam  died  at  Patiala  in 
1891.  He  was  given  a  state  funeral  under  the 
orders  of  the  ruler,  Maharaja  Rajinder  Singh. 

BIBLIOGRPAHY 

1.  Shergill,  Surindar  Singh,  Pandit  Tara  Singh 
Narotam  :Jivan  te  Rachna.  Patiala,  1985 

2.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

3.  Suami,  Muni  Arjan  Singh,  Sri  Ninnal  Pahchyati 
Akhara.  Kankhal,  1952 

4.  Dial  Singh,  Mahant,  Nirmal  Panth  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1953 

5.  Pritam  Singh,  ed.,  Nirmal  Sampradai.  Amritsar,  1981 

R.S.J. 

TARA  SINGH-NEHRU  PACT  refers  to  an 
understanding  arrived  at  in  1959  between 
Master  Tara  Singh,  the  Akali  leader,  and  Pandit 
Jawaharlal  Nehru,  Prime  Minister  of  India,  in 
order  to  remove  certain  misgivings  of  the  Sikhs 
with  regard  to  government  interference  in 
their  religious  affairs.  Looming  in  the 
background  was  the  political  demand  of  the 
Sikhs  for  the  formation  of  Punjabi  Suba  or  a 
Punjabi-speaking  state.  After  the  failure  of  the 
Sachchar  Formula  and  the  half-hearted 
implementation  of  the  Regional  Scheme,  the 
Shiromani  Akali  Dal  under  the  leadership  of 
Master  Tara  Singh  had  revived  the  Punjabi 
Suba  agitation  in  1958.  During  the  first  Punjabi 
Suba  conference  held  at  Amritsar  on  12 
October  1958,  Sant  Fateh  Singh,  a  holy  man 


who  had  only  lately  entered  politics  and  had 
by  that  time  come  into  prominence  as  the 
Senior  Vice-President  of  the  Shiromani  Akali 
Dal,  announced  the  plan  for  the  attainment 
of  Punjabi  Suba.  Addressing  the  conference, 
he  declared  that  their  demand  was  only  for  a 
state  wherein  they  should  be  able  to  develop 
the  Punjabi  language  and  culture  and  protect 
their  religious  faith.  He  complained  that  the 
Government  by  the  inordinate  delay  in  the 
implementation  of  the  Regional  Formula  had 
taken  the  life  out  of  it,  and  thus  completely 
disillusioned  the  Sikhs.  Master  Tara  Singh,  too, 
earlier  while  renouncing  the  Regional  Scheme 
on  14  June  1958,  had  declared,  "I  have  never 
wanted  a  Sikh  State...  I  do  not  want  to  usurp 
the  rights  of  another  community.  But  I  do  want 
freedom  for  the  Sikhs." 

The  ruling  party  in  the  Punjab,  through 
Giani  Kartar  Singh,  an  ex-Akali  still  having 
considerable  influence  in  Akali  circles, 
outmanoeuvred  Master  Tara  Singh  in  the 
annual  elections  to  the  SGPC  (Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee)  executive 
on  16  November  1958.  The  latter  was  defeated 
as  presidential  candidate  by  77  votes  to  74.  The 
victor  was  a  young  man,  Prem  Singh  Lalpura, 
barely  in  his  thirties.  Following  their  advantage 
of  victory,  the  government  and  the  Congressite 
group  in  the  SGPC  proposed  to  amend  the  Sikh 
Gurdwaras  Act  to  provide  for  the  SGPC  47 
additional  members  representing  the  erstwhile 
PEPSU  (Patiala  and  East  Punjab  States  Union) 
region  chosen  by  a  limited  electoral  college. 
The  prompt  passing  of  the  amending  bill  into 
an  Act  in  early  January  1959  exposed  the 
Government's  intention  to  pack  the  SGPC  with 
reliable  persons  of  its  own  choice  in  order  to 
keep  Master  Tara  Singh  out  forever.  The  step 
had  a  serious  impact  on  the  Sikh  masses.  There 
had  been  a  clear  understanding  during  the 
settlement  of  1956  that  while  the  Shiromani 
Akali  Dal  would  merge  with  the  Congress 
politically,  it  would  retain  its  existence  to 
promote  and  protect  the  community's  social, 
cultural,  educational,  religious  and  economic 


TARA  SINGH-NEHRU  PACT 


317 


TARA  SINGH-NF.HRU  PACT 


interests.  The  recent  action  of  the  government 
and  their  Akali  allies  was  taken  by  the  Sikhs  in 
general  as  a  clear  interference  in  their  religious 
affairs.  Master  Tara  Singh,  addressing  a 
mammoth  gathering  at  Chandigarh,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  Second  Punjabi  Suba 
conference,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  state 
capital,  declared  that  he  was  contemplating 
launching  of  a  mass  movement  on  a  vast  scale. 
As  a  first  step,  a  silent  procession  was  to  be 
taken  out  in  Delhi  on  15  March  1959,  as  a 
protest  against  government  interference  in 
Gurdwara  administration.  He  announced  that 
the  procession  would  be  purely  religious, 
without  any  political  slogans,  and  that  he  would 
himself  lead  the  march.  The  Punjab 
government  arrested  Master  Tara  Singh  as  he 
was  about  to  leave  for  Delhi  on  14  March  1959. 
The  procession,  however,  was  taken  out  as 
scheduled  with  a  portrait  of  Master  Tara  Singh 
displayed  on  a  truck  at  the  head.  This  had  some 
impact  on  the  government  and  he  was  released 
on  21  March  1959.  The  Prime  Minister  however 
rejected  his  suggestion  for  arbitration.  The 
Working  Committee  of  the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal 
then  suggested,  on  27  March  1959,  arbitration 
by  Jayaprakash  Narayan,  Rajagopalachari  or 
Acharya  Vinoba  Bhave  but  this  propsal,  too, 
was  rejected  by  the  Prime  Minister  on  5  April 
1959.  Master  Tara  Singh  announced  that  he 
would  go  on  a  fast  unto  death  on  16  April  1959. 
It  was  then  that  Prime  Minister,  Jawaharlal 
Nehru  invited  Master  Tara  Singh  to  tea  on  1 1 
April  1959.  The  meeting  resulted  in  what  came 
to  be  known  as  Tara  Sirigh-Nehru  Pact.  The 
text  read  : 

It  is  common  ground  amongst  all 
concerned  that  there  should  be  no 
governmental  interference  in  religious 
affairs;  Nevertheless,  complaints  have 
arisen  of  such  interference  in  regard  to 
Gurdwara  management  and  amendments 
made  in  the  Gurdwara  Act. 
Some  machinery  should  be  devised  to 
ensure  the  implementation  of  the  policy 
of  non-interference  in  the  Gurdwara 


management  and  to  consider  any  com- 
plaints of  such  interference.  It  is  suggested 
that  a  Committee  should  be  constituted 
for  the  purpose.  This  Committee  should 
consist  of  two  persons  nominated  by  the 
Punjab  Government  and  two  persons 
nominated  by  Master  Tara  Singh, 
President  of  Shiromani  Akali  Dal. 
This  Committee  will  consider  any 
allegations  of  interference  and  will 
suggest  remedial  action  wherever 
possible.  Where  there  is  disagreement 
among  the  members  of  the  Committee, 
the  matter  may  be  referred  to  the 
Governor  of  Punjab. 

Any  amendment  in  the  Gurdwara  Act  should 
be  undertaken  after  obtaining  the  approval 
of  the  General  Committee  of  the  SGPC. 
The  general  elections  of  the  SGPC  should 
be  held  as  early  as  possible. 
If  any  difficulty  arises  in  the  implemen- 
tation of  the  above  proposal,  Mr.  Nehru 
will  be  glad  to  help. 

The  Pact  vindicated  Master  Tara  Singh's 
stand  on  the  matter  of  government  interference 
in  the  religious  affairs  of  the  Sikhs.  But  the 
Committee  set  up  under  its  provisions  could 
not  arrive  at  any  understanding  or  conclusion, 
because  of  divergence  of  views  in  the  two 
blocks,  nor  could  they  arrive  at  any  decision 
what  matter  should  be  referred  to  the  governor. 
The  pact,  however,  laid  down  an  unequivocal 
commitment  by  the  government  at  the  highest 
level  on  the  basic  issue  that  no  amendment  in 
the  Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act  shall  be  undertaken 
without  the  approval  of  the  general  body  of 
the  SGPC. 

Incidentally,  the  control  of  the  SGPC  was 
retrieved  by  the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal  as  a  result 
of  the  1960  elections  when  it  won  136  seats 
against  only  4  in  favour  of  Sadh  Sahgat  Board, 
a  society  set  up  with  the  overt  help  of  the  state 
government. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Sarhadi,  Ajit  Singh,  Punjabi  Suba.  Delhi,  1970 


TARA  SINGH,  SARDAR 


318 


TARGA 


2.  Gurmit  Singh,  History  of  Sikh  Struggles.  Delhi, 
1989-92 

3.  Gopal  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikh  People  (1469- 
1978).  Delhi,  1979 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1994 

5.  Harjinder  Singh  Dilgeer,  Shiromani  AkkTi  Dal. 
Chandigarh,  1980 

A.S.S. 

TARA  SINGH,  SARDAR  (1888-1956),  lawyer, 
legislator  and  judge,  was  born  in  1888,  the  son 
of  Pratap  Singh  Gill  of  Moga,  a  district  town  of 
the  Punjab.  Having  matriculated  from  a  local 
high  school  in  1903,  he  graduated  from  Khalsa 
College,  Amritsar,  in  1907  and  obtained  his  law 
degree  from  the  Pahjab  University,  Lahore,  in 
1910.  He  started  legal  practice  at  Firozpur  but 
soon  shifted  to  his  native  Moga.  His  interest  in 
local  civic  affairs,  besides  his  professional  work, 
soon  made  him  popular.  He  also  took  active 
interest  in  the  Gurdwara  Reform  movement 
launched  in  1920  and  participated  in  the  Jaito 
morcha  which  commenced  in  August  1923. 
Although  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  was  declared  an 
unlawful  organization  in  October  1923,  it 
decided  to  sponsor  its  own  candidates  in  the 
elections  to  the  Punjab  Legislative  Council  held 
in  December  1923.  Tara  Singh,  one  of  its 
candidates,  won  by  an  overwhelming  majority 
from  the  Firozpur  (Sikh)  Rural  Constituency. 
In  the  Council  he  fought  for  progressive 
measures  such  as  prohibition,  reduction  of  tax 
burden  and  increase  in  irrigation  facilities  in 
the  rural  sector,  separadon  of  executive  and 
judiciary,  and  protection  of  peasants  against 
urban  money-lenders.  A  measure  for  which 
Tara  Singh  will  be  particularly  remembered  was 
the  Sikh  Gurdwaras  and  Shrines  Bill  1925  which 
he  introduced  as  a  private  member's  bill.  It  was 
ultimately  passed  on  9  July  1925  as  the  Sikh 
Gurdwaras  Act,  as  put  forth  through  the 
Council  by  Bhai  Jodh  Singh.  The  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  now 
regulated  the  administration  of  historical  and 


other  Sikh  gurdwaras.  In  the  first  elections  held 
under  the  Act  in  1926,  Tara  Singh  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee.  He  was  re-elected  for 
a  second  term  in  1929.  Tara  Singh  was  a  judge 
of  the  Patiala  High  Court  from  1930  to  1940. 
He  represented  the  Sikhs  at  the  Third  Round 
Table  Conference  held  at-  London  in 
November-December  1932,  where  he 
vehemently  opposed  the  communal  represen- 
tation as  a  basis  for  the  new  constitution.  In  a 
speech  made  on  23  December  1932,  he  said, 
"...  the  foundation  upon  which  we  are  building 
our  Constitution  is  unsound...  It  is  being 
forced  on  us  and  that  is  why  at  various  stages 
attempts  have  been  made  from  different  sides 
of  the  Conference  to  ask  for  safeguards."  The 
safeguards  he  demanded  for  the  Sikhs  in  the 
Punjab  ran  broadly  on  the  same  lines  as  those 
demanded  by  Ujjal  Singh  and  Sampuran  Singh, 
Sikh  representatives  at  the  Second  Conference 
(September-December  1930),  viz.  special 
provisions  for  the  protection  of  the  Sikh 
interests  in  the  legislature  and  in 
administradon  in  the  Punjab  as  well  as  at  the 
Centre,  and  no  statutory  majority  for  the 
majority  community  (  Muslims)  in  the  Punjab. 

Tara  Singh  resigned  from  the  bench  of 
the  Patiala  High  Court  in  1940  for  reasons  of 
health.  He  died  at  Moga  on  12  August  1956. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Visakha  Singh,  Sant,  Malva  Itihas.  Kishanpura,  1954 

M.G.S. 

TARGA,  village  6  km  north  of  Kasur  in  Lahore 
district  of  Pakistan,  had  historical  Sikh  shrine, 
Gurdwara  Tisri  Patshahi  Jhari  Sahib,  on  the 
western  outskirts  marking  the  site  where  Guru 
Amar  Das,  Nanak  III,  travelling  in  these  parts 
at  the  request  of  devotees  living  in  the  nearby 
Kadivind  had  once  stopped.  A  largely  attended 
religious  fair  used  to  be  held  at  this  Gudwara 
on  the  occasion  of  Baisakhi.  The  place  was 
abandoned  in  the  wake  of  the  partition  of  the 
country  in  1947. 


TARlKH-I-IRADAT  KHANl 


319 


TARIKH-I-MVZAFFARl 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  GianI,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

TARIKH  -I-IRADAT  KHANI,  an  undated  old 
Persian  manuscript  in  the  Oriental  Public 
Library,  Patna,  comprising  the  memoirs  of 
Mirza  Mubarakullah  Wazih.  The  title  inscribed 
on  the  fly-leaf  is  Taiikh-i-Mubaraki.  The  work 
which  is  also  known  as  Maqtal  us-Salatin  is  a 
history  of  the  successors  of  Emperor  Aurangzib 
from  1707  to  1714.  The  manuscript,  in  nasta'liq 
style,  covers  174  pages,  with  15  lines  to  a  page. 
Dates  are  few  but  the  chronological  sequence 
has  been  maintained.  The  author  belonged  to 
a  noble  family  and  held  a  high  rank  under  the 
sons  and  successors  of  Emperor  Aurangzib.  As 
a  personal  friend  of  Commander  Mun'im 
Khan,  he  was  present  in  the  Mughal  army  at 
the  battle  of  Lohgarh  against  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur.  His  account  of  the  action,  based  upon 
personal  observation,  is  of  great  historical 
value.  He  refers  to  the  "spirit  of  martyrdom 
among  the  Sikhs."  Delhi  and  its  environs  had 
been  so  terrorized  by  the  news  of  Banda  Singh's 
victories  that  Emperor  Bahadur  Shah  decided 
to  march  in  person  against  him,  declaring  a 
holy  war  (Jihad)  upon  the  Sikhs.  Banda  Singh's 
citadel  was  captured,  though  he  himself 
escaped  disguised  as  a  jogl. 

An  abridged  English  translation  of  the 
work  by  Jonathan  Scott  was  published  in  1786 
in  London. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Kirpai  Singh,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

S.H.A. 

TARIKH-I-M UZAFFARI,  by  Muhammad  'All 
Khan  Ansari,  is  the  tide  of  a  Persian  manuscript 
of  much  historical  value  copies  of  which  are 
preserved  in  several  libraries  in  India  and 


abroad.  The  author  belonged  to  a  prominent 
family  of  Arab  extraction,  long  resident  at 
Panipat,  in  present-day  Haryana  state.  His 
grandfather,  Lutfullah  Khan  Sadiq,  a  hah— 
hazarl  mansabdar,  had  been  a  minister  under 
emperors  Farrukh  Siyar  and  Muhammad  Shah 
and  was  the  governor  of  Delhi  at  the  time  of 
Nadir  Shah's  invasion  (1739).  His  father, 
Hidayatullah  Khan  had  held  a  panj-hazarl 
mansab.  Muhammad  'All  Khan  himself  was 
daroghah-i-  'adalat  faujdari  (superintendent  of 
criminal  court)  of  Tirhut  and  Hajipur  in  Bihar. 
The  work,  completed  in  1225  ah/ad  1810,  is  a 
history  of  the  Indian  Timurides,  i.e.  the 
Mughals,  from  the  beginning  to  Emperor 
Akbar  II  (1806-37).  The  account,  sketchy  in 
respect  of  the  period  from  Babur  to  Aurangzib, 
is  more  detailed  in  respect  of  the  later  Mughals 
and  Nadir  Shah  and  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani. 
The  author  had  already  written  a  much  larger 
book,  Bahr  ul-Mawwaj  in  nine  parts.  The 
Tarikh-i-Muzaffari  corresponds  to  the  last  part 
of  that  work,  at  places  reproducing  passages 
verbatim.  Of  special  interest  to  students  of  Sikh 
history  are  references  in  the  Tarikh  to  the 
Sikhs  at  two  places-the  imperial  campaign 
against  Banda  Singh  Bahadur  and  the  role  of 
the  Sikh  misls  as  allies  of  Jats  and  Zabita  Khan 
Ruhila  against  the  imperial  prime  minister 
Najaf  Khan  (d.  1782).  Unlike  some  other 
Muslim  chroniclers  of  the  period,  Muhammad 
'All  Khan's  language  is  restrained  and  free 
from  calumny  when  writing  about  the  Sikhs. 
The  campaign  of  'Abd  us-Samad  Khan  and 
his  son  Zakariya  Khan  against  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur  is  described  in  detail.  As  the  imperial 
forces  besieged  the  Sikh  stronghold  (at 
Gurdas-Nangal),  they  set  up  an  alang,  a  virtual 
wall  of  fortifications  around  the  fortress.  Yet 
Sikhs,  says  the  author,  remained  undaunted. 
They  came  out  in  day  time  and  they  made 
sallies  by  night,  falling  fiercely  upon  the 
besiegers  and  returning  to  their  place  of  refuge 
after  the  attack.  The  Tarikh-i-Muzaffari  does 
not  contain  the  harrowing  details  of  the 
massacre  of  Banda  Singh,  his  infant  son  and 


TAIUKH-I-PANJAB 


320 


TARIKH-I-PANJAB 


his  followers,  but  it  does-  narrate  the  story  of  a 
Sikh  youth  yet  in  his  teens  whose  widowed 
mother  had  managed  to  secure  orders  for  his 
release  but  who,  when  asked  to  leave,  refused 
to  do  so  and  insisted  that  he  be  executed  like 
others,  too. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

S.H.A. 

TARlKH-I-PANJAB,  by  Pandit  Debi  Prasad, 
is  a  book  in  Urdu  delineating  the  history  of 
the  Punjab  in  two  parts  :  Part  one  covering  the 
period  from  the  time  of  Guru  Nanak  (1469- 
1539)  to  the  British  conquest  of  the  Punjab  in 
1849,  and  Part  two  containing  a  detailed 
account  of  the  two  decades  from  1849  to  1870. 
In  fact  the  first  part  had  been  completed  in 
1850  while  the  author  was  still  a  student  at 
Bareilly  College,  Bareilly,  and  the  first  edition 
of  the  book  was  published  in  the  same  year. 
The  author,  who  joined  government  service, 
revised  and  supplemented  the  work  with  the 
second  part.  This  second  edition  was  published 
by  Nawal  Kishore  Press,  Lucknow,  in  1872. 
Original  copies  of  the  book  are  preserved  in 
Panjab  University  Library,  Lahore,  Punjab 
State  Archives,  Patiala,  Central  Library, 
Varanasi  and  the  British  Library,  London.  The 
Punjabi  translation  of  the  text  was  published 
by  Punjabi  University,  Patiala,  in  1979,  under 
the  title  Guishan-j'-Panjab.  The  author  has 
made  a  comprehensive  study  of  the  Punjab  at 
the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century.  The 
book  offers  much  useful  information  on 
many  aspects  of  the  history  of  the  Sikhs  as  well 
as  of  the  early  years  of  British  rule  in  the 
Punjab. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Fauja  Singh,  ed.,  Gulshan-i-Pahjab.  Patiala, 
1979 

2.  Madanjit  Kaur,  "Some  Sidelights  on  the 
Personality  Traits  and  the  Internal  Government 


of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh",  The  Panjab  Past  and 
Present.  Patiala,  April  1981 

M.G.S. 

TARlKH-I-PANJAB,  TUHFAT  UL-ALBAB,  a 
brief  chronicle  in  Persian,  by  Maulawi  Munshi 
'Abd  ul-Karim  'Alawi,  printed  in  Lucknow  in 
1849,  gives  a  somewhat  diffused  account  of 
Ranjit  Singh  and  his  successors,  mainly  bearing 
upon  the  two  Anglo-Sikh  wars,  the  first  of  1845- 
46,  with  acdons  fought  at  Mudki,  Ferozeshah, 
'Alival  and  Sabhraoh,  and  the  second  of  1848- 
49,  with  actions  fought  at  Ramnagar, 
Cheliahvala  and  Gujrat.  It  has  two  illustrative 
maps  and  a  plan  indicating  the  artillery 
positions,  as  also  certain  geographical  and 
statistical  details.  Full  versions  of  some  of  the 
manifestoes,  proclamations,  dispatches  and 
treaty  engagements  concerning  the  relations 
of  Gulab  Singh  of  Jammu  with  the  Sikh 
kingdom  are  also  provided.  The  author,  well 
versed  in  literature,  history,  geography  and 
astronomy,  had  many  books  to  his  credit, 
including  Tarikh-i-Ahmadi  (Durrani),  and 
some  translations  from  Arabic  into  Persian.  He 
was  also  familiar  with  the  English  language. 
Though  he  was  not  an  eye-witness  of  the  events 
he  has  recorded,  he  seems  to  have  made  a 
careful  study  of  letters,  dispatches  and 
declarations  of  the  English  arid  the  newspapers 
in  English  and  Urdu,  having  access  additionally 
to  oral  information. 

The  book  commences  with  a  short 
account  of  the  origin  of  the  Sikhs,  their 
religion,  scriptures,  usages  and  customs.  Here 
Guru  Hargobind,  the  Sixth  Guru,  has  been 
confused  with  Banda  Singh.  The  author  then 
makes  some  very  apt  remarks  on  the  able  and 
strong  administration  of  Ranjit  Singh,  his 
faithful  observance  of  treaties  and 
engagements,  especially  with  the  English.  He 
described  the  series  of  tragic  events  following 
the  passing  away  in  1839  of  the  Maharaja-  the 
deaths  of  Maharaja  Kharak  Singh  and  his 
promising  son,  Nau  Nihil  Singh,  the  murder 
of  the  latter's  mother  Chand  Kaur,  the 


TARN  TARAN 


321 


TARN  TARAN 


assassination  of  Maharaja  Sher  Singh,  the 
beheading  of  his  13ryear-old  son,  Kahvar 
Partap  Singh,  the  fatal  end  of  the  two  of  the 
intriguing  Dogra  brothers,  Dhian  Singh  and 
Suchet  Singh,  and  of  the  former's  son,  Hira 
Singh  and  so  on.  Within  a  short  space  of  five 
years,  rulers,  princes,  ministers,  their  relatives 
and  numerous  sardars  fell  victims,  one  after 
another,  to  conspiracy  and  murder.  The  only 
survivor  was  Ranjit  Singh's  infant  son,  Duleep 
Singh,  with  his  mother  as  his  regent.  The  first 
Anglo-Sikh  war  is  described  as  having  begun 
with  the  Sikhs  crossing  the  River  Sutlej  on  1 1 
December  1845,  and  taking  Hardinge  and 
Gough  by  surprise.  Then  follow  details  of  the 
fou-r  batdes  of  Mudkl,  Ferozeshah,  'Allval  and 
Sabhraoh.  The  latter  part  of  the  book, 
designated  Tatimma  (supplement)  Tarikh-i- 
Lahore,  deals  mainly  with  die  second  Anglo- 
Sikh  war,  covering  events  such  as  the 
deportation  of  MaharanI  Jind  Kaur  to  Banaras, 
the  revolt  of  Diwan  Mul  Raj  at  Multan  and  of 
Chatar  Singh  and  Sher  Singh  at  Hazara, 
surrender  of  the  Sikh  army  and  annexatibn  of 
the  Punjab  to  the  British  dominions. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,   A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

S.H.A. 

TARN  TARAN  (31°-27'N,  74°-56'E),  important 
centre  of  Sikh  pilgrimage  24  km  south,  of 
Amritsar,  was  founded  by  Guru  Arjan  in  1596. 
Six  years  earlier,  on  13  April  1590,  he  had 
inaugurated  the  conversion  of  a  natural  pond 
lying  along  the  Delhi-Lahore  highway  into  a 
quadrangular  tank.  Digging  operatio  ns  on  full 
scale  commenced  on  the  last  day  of  the  dark 
half  of  the  month,  Bhadoh,  falling  on  19 
August  1590.  With  the  completion  of  digging, 
on  Chet  vadj  Amavas  1653  Bk/19  March  1596, 
began  the  construction  of  the  main  shrine,  the 
Darbar  Sahib,  and  ancillary  buildings. 
Meanwhile,  a  local  official,  Nur  ud-DIn, 
ordered  under  imperial  authority  the 


construction  of  a  new  caravan  serai  along  the 
royal  highway  and  confiscated  to  this  end  all 
the  bricks  and  the  kilns  in  which  they  were 
burnt  for  the  holy  shrine  at  Tarn  Taran.  He 
deputed  his  son,  Amir  ud-DIn,  to  have  the 
bricks  carried  to  the  serai  site  where,  besides 
the  inn,  a  complete  habitation  named  Nur  Din 
sprang  up.  This  was  about  6  km  to  the 
northwest  of  the  Guru's  tank.  Further 
development  of  Tarn  Taran  remained 
suspended  until  1768,  when  Sardar  Budh  Singh 
of  Faizullapurla  misl  occupied  the  entire 
parganah  of  PattI,  uprooted  the  village  of  Nur 
Din  and  the  serai,  and  brought  their  bricks 
back  to  the  site  of  this  sarovar.  Sardar  Budh 
Singh  and  Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ramgarhla  joined 
hands  to  have  the  building  of  the  Darbar  Sahib 
constructed.  Some  bungas  or  dwelling  houses 
were  also  built  on  the  periphery  of  the  holy 
tank.  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  visited  the  shrine 
in  1802.  It  was  here  that  he  exchanged  turbans 
with  Sardar  Fateh  Singh  Ahluvalia  as  a  token 
of  lasting  friendship.  Ranjit  Singh  had  the  steps 
on  the  two  sides  of  the  sarovar,  left  unfinished 
by  Budh  Singh  and  Jassa  Singh,  completed  and 
its  circumambulatory  passage  paved.  The 
Darbar  Sahib  was  also  reconstructed.  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh  and  his  grandson  Kahvar  Nau 
Nihil  Singh,  donated  large  quantities  of  gold 
to  have  the  exterior  plated  with  the  metal,  but 
the  work  made  little  progress  in  the  troubled 
times  that  followed  Ranjit  Singh's  death.  It  was 
in  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century 
that  part  of  the  exterior  was  covered  with  gold- 
leaf  by  Sant  Sham  Singh,  of  Amritsar.  Only  one 
of  the  four  towers  planned  by  Kahvar  Nau  Nihal 
Singh  for  the  four  corners  of  the  tank  was 
erected  during  this  time.  Under  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh's  orders,  the  town  of  Tarn  Taran 
was  enclosed  by  a  wall.  A  few  other  shrines  such 
as  the  Mahjl  Sahib,  the  Akal  Buhga  and  the 
Guru  ka  Khuh  were  developed  and  several 
burigas  added.  After  the  annexation  of  the 
Punjab  to  the  British  dominions,  the 
management  of  the  shrines  at  Tarn  Taran, 
along  with  those  at  Amritsar,  was  entrusted  to 


TARN  TARAN 


322 


TARN  TARAN 


a  Sarbara'n  or  manager  appointed  by  (lie 
deputy  commissioner  of  Am ri tsar.  The  role  of 
the  manager  was,  however,  confined  to  general 
supervision,  the  priests  being  autonomous  in 
the  conduct  of  religious  affairs.  They  divided 
the  offerings  among  themselves  and  gradually 
appropriated  most  of  the  lands  endowed  to  the 
Darbar  Sahib  during  Sikh  rule.  They  neglected 
their  religious  duties  and  cared  little  for  the 
sanctity  of  the  holy  shrines  and  the  sarovar.  The 
traditional  monthly  congregation  on  every 
amavasya  day,  the  last  day  of  the  dark  half  of 
the  month,  was  reduced  to  a  gay  carnival. 
Reforms  introduced  by  the  Singh  Sabha,  Tarn 
Taran,  established  in  1885,  were  disapproved 
and  resisted  by  the  clergy.  Efforts  of  the  Khalsa 
Diwan  Majha  and  the  Central  Majha  Khalsa 
Dlwan  to  cleanse  the  administration  met  with 
only  partial  success.  As  the  Gurdwara  reform 
movement  got  under  way,  the  control  of  the 
sacred  shrines  passed  to  a  representative  body 
of  the  Sikhs,  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  on  27  January  1921. 
A  leper  asylum  established  by  Guru  Arjan,  but 
completely  ignored  by  the  clergy  after  the 
abrogation  of  Sikh  sovereignty  was  taken  over 
in  1858  by  Christian  missionaries. 

DARBAR  SAIIIH  SRI  GURU  ARJAN  DKV  |I  is  an 
elegant  three-storeyed  structure  at  the  south- 
eastern corner  of  the  sarovar.  Approached 
through  a  double-storeyed  arched  gateway,  it 
stands  in  the  middle  of  a  marble-floored 
platform.  The  upper  portion  of  the  edifice  is 
covered  with  glittering  gold-plated  sheets.  The 
lotus  dome,  damaged  in  an  earthquake  (4  April 
1905)  and  subsequently  reconstructed  has  an 
ornamental  gold  pinnacle  with  an  umbrella- 
shaped  gold  finial.  Exquisitely  executed  stucco 
work  in  intricate  designs  inset  with  reflecting 
glass  pieces  decorates  the  interior  walls  and 
the  ceiling.  The  Guru  Grant h  Sahib  is  seated 
on  a  platform  under  an  elongated  dome 
covered  with  gold-plated  metal  sheets.  This 
throne  was  an  offering  from  Kanvar  Nan  Nihal 
Singh.  A  relay  recital  of  kirtaii  goes  on  from 


early  morning  till  late  in  the  evening. 
mar  Ki  I'AURI,  a  flight  of  marbled  steps  behind 
the  Darbar  Sahib  descending  into  the  sacred 
pool,  marks  the  spot  where,  according  to 
tradition,  Guru  Arjan  made  the  first  cut  as  the 
digging  started  in  1590.  Pilgrims  go  down  these 
steps  to  take  charanamrit  or  palmsful  of  holy 
water  to  sip. 

THK  sarovar.  one  of  the  largest  of  the  Sikh  holy 
tanks,  is  an  approximate  rectangle  in  shape. 
Its  northern  and  southern  sides  are  289  metres 
and  283  metres,  respectively,  and  eastern  and 
western  sides  230  metres  and  233  metres, 
respectively.  The  sarovar  was  originally  fed  by 
rain  water  that  flowed  in  from  the  surrounding 
lands.  In  1833,  Maharaja  Raghubir  Singh  of 
Jind  had  a  water  channel  dug,  connecting  the 
tank  with  the  Lower  Kasur  Branch  of  the  Upper 
Ban  Doab  Canal  at  Rasiilpur  water-mills,  5  km 
to  the  southeast.  The  channel  was  cemented 
and  covered  in  1927-28  by  Sant  Gurmukh  Singh 
and  Sant  Sadhu  Singh.  They  also  supervised 
kar-seva  ,  i.e.  complete  desilting  of  the  tank 
through  voluntary  service,  in  1931.  The 
operation  was  repeated  in  1970  under  Sant 
Jivan  Singh.  Most  of  the  bungas  around  the 
sarovar  have  now  been  demolished  and  a 
verandah  constructed  instead  along  the 
periphery.  The  name  Tarn  Taran,  since 
appropriated  by  the  town  itself,  originally 
belonged  to  the  sarovar,  so  called  by  Guru 
Arjan.  Literally  it  means,  "the  boat  that  takes 
one  across  (the  ocean  of  existence)".  (Tarana 
in  Sanskrit  is  a  raft  or  a  boat).  According  to 
Sikh  tradition,  the  water  of  the  old  pond  was 
found  to  possess  medicinal  properties, 
especially  efficacious  for  curing  leprosy.  For  this 
reason  the  sarovarwas  known  as  Dukh  Nivaran, 
(he  eradicator  of  affliction. 
AKAl.itUNCA,  a  four-storeyed  building  near  the 
Nishan  Sahib  or  the  Sikh  flagpole,  was 
constructed  in  1841  by  Karivar  Nau  Nihal 
Singh.  Maharaja  Sher  Singh  provided  the 
finishing  touches.  The  Guru  Granth  Sahib, 
after  a  procession  around  the  sarovar  amid 
chanting  of  hymns  in  the  late  evening,  is 


TARU,  BHAI 


323 


TARUNA  DAL 


brought  here  for  the  night's  rest. 
MAN] I  SAHIB,  a  small  domed  shrine  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  circurnambulatory 
pavement,  marks  the  spot  from  where  Guru 
Arjan  used  to  supervise  the  excavation  of  the 
sarovar.  A  divan  hall,  a  vast  pavilion  of 
reinforced  concrete,  has  now  been  raised  close 
to  it. 

THE  TOWER,  the  only  completed  column  of  the 
four  planned  by  Kahvar  Nau  Nihal  Singh  for 
the  beautificadon  of  the  sarovar  at  Tarn  Taran, 
stands  at  the  north-eastern  corner.  The  three- 
storeyed  tower,  34  metres  high,  was  erected 
during  the  Kahvar's  lifetime.  The  dome  on  top 
of  it  was  added  later. 

GURU  KA  KHUH,  a  well  constructed  by  Guru 
Arjan  is  200  metres  to  the  south  of  Darbar 
Sahib.  During  the  digging  of  the  tank  and 
continuing  up  to  the  middle  of  the  twentieth 
century,  Guru  ka  Lahgar  functioned  near  here. 
Guru  Arjan  used  to  relax  in  a  hut  near  this  well, 
for  which  reason  it  is  sometimes  called  Mahji 
Sahib  Guru  ka  Khun.  The  old  Mahji  Sahib  was 
replaced  by  a  hall  in  the  early  1980's.  A  small 
monument  near  by  marks  die  site  where  the 
bodies  of  Bhai  Hazara  Singh  and  Bhai  Hukam 
Singh,  the  first  two  to  fall  martyrs  in  the  cause 
of  Gurdwara  reform,  were  cremated 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Cure/Mm  Sangrah.  Fatiala.  n.d 

2.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Guiduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion. 
Oxford,  1909 

JgS- 

TAR.0,  BHAI,  of  Dalla,  a  village  in  present-day 
Kapurthala  district  of  the  Punjab,  was  a  devoted 
Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru  Amar  Das.  He  was 
among  those  who  waited  upon  the  Guru  when 
he  visited  Dalla,  and  received  initiation  at  his 
hands.  I  lis  name  figures  in  Bhai  Gurdas,  Varan, 
XI.  16. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Sura; 
Grand).  Amritsar,  1927-35 

B.S.D. 

TArO,  BHAI,  devoted  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru 
Ram  Das  whose  name  occurs  in  Bhai  Gurdas, 
Varari,  XI.  17. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Sirigh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

Gr.S. 

TARUNA  DAL,  army  of  the  youth,  was  one  of 
the  two  main  divisions  of  Dal  Khalsa,  the 
confederated  army  of  the  Sikhs  during  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  other  one  being  the 
Buddha  Dal  (army  of  the  elders).  These  Dais 
came  into  existence  in  1734  when,  during  a 
truce  with  Zakariya  Khan,  the  Mughal  governor 
of  the  Punjab,  different  roving  bands  of  the 
Sikhs  were  concentrated  in  Amritsar. 

Taruna  Dal  was  subdivided  into  five  jathas 
or  fighting  groups  of  approximately  1300  to 
2,000  men  each,  mostly  mounted.  The  first  was 
commanded  by  Bhai  Dip  Singh,  commonly 
known,  after  he  met  with  a  martyr's  death,  as 
Baba  Dip  Singh  Shahid.  It  was  called 
Shahidahvala  jatha.  The  second,  commanded 
by  Bhai  Karam  Singh  and  Dharam  Singh  of 
Amritsar,  came  to  be  known  as  Amritsariaii  da 
Jatha.  The  third  led  by  Baba  Binod  Singh  and 
his  son  Baba  Kahn  Singh  was  called 
Sahibzadiah  da  Jatha  or  Guru-Arisi  Jatha.  The 
fourth  Jatha  was  commanded  by  Bhai 
Dasaundha  Singh  of  Kot  Buddha  and  the  fifth 
by  Bhai  Bir  Singh  Rahghreta.  Both  Buddha 
and  Taruna  Dais  accepted  Nawab  Kapur  Singh 
as  their  overall  commander.  It  was  determined 
that  while  Buddha  Dal  remained  at  Amritsar 
to  look  after  the  shrines,  Taruna  Dal  would  be 


TARUNA  DAL 


324 


TARUNA  DAL 


available  for  action  where  needed.  However, 
Zakariya  Khan  ended  the  peace  pact  in  1735 
and  resumed  his  repressive  policy  against  the 
Sikhs  so  that  both  Dais  had  to  abandon 
Amritsar  and  seek  safety  in  distant  hills  and 
forests.  Taruna  Dal  retired  into  the  Sivalik  hill 
states  of  Kahlur,  Hindur  and  Sirmur  which  fell 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  Sirhind  sarkar  in  the 
Subah  of  Delhi.  From  there  it  launched  out 
intermittantly  to  raid  the  territory  of  Manjh 
Rajputs  of  Jalandhar  Doab.  Once  during  1736, 
crossing  into  the  Majha  country,  it  defeated 
the  gashti  fauj  (roving  army)  sent  from  Lahore, 
and  pillaging  the  Riarki  area  (present  district 
of  Gurdaspur)  went  back  to  its  hilly  haunts. 
During  the  summer  of  1739,  the  Taruna  Dal 
harassed  and  plundered  the  richly  laden 
baggage  train  of  the  Persian  invader  Nadir 
Shah  who,  while  returning  home  after  a  hearty 
plunder  of  Delhi  and  the  Punjab,  was  keeping 
close  to  the  hills  with  a  view  to  avoiding  the 
heat  of  the  plains.  The  Sikhs  followed  the 
invaders  up  to  Akhnur  on  the  River  Chenab 
where  they  rescued  from  their  hands  a  large 
number  of  Hindu  girls  and  safely  restored  them 
to  their  families.  This  chivalrous  act  and  their 
daring  attacks  on  Nadir  Shah,  contrasting  with 
the  abject  surrender  of  the  rulers  of  Delhi  and 
Lahore,  endeared  the  Sikhs  to  the  general 
populace.The  two  Dais  now  returned  to  the 
Punjab  and  started  assembling  at  Amritsar  on 
the  occasions  of  Baisakhi  and  Divali.  At  the 
Sarbatt  (lit.  entire)  Khalsa  meeting  on 
Baisakhi,  29  March  1748,  a  major 
reorganization  of  the  Dal  Khalsa  was  put  in 
hand.  The  entire  force  was  divided  into  11 
misls  or  divisions.  Six  of  these  misls  were 
assigned  to  the  Buddha  Dal  while  the  rest 
formed  the  Taruna  Dal.  The  latter  comprised 
Sukkarchakkia  misl  under  Sardar  Charhat 
Singh  (grandfather  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh) 
;  Bhahgis  under  Sardar  Hari  Siiigh  ;  Kanhaiyas 
under  Sardar  Jai  Singh;  Nakals  under  Sardar 
Hira  Siiigh  ;  and  Ramgarhlas  under  Sardar 
Jassa  Singh  Ramgarhia,  as  distinguished  from 
his  namesake  of  the  Ahluvalia  clan,  who  was 


chosen  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  Dal 
Khalsa  as  a  whole.  Taruna  Dal  continued  to 
participate  injoint  expeditions  of  the  two  Dais, 
but  its  specific  sphere  of  operation  lay  to  the 
north  of  the  Rivers  Sudej  and  Beas. 

After  the  conquest  of  Sirhind  in  January 
1764,  the  misls  divided  the  territory  among 
themselves  and  started  adding  to  their 
respective  domains.  From  among  the  Taruna 
Dal  only  one  sardar  of  the  Bhahgi  misl,  Rai 
Siiigh,  had  participated  in  the  partition  of 
Sirhind  territory.  He  had  occupied  204  villages 
around  Buna  and  Jagadhri.  The  remaining 
sardars  of  the  Taruna  Dal  had  their  eyes  fixed 
on  the  northern  Doabs  of  the  Punjab  proper. 
The  Bhahgis  controlled  a  major  part  of  the  city 
of  Lahore  and  extended  their  hegemony  over 
Multan  and  subsequently  occupied  Jhahg, 
Khushab  and  Chiniot  in  the  West  and  Sialkot 
and  Gujrat  in  the  east.  The  Kanhaiyas  ruled 
over  the  area  comprising  a  major  part  of  the 
present  Gurdaspur  district  and  Mukeriah  tahsjl 
of  Hoshiarpur  district.  The  territory  of  the 
Ramgarhlas  lay  on  both  sides  of  the  River  Beas 
and  included  villages  around  Miani  and  Urmur 
Tanda  in  Jalandhar  Doab.  They  also  held  sway 
over  the  hill  states  of  Chamba,  Nurpur,  Jasvan 
and  Haripur.  In  1776,  they  were  defeated  by 
the  combined  forces  of  the  Kanhaiya  misl  and 
Raja  Sahsar  Chand  Katoch  of  Kangra. 

The  Sukkarchakkia  misl  under  Sardar 
Charhat  Siiigh  established  itself  around 
Gujraiiwala  which  they  made  their 
headquarters  and  extended  their  territory  up 
to  Rolnas  beyond  the  River  Jehlum  ;  Charhat 
Siiigh 's  grandson,  Maharaja  Ranjit  Siiigh  (1780- 
1839)  subdued  the  other  misls  and  became  the 
ruler  of  the  entire  Punjab  from  the  Satluj  to 
the  Khaibar. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Cunningham,  J.D.,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs. 
London,  1849 

2.  Forster,  George,  A  Journey  from  Bengal  to 
England.  London,  1798 

3.  Narang,  Gokul  Chand,  Transformation  of 


TARU  POPAT 


325 


TARU  SIN1GH,  BHAl 


Sikhism.  Lahore,  1912 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

5.  Latif,  Syad  Muhammad,  History  of  the  Punjab 
[Reprint].  Delhi,  1964 

6.  Teja  Singh  and  Ganda  Singh,  A  Short  History  of 
the  Sikhs.  Bombay,  1950 

7.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Delhi,  1978 

8.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

9.  Bhangu,  Ratan  Stngh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

10.  Gian  Singh,  GianI,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

Gl.S. 

TARU  POPAT  is  listed  in  Bhai  Gurdas,  Varan, 
XI.  13,  among  prominent  Sikhs  of  the  time  of 
Guru  Nanak  (1469-1539).  Bhai  Man!  Singh, 
Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala,  elaborating  the 
reference  in  Bhai  Gurdas  says  that  Taru  Popat 
was  only  a  young  boy  of  ten  when  he  presented 
himself  before  the  Guru  and  made  the 
submission,  "Friend  of  the  poor,  I  have  heard 
that  whosoever  meets  a  saint  obtains  peace.  I 
have  taken  refuge  at  thy  feet !"  The  Guru  said, 
"You  are  yet  too  young  and  have  hardly  seen 
anything  of  this  life.  Wherefrom  have  you 
learnt  to  think  of  these  things."  Spoke  Popat, 
"One  day  I  watched  my  mother  make  a  fire.  I 
saw  that  the  smaller  logs  caught  fire  sooner 
than  the  bigger  ones.  It  occurred  to  me  that  I 
should  see  a  saint  as  soon'  as  possible  so  that  I 
secure  happiness.  Who  knows  when  death 
might  strike?"  The  Guru  pronounced  the 
blessing,  "Taru  (lit.  'swimmer'),  thou  shalt  be 
the  salvager  of  thy  clan.  Learn  to  make  an 
honest  living  and  learn  to  share  the  fruit  of 
thy  labour  with  others.  Remember  thy  Creator 
always."  Acting  up»on  the  Guru's  word  Taru 
Popat,  says  Bhai  Mani  Singh,  attained  liberation. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 


2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Macauliffe,  M.A.,  The  Sikh  Religion.  Oxford,  1909 

M.G.S 

TARU  SINGH,  BHAI  (1720-45),  the  martyr,  was 
a  Sandhu  Jatt  of  Puhla  village,  now  in  Amritsar 
district  of  the  Punjab.  He  was  a  pious  Sikh  who 
tilled  his  land  diligently  and  lived  frugally. 
Whatever  he  saved  went  to  his  Sikh  brethren 
forced  into  exile  by  government  persecution. 
Spied  upon  by  Harbhagat  Niranjanla  of 
Jandiala,  a  government  informer,  Taru  Singh 
was  hauled  up  before  Zakariya  Khan,  the 
governor  at  Lahore  (1726-45).  As  the  Prachin 
Panth  Prakash  narrates  the  story,  Zakariya 
Khan  once  asked  his  men,  "From  where  do  the 
Sikhs  obtain  their  nourishment  ?  I  have 
debarred  them  from  all  occupations.  They 
realize  no  taxes.  They  do  not  farm,  nor  are  they 
allowed  to  do  business  or  join  public 
employment.  I  have  stopped  all  offerings  to 
their  gurdwaras.  No  provisions  or  supplies  are 
accessible  to  them.  Why  do  they  not  die  of 
sheer  starvadon."  Harbhagat,  a  sworn  foe  of 
the  Sikhs,  remarked,  "There  are  Sikhs  in  this 
world  who  would  not  eat  until  they  have  fed 
their  brethren.  They  may  themselves  go 
without  food  and  clothing,  but  cannot  bear 
their  comrades'  distress.  They  would  pass  the 
winter  by  fireside  and  send  them  their  own 
clothes.  They  would  sweat  to  grind  corn  and 
have  it  sent  to  them.  They  would  do  the 
roughest  chore  to  earn  a  small  wage  for  their 
sake.  They  migrate  to  distant  places  to  eke  out 
money  for  their  brothers  in  exile."  In  the 
village  of  Puhla  in  Majha,"  continued 
Harbhagat,  "lives  one  Taru  Singh.  He  tills  his 
land  and  pays  the  revenue  to  the  officials.  He 
eats  but  litde  and  sends  what  he  saves  to  his 
brothers  in  the  jungle.  His  mother  and  sister 
both  toil  and  grind  to  make  a  living.  They  eat 
sparingly  and  wear  the  coarsest  homespun. 
Whatever  they  save,  they  pass  on  to  the  Sikhs." 

Taru  Singh  was  arrested,  imprisoned  and 
tortured. 


TASIMBLI 


326 


TATT  KHALSA 


Eventually,  when  presented  before  the 
governor,  he  defiantly  greeted  him  with  the 
Sikh  salutation  :  Vahiguru jika  Khalsa  Vahiguru 
ji  ki  Fateh.  Charged  with  sedition,  he  stated  : 
"If  we  till  your  land,  we  pay  the  revenue.  If  we 
engage  in  commerce,  we  pay  taxes.  What  is  left 
after  our  payments  to  you  is  for  our  bellies. 
What  we  save  from  our  mouths,  we  give  to  our 
brethren.  We  take  nothing  from  you.  Why  then 
do  you  punish  us?"  The  governor  was  in  a  rage 
and  pronounced  the  usual  alternatives,  Islam 
or  death.  To  quote  again  from  the  Prachin 
Panth  Prakash,  Taru  Singh  calmly  asked,  "Why 
must  I  become  a  Mussalman  ?  Do  not  the 
Mussalmans  ever  die  ?"  A  torturous  death  by 
scrapping  the  scalp  off  his  head  was  the  verdict 
announced  by  the  qadi,  the  court  law-giver. 
The  sentence  was  carried  out  on  1  July  1745. 
Taru  Singh  was  then  barely  25  years  of  age. 
The  dead  body  was  cremated  outside  Delhi 
Gate  at  Lahore,  where  a  shahidgahj,  or  martyrs' 
memorial,  was  later  constructed.  It  became  a 
place  of  pilgrimage  for  the  Sikhs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhaftgu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Panth  Prakash.  Lahore,  1880 

3.  Lakshman  Singh,  Bhagat,  Sikh  Martyrs.  Madras, 
1928 

4.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

5.  Ganda  Singh  and  Teja  Singh,  A  Short  History  of 
the  Sikhs.  Bombay,  1950 

6.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

B.S. 

TASIMBLI,  a  village  in  Patiala  districts,  13  km 
northeast  of  Ambala  city  (30°-23'N,  76°-47'E), 
claims  a  historical  shrine,  Gurdwara  Patshahi 
IX,  dedicated  to  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur,  who 
visited  it  during  one  of  his  travels  through 
this  territory.  Only  a  platform  in  a  small  room 
with  a  Sikh  flag,  existed  on  the  eastern  outskirts 
of  the  village  until  the  present  building  was 


constructed  in  1952.  The  Gurdwara  now 
consists  of  a  sanctum  within  a  hall.  The  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  is  seated  in  the  sanctum  inside 
the  hall.  The  Gurdwara  is  managed  by  a  local 
committee,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavah  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

M.G.S. 

TATT  KHALSA,  lit.  the  Real  or  Pure  Khalsa, 
as  against  the  followers  of  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur  who  came  to  be  called  Bandai  Khalsa. 
was  one  of  the  factions  in  the  schism  which 
arose  among  the  Sikhs  after  the  passing  away 
of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
while  sending  Banda  Singh  to  the  Punjab  in 
1708  to  lead  the  Sikhs,  had  abolished  the  line 
of  living  Gurus  bequeathing  spiritual  guruship 
to  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Banda  Singh  in  the 
flush  of  initial  victories  made  some  innovations 
which  appeared  heretical  to  the  orthodox 
Khalsa.  Instead  of  the  Sikh  salutation  of 
"Vahiguru  Ji  ka  Khalsa,  Vahiguru  ji  ki  Fateh" 
he  introduced  "Fateh  Darshan";  discarding  the 
traditional  blue  dress  of  the  Khalsa  warriors 
he  adopted  garments  of  red  colour ;  and,  what 
hurt  the  Sikhs  most,  he  allowed  his  followers 
to  treat  him  as  Guru.  Many  Sikhs  led  by  the 
veteran  Binod  Singh  and  his  son,  Kahn  Singh, 
parted  company  with  Banda  Singh  during  his 
last  defensive  batde  against  the  imperial  army. 
They  called  themselves  Tatt  Khalsa.  "ready" 
Khalsa.  Banda  Singh  was  put  to  death  at  Delhi 
in  June  1716,  but  the  schism  persisted. 

With  the  assassination  of  Emperor 
Farrukh-SIyar  in  1719,  persecution  of  the  Sikhs 
slackened  somewhat  and  they  began  to  gather 
occasionally  at  Amritsar.  The  differences 
between  the  two  groups  increased  with  the 
Bandai  Khalsa  claiming  50  per  cent  of  the 
income  from  offerings  at  the  shrines  and  the 
Tatt  Khalsa  refuting  the  claim  as  entirely 


TATT  KHA1.SA 


327 


TAZKIRAH 


baseless.  When  this  state  of  affairs  was  brought 
to  the  notice  of  Mata  Sundari  at  Delhi,  she 
despatched  Bhai  Mani  Singh  with  six  other 
Sikhs  for  the  management  of  the  Darbar  Sahib 
at  Amritsar,  and  enjoined  that  the  entire 
income  should  be  spent  on  Guru  ka  Lahgar. 
Matters  came  to  a  head  on  the  occasion  of 
Baisakhi  in"  1721  when  the  Bandais  made 
fortifications  around  their  camp  and  prepared 
for  a  confrontation.  However,  on  Bhai  Mani 
Singh's  mediation  both  parties  agreed  to  seek 
guidance  from  the  Guru.  Two  slips  of  paper, 
one  with  the  words  "Vahiguru  ji  ka  Khatsa, 
Vahiguru  ji  ki  Eateh,"  written  on  it  and  the 
other  with  the  words  "FatehDarshan",  were 
dropped  into  the  sacred  pool.  Whichever  slip 
came  up  on  the  surface  first  was  to  indicate 
the  Guru's  verdict.  It  so  happened  that  the  slip 
Bearing  "Vahiguru  ji  ki  Fateh"  surfaced  first. 
Many  Bandais  bowed  their  heads  and  came 
over  to  the  camp  of  the  Tatt  Khalsa,  but  some 
questioned  the  propriety  of  the  procedure 
adopted.  It  was  then  decided  to  setde  the  issue 
through  a  wresding  bout.  The  bout  was  held 
in  front  of  the  Akal  Takht  between  Miri  Singh, 
son  of  Baba  Kahn  Singh,  leader  of  the  Tatt 
Khalsa.  and  Saiigat  Singh,  son  of  Lahaura  Singh 
Bandai.  Miri  Singh  won  and  the  Tatt  Khalsa 
was  again  declared  the  winner.  The  bulk  of  the 
Bandai  Sikhs  joined  the  Tatt  Khalsa  and  a  few 
who  remained  adamant  were  driven  away. 
Although  the  name  of  the  sect,  Tatt  Khalsa. 
became  redundant  thereafter,  the  words 
continued  to  be  used  especially  in  the  Singh 
Sabha  days,  to  denote  Sikhs  fully  committed 
and  ever  prepared  for  action  in  behalf  of  the 
community.  This  was  in  contrast  to  dbillar 
(Sikhs)  connoting  indolent,  passive  or 
ineffectual. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ganda  Singh,  Life  of  Banda  Singh  Bahadur. 
Amritsar,  1935 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi. 
1983 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Gianii,  Panth  Prakash.  Delhi,  1880 


4.  Bhangu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1912 

Sd.S. 

TAZKIRAH  (lit.  memoir)  by  Anand  Ram 
Mukhlis.  a  manuscript  of  much  historical  value 
containing  an  account  of  events  that  took  place 
in  North-West  India  during  the  second  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  manuscript 
deals  mainly  with  the  Punjab,.  Nadir  Shah's 
invasion  (1739),  Zakariya  Khan's  governorship 
of  Punjab  (1726-45),  condition  of  the  Punjab 
under  his  sons  and  successors,  Yahiya  Khan 
(1745-47)  and  Shah  Nawaz  Khan  (1747-48), 
and  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani's  first  invasion 
(1748).  The  manuscript  is  still  unpublished  as 
a  whole  ;  an  English  translation  of  only  a  part 
of  it  relating  to  Nadir  Shah's  invasion  is  found 
in  Elliot  and  Dowson,  The  History  of  India  as 
Told  by  Its  Own  Historians,  Vol.  VIII.  A  brief 
account  of  the  life  of  Anand  Ram  Mukhlis  is 
contained  in  Dr.  Syad  Abdullah,  Adabiat-i— 
Farasi  men  Hinduon  ka  Hissa  published  by 
Ahjuman-i-Taraqqi-i-Urdu  (Hind),  Delhi, 
1942.  Copies  of  the  manuscript,  are  preserved 
in  Sir  Jadunath  Sarkar's  Library,  Calcutta  ; 
libraries  of  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar  and  Muslim 
University,  'Aligarh  ;  and  in  the  Department 
of  Punjab  Historical  Studies,  Punjabi  University, 
Patiala.  Anand  Ram,  the  son  of  Hridai  Ram 
Khatri  of  Sodhra  in  Sialkot  district  of  Pakistan, 
was  a  highly  learned  man  and  author  of  several 
works  in  Persian  besides  the  Tazkirah.  Mukhlis 
was  his  pen  name.  He  served  as  vakil  or 
secretary  of  Wazir  Qamar  ud-Din  "I'umad  ul- 
Daulah,  prime  minister  of  the  Mughal  Emperor 
Muhammad  Shah  from  1724  to  1748."  Earlier 
he  had  also  worked  as  vakil  of  'Abd  us-Samad 
Khan,  the  governor  of  Punjab  from  1713  to 
1726.  He  had  thus  access  to  first-hand 
information  about  the  events  he  recorded  and 
to  most  of  which  he  was  an  eye-witness. 

The  Tazkirah  is  divided  into  three  parts  : 
(i)  Nadir  Shah's  invasion,  (ii)  expedition  to 
Bangarh,  and  (iii)  the  first  invasion  of 
Ahmad  Shah  Durrani.  Nadir  Shah's  progress 


TAZKIRAH-I-SALATlN-I-CHUGHTAI 


328 


TAZ  KIRA  H-I-SALATI N-I-CH  UGHTAI 


towards  Delhi  and  general  massacre  in  Delhi, 
and  his  return  to  Iran  are  described  in  detail. 
There  is,  however,  no  reference  to  the  Sikhs 
who  according  to  some  other  sources  are  said 
to  have  attacked  the  invader's  baggage  train. 
In  the  third  part,  the  author,  while  giving  an 
account  of  the  struggle  between  Yahlya  Khan 
and  Shah  Nawaz,  records  that  there  were  revolts 
everywhere  in  the  province.  While  zamindars 
(feudal  farmers)  of  Jammu  deviated  from  the 
path  of  obedience  and  loyalty,  the  Sikhs  created 
conditions  of  lawlessness  and  chaos,  and 
rebellions  were  rampant  all  over  the  Punjab. 
During  the  invasion  of  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani 
and  his  battle  with  the  Mughals  at  Manupur 
near  Sirhind,  the  Sikhs  remained  neutral 
watching  the  situation  with  keen  interest,  but 
during  Ahmad  Shah's  retreat  homewards  after 
his  defeat,  they  fell  upon  the  Afghan  rearguard 
at  many  places  and  kept  harassing  him  right 
up  to  Attock,  acquiring  considerable  booty  of 
stores,  arms,  camels  and  horses.  Even  during 
his  incoming  journey,  Ahmad  Shah's  camp  had 
been  attacked  by  the  Sikhs  at  Sarai  Nurdln 
between  Lahore  and  Amritsar. 

Anand  Ram  is  very  objective  in  the 
treatment  of  his  subject.  Though  he  was  very 
intimately  associated  with  the  royal  house  of 
Delhi  as  a  responsible  courtier,  he  was  not 
unduly  biased  in  favour  of  his  patrons  or 
hostile  towards  the  opponents  of  the  imperial 
government  nor  was  he  hostile  to  foreign 
invaders  nor  to/the  Sikhs  who  were  emerging 
as  a  new  power.  His  vivid  account  of  several 
towns,  the  climate,  flora  and  fauna  of  different 
parts  of  north  India,  and  of  bridges  and  boats 
is  very  interesting  and  useful  to  historians. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

B.S. 

TAZKIRAH-I-SALATIN-I-CHUGHTAI ,  a 
manuscript  dealing  with  the  political  history 
of  the  Mughal  times  from  the  reign  of 


Aurahgzib  to  the  third  year  of  Muhammad 
Shah's  reign,  i.e.  up  to  1722.  It  is  an  important 
document  for  the  history  of  the  Sikhs  foK,  its 
sections  dealing  in  detail  with  the  exploits  and 
ultimate  suppression  of Banda  Singh  Bahadur. 
Copies  of  the  manuscript  are  preserved  in 
National  Library,  Calcutta,  Khuda  Bakhsh 
Library  Bankipur  (Patna),  Maulana  Azad 
Library  of  Muslim  University,  Aligarh,  and  in 
the  Punjab  Historical  Studies  Department  of 
Punjabi  University,  Patiala.  The  author  of  the 
manuscript,  Muhammad  Hadi  Kamwar  Khan, 
was  a  contemporary  of  Emperor  Aurahgzib  for 
a  considerable  portion  of  his  reign  and  had 
served  for  a  long  time  during  his  Deccan 
campaign.  He  was  appointed  controller  of  the 
household  of  Prince  Muhammad  Ibrahim  and 
received  the  title  of  Kamwar  Khan  in  the 
second  year  of  the  reign  of  Bahadur  Shah. 
From  incidental  observations  in  the  pages  of 
this  book  it  appears  that  the  author  also  was  at 
various  times,  a  diwan,  bakhshl,  khan-i—samah 
and  daroghah  of  the  treasury.  Besides 
Tazkirah,  he  also  wrote  Haft  Gulshan-i- 
Muhammad  Shahi,  which  gives  a  general 
history  of  India,  including  many  minor 
dynasties,  and  Tatimah-i-Waq'iat-i-Jahahgirl 
dealing  with  "introduction  and  conclusion  of 
emperor  Jahahgir's  memoirs." 

The  book  narrates  the  expeditions  of 
emperors  Bahadur  Shah  and  Farrukh-Siyar 
against  the  Sikhs.  The  former  had  personally 
come  to  the  Punjab  to  supervise  military 
operations  against  Banda  Singh.  Kamwar  Khan, 
referring  to  the  sack  of  Sirhind  by  the  Sikhs, 
writes  that  the  booty  that  fell  into  their  hands 
was  estimated  at  two  crores  (twenty  million)  in 
cash  besides  goods  belonging  to  Nawab  Wazir 
Khan  and  some  lacs  (hundred  thousands)  from 
the  deserted  houses  of  Suchcha  Nand  and 
others.  A  large  number  of  Wazir  Khan's  men 
fell  to  the  bullets  of  the  Sikhs  at  Sirhind.  In 
December  1710,  an  imperial  force  was 
encamped  at  Sadhaura  preliminary  to 
launching  an  attack  on  Banda's  retreat  of 
Lohgarh  (Mukhlispur)  when  the  Sikhs  fell 


TAZKI RAH-I-SALATI  N-I-CHUGHTAI 


329 


TEGH  BAHADUR,  GURU 


upon  it  and  showered  arrows  and  musket  balls 
causing  such  heavy  casualties  in  the  Mughal 
ranks  that  for  a  time  it  appeared  as  if  they  were 
going  to  lose.  A  litde  later  when  Banda  Singh 
was  besieged  in  the  fort  of  Lohgarh,  he  made 
a  determined  sally  on  the  night  of  10-11 
December  1710  and  breaking  through  the 
royal  lines  made  good  his  escape  to  the  hills 
of  Sirmur  to  the  great  discomfiture  of  the 
emperor,  who  summoned  Raja  Bhiip  Prakash 
of  Nahan  (Sirmur)  and  imprisoned  him  on  the 
charge  of  his  inability  to  move  against  Banda 
Singh  and  rather  alleged  protection  he 
provided  to  the  rebels.  In  order  to  prove 
Nahan's  loyalty  to  the  Mughals,  the  Raja's 
mother  rounded  up  a  group  of  30  Sikhs  and 
sent  them  to  Delhi  for  execution.  Incidentally, 
Kamwar  Khan  writes  that  Rs.  20,00,000  in  the 
form  of  rupees  and  ashrafis  (gold  coins)  were 
dug  out  by  the  Mughals  from  near  the  Lohgarh 
fort  after  the  Sikhs  had  escaped. 

Writing  about  the  siege  of  Gurclas-Narigal, 
Kamwar  Khan  states  that  a.  large  number  of 
Banda  Singh's  followers  perished  owing  to 
starvation.  After  his  capture  with  other 
survivors,  the  arms  that  were  recovered 
included  about  1000  swords,  200  bows,  173 
quivers,  180  jamdhars,  and  only  three  muskets 
(which  indicates  the  poor  state  of  the  Sikhs' 
manpower  and  armament).  As  Banda  Singh, 
in  an  iron  cage,  and  his  companions  in 
buffoon's  caps  were  taken  to  the  imperial  fort 
in  Delhi,  the  people  turned  out  in  such  large 
numbers  to  see  them  that  traffic  got  jammed 
on  the  roads.  The  emperor  ordered  the 
prisoners  to  be  kept  in  batches  at  different 
places  under  different  officers.  Banda  Singh 
and  a  few  of  his  men  were  handed  over  to 
Ibrahim  ud-Din  Khan,  the  mir-i-atash 
(commander  of  artillery)  for  confinement  in 
prison  inside  the  fort.  His  three-year-old  son 
along  with  its  nurse  was  entrusted  to  Darbar 
Khan,  the  nazir-i-haramsara  (guardian  of  the 
harem) .  Three  hundred  and  ninety-four  of  his 
followers  were  made  over  to  Sarbarah  Khan. 
kotwal  (police 'commissioner),  for  execution 


at  the  rate  of  100  every  day.  Their  dead  bodies 
were  taken  out  of  the  city  and  hung  on  trees. 
Banda  Singh,  his  son  and  26  companions  were 
tortured  to  death  later  by  the  Mir-i-Atash 
himself  near  Khwaja  Qutb  ud-DIn's 
mausoleum.  That  the  author  was 
contemptuously  disposed  towards  Sikhs  is  clear 
from  the  abusive  names  and  phrases  he  uses 
for  them,  but  despite  his  deep  hatred  he  does 
not  conceal  the  alarm  that  the  Sikh  movement 
created  and  the  emperor's  concern  at  the 
threat  they  posed  for  empire's  integrity.  On  the 
first  news  of  Banda  Singh's  conquest  in  the 
Punjab,  Emperor  Bahadur  Shah  called  upon 
his  vassals  as  distant  as  Moradabad,  Allahabad 
and  Oudh  as  well  as  the  Sayyids  of  Barah  to 
march  towards  the  Punjab  ;  and  to  round  up  a 
thousand-odd  Sikh  warriors  at  Gurdas-Nahgal, 
the  entire  might  of  Lahore  and  Jammu 
provinces  had  to  be  marshalled.  Kamwar  also 
does  not  feel  shy  of  recording  the  heavy  losses 
often  suffered  by  the  imperial  troops  in  their 
encounters  with  the  Sikhs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,  ed.,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

B.S. 

TEGH  BAHADUR,  GURU  (1621-1675), 
prophet  and  martyr.revered  as  the  Ninth  Guru 
or  Revealer  of  the  Sikh  faith,  was  the  youngest 
of  the  five  sons  of  the  Sixth  Guru,  Guru 
Hargobind,  and  his  wife,  Nanakl.  He  was  born 
at  Amritsar  on  Baisakh  vadi  5, 1678  Bk/  1  April 
1621.  The  early  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in 
Amritsar  where  he  was  placed  under  the 
training  of  Bhai  Buddha  and  Bhai  Gurdas,  two 
of  the  most  revered  Sikhs  of  the  time.  The 
former  taught  him  the  manly  arts  of  archery 
and  horsemanship  and  the  latter  the  religious 
texts.  Another  of  the  interests  he  cultivated  was 
music.  He  was  by  nature  of  a  contemplative  and 
mystical  temperament-a  strain  which  found 
expression  in  later  years  in  poetry  of  deep 
spiritual  insight  and  wisdom.  At  the  age  of  12, 


TEGH  BAHADUR,  GURU 


330 


TKGH  BAHADUR,  GURU 


on  4  February  1633,  he  was  married  to  Gujari, 
daughter  of  Lai  Chand  and  Bishan  Kaur, 
Subhikkhl  Khatris,  of  Lakhnaur,  near  Ambala, 
who  had  migrated  and  settled  at  Kartarpur. 

After  the  accession  in  1628  of  Emperor 
Shah  Jahan  to  the  throne  of  Delhi,  conflict 
broke  out  with  the  Mughal  authority.  Amritsar 
itself  became  the  centre  of  a  skirmish.  As  Guru 
Hargobind  left  the  city  in  1634  to  sojourn  in 
southeastern  Punjab,  further  clashes  occurred 
at  Mehraj  (16  December  1634)  and  at 
Kartarpur  (26  April  1635).  Sikh  texts  record 
that  Tegh  Bahadur  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Kartarpur  and  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth 
especially  pays  homage  to  his  skill  and  valour. 
After  this  batde,  Guru  Hargobind  retired  to 
Kiratpur,  at  the  foot  of  Sivalik  hills.  For  Tegh 
Bahadur  this  meant  nine  years  of 
uninterrupted  bliss  in  the  company  of  his 
father.  After  Guru  Hargobind's  death  in  1644, 
he  left  Kiratpur  with  his  mother,  Mata  Nanaki 
and  wife,  Gujari,  for  Bakala,  a  village  in 
Amritsar  district,  where  Mata  Nanaki's  father 
had  his  ancestral  home.  Tegh  Bahadur  was  now 
remote  from  the  main  seat  of  Sikhism.  He  lived 
a  strict  and  holy  life  and  spent  most  of  his  time 
in  meditation.  Yet  he  was  no  recluse.  He  went, 
out  riding  and  followed  the  chase. 

From  Bakala,  Tegh  Bahadur  made  a  visit 
to  Kiratpur  and  thence  set  out,  on  13  June 
1656,  on  a  prolonged  tour  towards  the  east. 
During  his  absence  Guru  Har  Rai,  Guru 
Hargobind's  spiritual  successor,  passed  away  at 
Kiratpur  transferring  his  mantle  to  his  young 
son,  Har  Krishan.  Tegh  Bahadur,  who  returned 
to  Delhi  on  21  March  1664,  called  on  Guru 
Har  Krishan,  then  in  the  city  summoned  by 
Emperor  Aurarigzib,  to  condole  with  him  upon 
his  father's  death.  Thereafter,  he  travelled  on 
to  Bakala.  Soon  after  Tegh  Bahadur  had  left 
Delhi,  Guru  Har  Krishan  died  alluding  to  him 
as  his  successor.  However,  the  ambiguity  of  his 
words  uttered  from  his  sickbed  led  to  several 
claimants  setting  themselves  up  as  Gurus  at 
Bakala.  Tegh  Bahadur  sat  in' the  seclusion  of 
his  home,  but  was  discovered  by  Makkhan  Shah 


Lubana,  a  wealthy  trader,  who  arrived  at  Bakala 
in  search  of  the  Guru.  He  walked  from  one 
street  to  another,  paying  obeisance  and 
offering  two  gold  mohars  to  each  of  the  'Gurus' 
he  met,  but  obtained  satisfaction  from 
nowhere. 

Finally,  he  repaired  to  the  house  where, 
he  was  told,  lived  a  saintly  being  who  made  no 
claims  for  himself.  This  was  Tegh  Bahadur  and, 
as  Makkhan  Shah  bowed  and  placed  in  front 
of  him  the  customary  two  gold  mohars,  he  gave 
him  his  blessing,  but  said  that  his  offering  was 
considerably  short  of  the  five  hundred  gold 
coins  he  had  promised  when  his  cargo  boat 
had  been  caught  in  a  storm.  Hearing  these 
words,  Makkhan  Shah  ran  upstairs  and  began 
shouting  from  the  housetop  :  "Guru  ladho  re, 
Guru  ladho  re  (1  have  found  the  Guru,  I  have 
found  the  Guru)." 

Makkhan  Shah's  announcement 
dispirited  the  impostors.  Yet  nothing  could 
assuage  the  envy  of  Dhir  Mall,  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur's  own  nephew.  His  masand,  Shihan, 
fanned  his  jealousy.  Dhir  Mall's  men  attacked 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's  house  and  ransacked  it 
as  they  willed.  But  the  Guru  remained  calm. 
When  Makkhan  Shah  retaliated  and  pillaged 
Dhir  Mall's  house,  he  had  everything  retuned 
to  him.  He  restored  to  Dhir  Mall  goods 
plundered  from  his  own  house,  including  his 
copy  of  the  holy  volume,  Granth  Sahib,  and  to 
quote  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth,  counselled  his  Sikhs  :  "Forgiveness  is 
the  austerity  most  meritorious  ;  forgiveness  is 
the  best  of  charities.  . Forgiveness  is  equivalent 
to  all  the  pilgrimages  and  ablutions.  In 
forgiveness  lies  liberation.  No  other  virtue 
parallels  forgiveness.  Forgiveness  you  must 
learn." 

According  to  Bhatt  Vahi  Talauda  Pargana 
Jind,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  was  formally 
annointed  Guru  on  Bhadoh  Amavas  1721  15k/ 
11  August  1664.  The  responsibility  of 
instructing  the  growing  Sikh  community  and 
guiding  its  affairs  was  now  his.  He  was  the  focal 
point  of  veneration  for  the  Sikhs.  They  came 


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TEGH  BAHADUR,  GURU 


singly  and  in  batches  to  seek  spiritual  solace 
and  instruction.  By  his  teaching  and  practice, 
he  moulded  their  religious  and  social 
conscience.  Connection  was  established  with 
far-flung  sangats  through  masands  and  the 
Guru's  edicts  or  commandments,  called 
hukamnamas  issued  from  time  to  time. 

Three  successive  visits  were  made  to 
Kiratpur.  On  21  August  1664,  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  went  there  to  condole  with  Bibi  Rup 
Kaur  upon  the  passing  away  of  her  f  a  ther,  Guru 
Har  Rai,  and  of  her  brother,  Guru  Har  Krishan. 
The  second  visit  was  on  15  October  1664  at 
the  death,  on  29  September  1664,  of  Mata 
Bassi,  mother  of  Guru  Har  Rai.  A  third  visit 
concluded  a  fairly  extensive  journey  through 
Majha,  Malva  and  Bahgar  districts  of  the 
Punjab.  The  first  halt  during  this  journey  was 
at  Amritsar,  followed  by  those  at  Tarn  Taran, 
Khadur  Sahib  and  Goindval,  all  of  long- 
standing sanctity  in  Sikh  tradition. 

Crossing  the  Beas  and  Sutlej  rivers,  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  arrived  in  the  Malva.  He  visited 
Zira,  Moga  and  Darauli  and  then  sojourned  in 
the  Lakkhi  Jungle,  a  desolate  tract  comprising 
mainly  present-day  districts  of  BatMnda  and 
Faridkot.  This  journey  took  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  up  to  Dhamdhan,  near  Jind,  from 
where  he  retuned  to  Kiratpur.  On  13  May  1665, 
he  went  to  Bilaspur,  farther  up  in  the  hills  to 
mourn  for  Raja  Dip  Chand,  the  ruler  of  the 
state.  The  Dowager  Rani  Champa  of  Bilaspur 
offered  to  give  the  Guru  a  piece  df  land  in  her 
state  which  the  Guru  bought  on  payment  of 
500  rupees.  Here  on  the  mound  of  Makhoval, 
he  raised  a  new  habitation  naming  it  Chakk 
Nanaki  after  his  mother,  Mata  Nanaki,  which 
later  became  famous  as  Anandpur. 

Like  his  predecessors  since  the  days  of 
Guru  Hargobind,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
maintained  the  marks  of  worldly  dignity, 
himself  living  austerely.  He  went  on  long 
journeys  to  instruct  the  sangats  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  and  proclaim  far  and  wide 
the  message  of  Guru  Nanak.  One  suchjourney 
took  him  through  towns  such  as  Ropar,  Banur 


and  Rajpura  to  what  is  now  Bahadurgarh,  near 
Patiala,  where  the  Muslim  Nawab,  Saif  ud-DIn 
Mahmud,  also  known  as  Saif  Khan,  who  had 
held  office  of  governor  of  Agra  under  Emperor 
Aurahgzib,  served  him  with  devotion.  Visiting 
on  the  way  Dhamtan,  the  seat  of  an  old  sangat, 
now  under  Bhai  Daggo,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
reached  Delhi  on  8  November  1665  where  Rani 
Pushpa  Devi  of  Amber  was  his  host.  Further 
journey  lay  through  Mathura,  Agra,  Etawah, 
Kanpur,  Fatehpur,  Allahabad,  Mirzapur  and 
Banaras.  From  Banaras  he  proceeded  through 
Sasaram  and  Bodh  Gaya  to  Patna  where  he  left 
his  family  to  go  further  east  to  meet  sangats  in 
the  remoter  districts.  Here  at  Patna  was  born 
on  22  December  1666  his  only  son,  Gobind  Das 
(later  Gobind  Singh)  .  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  was 
at  Monghyr  when  the  news  reached  him.  He 
continued  hisjourney  to  Dhaka,  visiting  on  the 
way  Bhagalpur,  Sahibgahj,  Raj  Mahal,  Malda 
and  Pabna.  With  Dhaka  as  the  centre,  the  Guru 
made  trips  to  places  such  as  Chittagohg, 
Comilla,  Sondip  Island  and  Sylhet. 

At  Dhaka,  Raja  Ram  Singh  of  Amber,  an 
old  disciple,  who  had  been  deputed  on  6 
January  1668  by  Aurahgzib  to  lead  an 
expedition  against  the  Ahoms  of  Assam,  waited 
on  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  and  sought  his  blessing. 
Towards  the  close  of  1668,  they  together  set 
out  for  Assam,  crossed  the  Brahmputra  and 
reached  Dhubri,  which  had  also  been  visited 
by  Guru  Nanak  during  his  travels  in  eastern 
India.  Raja  Ram  Singh  who  was  encamped  at 
some  distance  from  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
clashed  with  the  Ahom  ruler,  Chakradhvaj 
Singh.  The  issue  remained  undecided  and, 
according  to  the  Sikh  chronicles,  the  Guru 
brought  about  peace  between  the  warring 
forces.  The  homeward  journey  began  late  in 
1669,  the  longest  halt  being  at  Patna  where 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  rejoined  his  family  and 
saw  for  the  first  time  his  son,  Gobind  Das.  He 
reached  Delhi  on  20  June  1670,  and  put  up  in 
the  dharamsala  of  Bhai  Kalyana  where  disciples 
congregated  in  large  numbers.  Meanwhile 
Guru  Tegh  'Bahadur's  son,  Gobind  Das,  had 


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332 


TKGH  BAHADUR,  GURU 


reached  Lakhnaur,  his  mother's  ancestoral 
home  near  Ambala.  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
travelled  from  Delhi  to  join  the  family.  The 
family  moved  on  to  Chakk  Nanaki,  whereas 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  journeyed  extensively 
across  the  Malva  country  before  reaching  there 
for  the  Baisakhi  festival  of  1672. 

At  Chakk  Nanaki  (Anandpur) ,  a  group  of 
Kashmiri  pandits,  driven  to  desperation  by  the 
bigoted  policies  of  the  Mughal  governor 
Iftikhar  Khan  (1671-75)  called  on  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  on  25  May  1675  to  narrate  their  tale 
of  woe.  As  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  sat,  rapt  in 
thought,  young  Gobind  Das,  then  barely  nine, 
asked  why  he  looked  so  deeply  preoccupied. 
To  quote  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10, 
"The  Guru  answered  :  'Grave  are  the  burdens 
the  earth  carries.  She  will  be  redeemed  only  if 
a  truly  worthy  person  comes  forward  to  sacrifice 
his  head.'  " 

"None  could  be  worthier  than  yourself  for 
such  a  noble  act,"  remarked  Gobind  Das. 

Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  was  pleased  to  hear 
from  his  young  son  this  brave  answer  and 
receive  such  spontaneous  confirmation  of  his 
resolution  to  lay  down  his  life  to  uphold  the 
people's  right  to  practise  the  religious  creed 
they  professed. 

Resolved  to  court  execution  and  ransom 
justice,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  set  out  from 
Anandpur.  Orders  for  his  arrest  were  issued  by 
Aurahgzib  as  soon  as  he  received  reports  of 
his  declared  intention.  The  common  belief  so 
far  has  been  that  the  arrest  was  made  at  Agra 
from  where  the  Guru  was  taken  to  Delhi  under 
heavy  escort.  But  recent  researches  based  on 
the  Bhatt  Vahis  maintain  that  the  arrest  took 
place  at  Malikpur  Rahghrah  immediately  after 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  had  left  Anandpur.  The 
Malikpur  arrest  is  corroborated  by  Muhammad 
Ehsan  Ijad,  a  source  quoted  by  William  Irvine 
in  his  book  Later  Mughals  and  by  a  Sikh 
chronicler,  Kesar  Singh  Chhibbar,  in  his 
Bansavalinama  Dasan  Patshahiah  Ka.  On  the 
authority  of  Bhatt  Vahl  Multani  Sindhi,  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  departed  from  Chakk  Nanaki 


(Anandpur)  on  11  July  1675.  He  had  on  8July 
1675  nominated  his  son  Gobind  Das  as  his 
spiritual  successor  and  conferred  on  him  the 
marks  of  Guruship.  On  12  July  he  along  with 
his  Sikhs  was  taken  into  custody  by  Nur 
Muhammad  Khan  of  the  Ropar  police  post  at 
the  village  of  Malikpur  Rahghrah,  in  Ghanaula 
parganah  and  sent  to  Sirhind  the  following  day. 
The  faujdarof Sirhind,  DilawarKhan,  ordered 
him  to  be  detained  at  Bassi  Pathanah  and 
reported  the  news  to  the  Emperor.  For  over 
three  months  he  was  kept  in  jail  and  given  the 
harshest  treatment.  He  was  then  cast  in  an  iron 
cage  and  taken  to  Delhi,  where  he  arrived  on 
4  November  1675.  He  was  put  in  chains  and 
ordered  to  be  tortured  until  he  would  accept 
Islam.  But  neither  physical  chasdsement  nor 
any  worldly  allurement  could  have  any  effect 
on  him.  When  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to 
abandon  his  religious  faith,  he  was  asked  to 
perform  some  miracle  to  prove  the  divinity  of 
his  mission.  This  also  he  declined,  saying  that 
it  was  never  right  for  any  one  to  tiy  to  intervene 
in  the  Will  of  God.  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  was 
beheaded  in  public  in  Chandni  Chowk,  in 
Delhi,  on  11  November  1675.  The  mutilated 
body  was  left  in  Chandni  Chowk  unattended, 
and  none  dared  claim  it  for  fear  of  Mughal 
reprisal.  At  nightfall,  Lakkhi  Shah  Lubana, 
helped  by  his  son  Nagahia  and  others,  placed 
the  headless  trunk  in  a  cart  and  carried  it  off 
to  his  home.  Since  open  cremadon  would  not 
have  been  possible,  the  Lubana  Sikh  set  fire 
to  his  house,  burning  with  it  the  body  of  the 
martyred  Guru.  The  spot  is  now  the  site  of 
Gurdwara  Rikabgahj. 

The  severed  head  was  lifted  by  Bhai  Jaita 
who  secretly  carried  it  to  Anandpur  where  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  performed  the  obsequies  with 
dignity  and  reverence  on  16  November  1675. 
Lakkhi  Shah  and  other  Sikhs  arrived  from 
Delhi  with  the  sacred  remains.  "Hail  !  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur,  Dharam  di  Chadar  (i.e.  the 
protector  of  dharma),"  proclaimed  the  sarigat, 
as  the  full  sequence  of  the  events  in  Delhi 
unfolded  itself. 


TEGH  BAHADUR,  GURU 


333 


TKGH  BAHADUR,  GURU 


Guru  Gobind  Singh  has  left  a  written 
testimony  of  the  martyrdom  of  his  father  in 
his  Bachitra  Natak. 

He  protected  their  ti/ai:  and  janeu; 

In  this  age  of  darkness,  he  performed  a 

grand  deed; 
He  made  the  supreme  sacrifice  for  the 

sake  of  faith. 
He  gave  his  head,  but  uttered  not  a  groan. 
This  martyrdom  he  endured  to  uphold 

righteousness 
He  gave  his  head,  but  displayed  not  his 

charism... 

Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's  martyrdom  was  a  superb 
act  of  self-giving.  Implicit  in  it  were  his 
boundless  sympathy  for  the  oppresse  d  and  his 
concern  to  secure  the  people  the  freedom  of 
belief.  The  protection  of  tilak  and  janeu  of  the 
Hindus  meant  the  protection  of  the  right  of 
everyone  to  practise  his  religion  unhindered. 
It  involved  the  larger  issues  of  human  rights 
and  freedom  of  conscience. 

Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's  protest  was  against 
the  State's  interference  with  the  individual's 
duty  towards  his  faith.  It  meant  declaring  that 
the  State  had  no  authority  over  the  individual's 
conscience  and  that  any  attempt  to  create  a 
unitary,  monolithic  society  must  be  resisted.  It 
was  a  reiteration  of  the  Sikh  belief  in  a  liberal 
and  ethical  order  and  of  the  Sikh  principles 
of  tolerance  and  acceptance  of  diversity  of 
belief  and  practice. 

Gurdwaras  and  places  sacred  to  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  are  scattered  over  the  whole  of 
north  India  from  Punjab  to  Assam.  At  Amritsar 
there  are  the  house  (Guru  ke  Mahal)  in  which 
he  was  born  and  Thara  Sahib  opposite  the 
Golden  Temple  marking  the  site  where  he 
stopped  for  a  few  hours  at  the  time  of  his  visit 
to  the  holy  city  after  being  refused  entry  into 
the  temple  by  the  priests.  At  Kartarpur  there 
stands  the  house  where  he  was  married.  At 
Bakala  there  are  two  shrines  :  one  known  as 
Bhora  Sahib  (with  his  meditation  cell  inside) 
and  the  Mahji  Sahib  where  the,  articles  of 
spiritual  regalia  were  kept  for  his  investiture  as 


successor  to  Guru  Har  Krishan.  At  Anandpur 
are  preserved  his  residence  (Guru  ke  Mahal) 
and  Sis  Gary,  the  spot  where  his  severed  head 
was  cremated.  There  are  numerous  shrines 
associated  with  the  Guru's  long  travels  outside 
the  Punjab  :  the  Guru's  shrine  at  Mathura  ; 
Gurdwara  Mai  Than  at  Agra  ;  Gurdwara  Pakkl 
Sahgat  at  Allahabad  ;  a  Gurdwara  at  Banaras  ; 
Takht  Harimandar  (  birthplace  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh)  and  Guru  ka  Bagh  at  Patna  ; 
Sahgat  Tola  Gurdwara  at  Dhaka  ;  and 
Damdama  Sahib  at  Dhubri  (Assam).  In  Delhi 
there  are  two  shrines  associated  with  his 
martyrdom :  one  in  Chandni  Chowk  (Sis  Gahj), 
where  he  was  beheaded  and  the  other  known 
as  Rikabgahj,  where  his  headless  body  was 
cremated.  The  Malva  region  of  the  Punjab  is 
dotted  all  over  with  shrines  in  his  memory. 

Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's  bani  is  small  in 
bulk-59  sabdas  and  57  slokas  in  all.  The  sabdas 
are  distributed  in  15  ragas  or  musical  measures. 
The  slokas  or  couplets  form  the  concluding 
portion  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Totally, 
these  sabdas  and  slokas  essentialize  the  same 
spiritual  experience  and  insights  as  does  the 
bani  of  the  preceding  Gurus.  The  central 
theme  is  the  affirmation  of  Reality,  the  ultimate 
ground  of  all  that  exists.  The  main  quest  is  for 
mukti  or  release.  Loving  devotion  is  set  forth 
as  the  truest  virtue-the  fundamental 
disposition  for  one  seeking  liberation.  By 
immersing  oneself  in  nam,  i.e.  by  constant 
remembrance  of  the  Divine  Name,  one  attains 
moksa  or  mukti.  This  is  freedom  from  self- 
bondage,  from  the  circuit  of  birth  and  death. 
It  is  this  stage  of  spiritual  perfection  which  is 
the  end  of  all  religious  striving.  Life  in  the  world 
is  conditioned.  Temporality  is  an  essential  trait 
of  human  existence.  One  can  go  beyond  this 
contingent  state,  can  transcend  sarisara-  the 
sphere  of  temporality,  the  finite  world  of 
becoming-by  concentrating  on  God's  Name. 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  bears  witness  in  his  bani 
to  these  truths  revealed  by  Guru  Nanak  and 
preached  by  his  successors.  Yet  his  expression 
has  its  individual  qualities.  The  most  striking 


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TliJA  SINGH  AKARPURl,  JATHEDAR 


one  is  the  unity  of  mood,  the  singleness  of 
motif  which  pervades  his  compositions.  They 
have  the  same  tone  of  voice  and,  despite 
variation  of  prosodic  measures,  they  have  the 
same  harmony  and  the  same  rhythm  of 
thought.  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's  entire  bam  is 
one  sustained  meditation  on  the  human  state. 
In  image  after  image,  it  illustrates  its 
imperfections  and  limitations.  Stanza  after 
stanza  summons  man  to  discerning  reality  from 
illusion,  to  overcoming  his  disabilities  and 
realizing  his  higher  potential.  This  poetry  is  not 
didactic  or  moralistic,  nor  of  effervescent 
temper.  It  is  born  of  the  very  experience  of 
Reality,  of  spiritual  discipline  of  the  highest 
order,  of  philosophic  wisdom  and 
enlightenment.  The  language,  unlike  the  rest 
of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  which  is  generally 
in  Punjabi,  is  Braj-unembellished,  easy  and 
smooth.  The  diction  has  classical  restraint  and 
economy.  In  austere  decor,  but  in  sharp  thrusts, 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's  banj  brings  home  to  man 
truths  he  must  acknowledge  unless  he  has 
completely  lost  his  spiritual  sensitivity.  Nowhere 
does  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  applaud  the  hermitic 
state.  Nor  does  he  belittle  human  life.  On  the 
contrary  he  calls  it  a  priceless  gift.  It  confers 
on  man  the  chance  to  discover  his  real  essence 
and  achieve  union  with  the  Creator.  In  spite  of 
its  emphasis  on  the  short-livedness  of  life,  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur's  barti  is  not  pessimistic  or 
gloomy.  It  is  not  a  lamentation,  but  a  call  to 
man  to  transcend  his  given  state  and  attain  to 
higher  levels  of  consciousness  and  insight. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurbilas  Chhevin  Patshahi.  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10.  Patiala,  1968 

3.  Sukha  Singh,  Gurbilas  Dasvin  Patshahi.  Lahore, 
1912 

4.  Bhalla,  Sirup  Das,  Mahima  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

5.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

6.  Bhangu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

7.  Chhibbar,  Kesar  Singh,  Bansavalinama  Dasan 


Patshahian  Ka,  ed.  R.S.Jaggi.  Chandigarh,  1972 

8.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  and  Giani  Garja  Singh,  ed, 
Guru  kian  Sakhian.  Patiala,  1986 

9.  Garja  Singh,  ed.,  Shahid  Bilks.  Ludhiana,  1961 

10.  MalvaDesh  Ratan  di  Sakhi  Pothi.  Amritsar,  1968 

11.  Piar  Singh,  ed.,  Sri  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  (Farsi 
Sarot).  Amritsar,  1976 

12.  Macauliffe,  M.A.,  The  Sikh  Religion.  Oxford, 
1909 

13.  Trilochan  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur :  Prophet 
and  Martyr.  Delhi,  1967 

14.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  Delhi,  1982 

A.C.B. 

TEJA  SINGH  AKARPURl,  JATHEDAR  (1892- 
1975),  an  active  figure  in  Gurdwara  Reform 
movement,  was  born  at  Akarpura,  a  village  13 
km  northwest  of  Batala  (31°-49'N,  75"-12'E), 
in  Gurdaspur  district  of  the  Punjab.  His  father 
was  Pala  Singh  and  mother  Partap  Kaur.  He 
matriculated  from  Khalsa  Collegiate  School, 
Amritsar,  in  1 9 1 1 ,  and  enlisted  in  the  24th  Sikh 
Battalion  of  the  Indian  Army  the  following  year. 
Leaving  the  Army,  he  became  a  patvari  in  the 
revenue  department  of  the  Punjab  at  the  end 
of  1914.  He  was  promoted  ziledar  in  1918.  The 
Nankana  Sahib  massacre  of  February  1921 
proved  a  turning  point  in  the  life  of  Teja  Singh. 
He  resigned  from  government  service  and 
joined  the  Akali  agitation.  The  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  appointed 
him  administrator  of  Gurdwara  Premsati  at 
Kamalia,  in  Montgomery  district,  now  in 
Pakistan.  He  was  appointedjathedar  of  Sri  Akal 
Takht  at  Amritsar  on  29  April  1921.  On  13 
October  1923,  he  was  taken  into  custody  by  the 
Punjab  Government  and  released  on  27 
November  1926,  in  the  second  batch  of  Akali 
detenues.  He  resumed  his  duties  asjathedar 
Sri  Akal  Takht  which  position  he  retained  until 
21  January  1930.  During  1932,  he  was 
appointed  at  first  acting  president  and  later 
president  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  and  president  of 
Shiromani  Akali  Dal.  He  became  a  member  of 
the   Shiromani   Gurdwara  Parbandhak 


TEJA  SINGH,  BABU 


335 


TEJA  SINGH,  BABU 


Committee  again  in  1933  and  was  elected  its 
vice-president.  He  was  president  of  Sri 
Nankana  Sahib  management  committee  from 
1935  to  1938.  In  the  Punjab  Assembly  elections 
in  January  1937,  he  contested  the  Batala 
constituency  as  a  nominee  of  the  Shiromani 
Akali  Dal,  but  lost  to  Sir  Sundar  Singh  Majlthia, 
leader  of  the  Khalsa  National  Party.  He  was 
again  elected  a  member  of  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  in  1939.  In 
1940,  he  became  president  of  the  Shiromani 
Akali  Dal  and  presided  over  the  first  Sarb  Hind 
(lit.  All-India)  Akali  Conference  at  Atari,  in 
Amritsar  district,  on  10-11  February  1940. 
Jathedar  Teja  Singh  Akarpuri  was  a  member  of 
the  first  Lok  Sabha  from  1952  to  1957 
representing  his  native  district,  Gurdaspur.  He 
died  at  his  ancestral  village  Akarpura  on  20 
November  1975. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Piar  Singh,  Teja  Singh  Samundri.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Prabandhak  Committee  da  Panjah  Sala  Itihas. 
Amritsar,  1982 

3.  Josh,  Sohan  Singh,  Akali  Morchian  da  Itihas. 
Delhi,  1972 

4.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwara.  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

5.  Sahni,  Ruchi  Ram,  Struggle  for  Reform  in  Sikh 
Shrines,  ed.,  Ganda  Singh.  Amritsar,  n.d 

P.S.G. 

TEJA  SINGH,  BABU  (1867-1933),  leader  of 
the  Bhasaur  school  of  fundamentalism,  was 
born  on  20  January  1867,  the  son  of  Subadar 
Sudh  Singh  and  Jion  Kaur  of  the  village  of 
Bhasaur  in  present-day  Sahgrur  district  of  the 
Punjab.  His  original  name  was  Narain  Singh. 
Having  received  his  preliminary  education  in 
Punjabi  and  gurbam  or  the  Sikh  sacred  texts 
under  Baba  Fateh  Singh  Virakt  of  Bhasaur  (d. 
1875),  he  studied  in  Government  Primary 
School,  Lang,  near  Patiala,  and  matriculated 
from  City  High  School,  Patiala,  in  1882.  He 
joined  the  Patiala  state  army  as  a  havildar 


(sergeant)  in  1882,  but  resigned  three  years 
later  to  undergo  overseer's  training  at 
Engineering  College,  Roorkee,  and  was  after 
completing  the  course  appointed  a  sub- 
overseer  at  Sirhind  in  the  irrigation 
department  of  Patiala  state  on  21  November 
1887.  The  term  babu,  a  common  mode  of 
address  for  junior  government  officials,  soon 
came  to  be  prefixed  to  his  name.  While  still  in 
service,  he  started  preaching  the  tenets  of  the 
Sikh  faith  as  interpreted  afresh  by  the  Singh 
Sabha  movement.  In  1893  he  established  a 
Singh  Sabha  at  his  native  village,  Bhasaur,  and 
in  the  following  year  he  compiled  and 
published  Khalsa  Rahit  Prakash,  a  Sikh  code 
of  conduct.  During  that  year  he  went  on  a 
pilgrimage  on  foot  to  Hazur  Sahib,  Nanded, 
where  he  received  pahul  or  the  rites  of  the 
Khalsa  and  was  renamed  Teja  Singh.  By  his 
dedicated  work  in  the  Singh  Sabha,  he  won 
wide  recognition  and,  when  the  Chief  Khalsa 
Diwan  was  established  at  Amritsar  in  1902,  he 
had  the  honour  of  saying  the  inaugural  ardas 
or  prayer.  On  13-14  June  1903  he  convened  a 
largely-attended  divan  or  religious  assembly  at 
Bakapur,  a  small  village  in  Jalandhar  district, 
at  which  a  Muslim  family  of  seven  and  28  others 
were  administered  pahul.  He  was  nominated  a 
member  of  the  committee  set  up  by  the  Chief 
Khalsa  Diwan,  on  20  October  1910,  to  draft  a 
Sikh  code  of  conduct,  later  published  under 
the  title,  Gurmat  Prakash  :  Bhag  Sanskar.  But 
Teja  Singh's  innate  puritanism  gradually 
asserted  itself  and  he  started  drifting  away  from 
the  mainstream  of  Sikh  life.  In  1907  he  set  up 
the  Panch  Khalsa  Diwan  or  Khalsa  Parliament 
under  sanction  from  a  Sikh  synod  held  at 
Damdama  Sahib,  Talvandi  Sabo,  on  13  April 
1907.  In  1909  he  opened  a  girls  school  at 
Bhasaur  called  Khalsa  Bhujangan  School  where 
the  pupils  were  required  to  don  turbans  like 
men  instead  of  the  traditional  women's  dupatta 
or  scarf.  Babu  Teja  Singh  replaced  the  Sikh 
term  for  God  "Vahiguru,"  by  "Vahugur."  The 
word  karah  prasad,  Sikh  sacrament,  was 
substituted  by  mahaprashad.  Teja  Singh 


TK)A  SINGH,  BAKU 


336 


TEJA  SINGH  BHUCHCHAR 


publicly  repudiated  the  Sikh  code  published 
by  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan,  Gurmat  Prakash  : 
Bhag  Sahkar  in  the  preparation  of  which  he 
himself  had  earlier  participated,  and  issued  his 
own  code,  Khalsa  Rahit  Prakash.  He 
propagated  the  use  of  Sikh  calendar  beginning 
from  the  birth  of  Guru  Nanak  in  AD  1469,  and 
introduced  his  own  tides  and  honorifics  such 
as  Kirpan  Bahadur,  Kakar  Bahadur  and  Dahra 
Bahadur.  A  motion  adopted  by  the  Panch 
Khalsa  Diwan  (Khalsa  Parliament)  disclaimed 
the  Sahajdhari  section  of  the  Sikhs.  In  his 
literalist  zeal,  Teja  Singh  started  garbling  the 
Sikh  canon  and  changed  the  traditional  Sikh 
ardas  or  daily  prayer  of  supplication.  He 
advocated  the  expunging  from  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  of  Ragmala  as  well  as  of 
compositions  of  the  Bhaktas  and  Bhatts.  He 
printed  courses  of  reading  for  his  school 
comprising  ham  contained  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib,  extracting  from  it  the  Bhatts'  Savaiyye. 
He  also  had  copies  of  the  Holy  Volume  printed 
without  the  Ragmala.  This  led  to  widespread 
public  protest  and  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  at  its  special  meeting 
held  on  31  March  1928,  condemned  the 
innovations  introduced  by  the  Pahch  Khalsa 
Diwan.  At  its  meeting  on  15  July  1928,  the 
Committee  appealed  to  the  Sikhs  in  general 
to  boycott  Babii  Teja  Singh  and  his  colleagues 
of  the  Bhasaur  Diwan  and  to  the  Takhts  to 
excommunicate  them.  Accordingly,  the  Akal 
Takht  at  Amritsar  issued  the  excommunication 
decree  on  9  August  1928.  Other  Takhts 
followed  suit,  Takht  Sri  Hazur  Sahib,  issuing  a 
hukamnama  on  13  January  1929,  Takht  Sri 
Patna  Sahib  on  27  March  1929  and  Takht  Sri 
Kesgarh  Sahib  on  22  August  1929.  But  Teja 
Singh  was  far  from  repentant. 

Teja  Singh  suffered  a  sunstroke  on  1 7 June 
1933  and  died  on  29  August  1933. 

BIBLIOGRAP1 IY 

1 .  Lai  Singh,  ItihAs  I'anch  Kiuth.'i  Diwim  Smnbandhi 
Suclinavari.  Ludhiana,  1967 

2.  \rir  Sudhiir  Pat  far  arfiinf  Sri  Otiru  Singh  SaWia 


Bhasaur  de  athme  te  naume  sa/ana  divan  da  sitta. 
Bhasaur,  1903 
3.  Harbans  Singh,  "The  Bakapur  Diwan  and  Babu 
Teja  Singh  of  Bhasaur,"  in  The  Panjab  Past  and 
Present.  Patiala,  October  1973 

S.S.B. 

TEJA  SINGH,  BHAI  (1896-1921),  one  of  the 
Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  born  in  the  month 
of  Assu  1953  Bk/  September-October  1896,  the 
son  of  Bhai  Mihah  Singh  and  Mata  Prem  Kaur 
of  Thothiah,  district  Amritsar.  The  family  later 
migrated  to  Chakk  No.  10  Thothiah  in 
Sheikhupura  district  (now  in  Pakistan).  In  the 
village,  he  had  learnt  enough  Gurmukhi  to  be 
able  to  read  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  He  had 
also  received  the  vows  of  the  Khalsa.  He  also 
served  the  army  for  a  brief  period.  He  was 
among  those  from  his  village  who  had 
volunteered  to  take  part  in  the  liberation  of 
gurdwaras  in  Nankana  Sahib.  As  a  member  of 
the  group  of  Bhai  Lachhman  Singh  Dharovali 
it  was  his  privilege  to  lay  down  his  life  inside 
Gurdwara Janam  Asthan  on  20  February  1921. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

TEJA  SINGH  BHUCHCHAR  (1887-1939)  , 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  Gurdwara  reform 
movement  in  the  1920's  was  the  eldest  son  of 
Mayya  Singh  and  Mahitab  Kaur,  of  the  village 
of  Bhuchchar  Khurd.  25  km  from  Tarn  Taran, 
in  Amritsar  district.  He  was  born  on  28  October 
1887  at  Mien  ke  Maur,  popularly  known  as  Bhai 
Pheru,  the  village  of  his  mother's  parents,  now 
in  Pakistan.  He  attended  the  village  school  and 
assistetl  his  father  in  tilling  their  lands.  When 
Khalsa  Diwan  Majha  was  revived  in  1918  under 
the  name  of  Central  Majha  Khalsa  Diwan,  Teja 
Singh  had  himself  initiated  and  took  the  vows 
of  the  Khalsa.  He  became  an  active  member 
of  the  Diwan,  which  concerned  itself  mainly 
with  reforming  the  ceremonial  in  Sikh  holy 


TEJA  SINGH  BHUCHCHAR 


337 


TEJA  SINGH  BHUCHCHAR 


places,  especially  at  Tarn  Taran  and  Amritsar. 
At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Diwan  held  at 
Bhuchchar  in  March  1919,  Teja  Singh  was 
elected  its  jathedar  or  leader.  A  few  weeks  later, 
on  13  April  1919.  occurred  the  Jalliahvala  Bagh 
tragedy  and  the  British  Brigadier-General  E.H. 
Dyer,  who  had  ordered  the  shooting,  was 
received  and  honoured  by  the  government- 
appointed  sarbarah,  or  manager,  and  the 
priests  of  the  Harimandar  at  Amritsar  which 
deeply  hurt  the  feelings  of  the  Sikhs.  A  public 
agitation  started  against  the  sarbarah  in  which 
the  Central  Majha  Khalsa  Diwan,  under  the 
leadership  of  Jathedar  Teja  Singh  Bhuchchar, 
took  an  active  part.  As  the  Gurdwara  Reform 
movement  got  under  way,  Teja  Singh 
Bhuchchar  led  a  jatha  of  25  Akali  volunteers 
which  liberated  Gurdwara  Babe  dl  Ber  at 
Sialkot  on  5-6  October  1920.  Upon  the 
occupation,  on  12  October  1920,  of  Sri  Akal 
Takht  by  the  reformist  Sikhs,  he  was  named  its 
first  jathedar.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
provisional  committee  of  nine  Sikhs  appointed 
the  following  day  by  the  deputy  commissioner 
of  Amritsar  to  manage  the  shrines  till  the 
formation  of  a  regular  committee.  Teja  Singh 
took  the  initiadve  in  summoning  a  general 
meeting  of  the  Sikhs  which  formally  elected, 
on  15.-16  November  1920,  a  175-member 
committee,  called  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee.  He  joined  the 
Shiromani  Akali  Dal  formed  on  14  December 
1920,  and  led  a  jatha  of  40  Akali  volunteers  to 
Tarn  Taran  and  liberated  the  Darbar  Sahib  on 
26  January  1921.  On  5  February  1921,  he  took 
possession  of  Gurdwara  Bhai  Joga  Singh  at 
Peshawar.  On  15  March  1921,  Teja  Singh  was 
arrested  along  with  14  other  Mali  activists.  He 
was  tried  by  a  special  magistrate  at  Lahore  and 
awarded  a  nine-year  sentence  which  was 
suspended  by  government  in  September  1921 . 

While  Jathedar  Teja  Singh  was  still  in  jail, 
his  supporters  in  the  Central  Majha  Khalsa 
Diwan  formed,  on  19  April  1921,  a  new 
organization,  the  Gargajj  Akali  Jatha  (later, 
Gargajj  Akali  Diwan),  and  elected  him  in 


absentia  its  president  for  life.  Neither  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
nor  the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal  had  favoured  his 
taking  control  of  the  gurdwaras  forcibly  and 
he  had  gradually  drifted  away  from  them.  As 
he  was  released  fromjail,  the  government  made 
overtures  to  him  through  Daya  Kishan  Kaul, 
prime  minister  of  Patiala  state,  and  succeeded 
in  securing  his  consent  to  preside  over  a  rival 
Akali  conference  proposed  to  be  held  at  Patiala 
on  12-13  December  1921  at  which  Maharaja 
Bhupinder  Singh  of  Patiala  was  to  be  elected 
leader  of  the  Sikh  community.  But  the  plan  did 
not  materialize  owing  to  Akalis  getting 
themselves  involved  in  November  1921  in  the 
agitation  for  the  recovery  from  government  of 
the  keys  of  the  Golden  Temple  treasury. 
However,  Teja  Singh's  opposition  to  the  central 
Akali  leadership  continued.  To  strengthen  the 
Gargajj  Akali  Diwan,  he  floated  on  22  February 
1922  his  own  daily  newspaper,  Gargajj  Akikli, 
with  financial  assistance  from  the  Maharaja  of 
Patiala.  He  supported  the  Guru  ka  Bagh 
agitation  but,  later,  he  renewed  his  attack  on 
the  Shiromani  Gilrdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  through  his  new  newspaper  Babar 
Sher,  which  started  publication  from  15  June 
1923.  He  stoutly  opposed  the  proposal  for  the 
use  of  gold  basins  and  silver  spades  for  the 
inaguration  of  icar-seva,  the  desilting  of  the 
Amritsar  sarovar.  On  17  June  1923,  a  band  of 
volunteers  from  the  Gargajj  Akali  Diwan  tried 
to  disturb  the  inaguration  ceremony.  The 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee, 
at  its  meeting  the  following  day,  declared  Teja 
Singh  a  tankhahia,  guilty  of  the  breach  of  Sikh 
code  of  conduct,  and  removed  him  from  the 
membership  of  the  committee.  For  his  contacts 
with  Master  Mota  Singh,  a  leader  of  the  radical 
Babar  Akali  movement,  he  was  re-arrested  on 
10  December  1923.  Cancelling  its  earlier 
resolution,  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  readmitted  him  to  its 
membership.  The  Shiromani  Akali  Dal 
celebrated  his  release  on  5  November  1929  by 
presenting  him  with  an  address  of  welcome. 


TEJA  SINGH  HAZURlA,  BHAl 


338 


TEJA  SINGH,  PROFESSOR 


Teja  Singh  died  in  the  Civil  Hospital  at 
Amritsar  on  3  October  1939,  succumbing  to 
injuries  he  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  his 
brother,  Seva  Singh,  in  a  family  feud. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Piar  Singh,  Teja  Singh  Samuridri.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Prabandhak  Committee  da  Panjah  Sala  Itihas. 
Amritsar,  1982 

3.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

4.  Mohinder  Singh,  The  Akali  Movement.  Delhi, 
1978 

K.S.V. 

TEJA  SINGH  HAZURlA,  BHAI  (1879-1922), 
also  known  as  Babu  Teja  Singh  Maihgan,  a 
noted  Sikh  preacher  and  social  reformer,  was 
the  son  of  Bhai  Lakhmi  Das,  a  Sahajdhari  Sikh 
of  the  village  of  Maihgan  in  Jehlum  district, 
now  in  Pakistan.  After  his  early  education  in 
the  village  gurdwara,  he  studied  at  the  Mission 
High  School  at  Rawalpindi  and  later  joined 
government  service  as  a  store-keeper  in  the 
Supply  Department.  He  came  in  contact  with 
a  holy  man,  Sant  Murli  Das,  under  whose 
influence  he  resigned  hisjob  to  devote  himself 
to  religious  pursuits.  He  first  reorganized  the 
Singh  Sabha  in  his  own  village  and  started 
preaching  under  its  auspices  the  ideals  of  Sikh 
reform.  He  reclaimed  many  from  the  laxity  of 
belief  and  practice  they  had  fallen  victim  to 
and  administered  to  them  the  vows  of  the 
initiation.  He  himself  had  received  the  bapdsm 
at  the  hands  of  the  venerable  Sant  Atar  Singh. 
He  joined  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan  and,  as  a 
preacher  on  its  cadre,  travelled  extensively 
throughout  the  country.  At  the  famous  divan 
at  Bakapur,  in  Jalandhar  district,  at  which  a 
Muslim  family  received  the  rites  of  the  Khalsa 
Bhai  Teja  Singh  was  one  of  the  Panj  Piare  or 
the  five  chosen  who  conducted  the  ceremony. 

Bhai  Teja  Singh  was  deputed  by  the  Chief 
Khalsa  Diwan  to  travel  to  the  South  and  meet 
the  priests  of  Takht  Sachkhand  Sri  Hazur  Sahib 


at  Nanded,  who  had  refused  Sardar  Sundar 
Singh  Majithia  entry  into  the  inner  sanctuary 
on  the  ground  that  he  had  not  been  baptized 
at  the  shrine.  He  argued  with  the  Hazur  Sahib 
ministers  and  convinced  them  that  Sikh 
baptism  wherever  received  had  the  same 
sanctity  and  that  no  distinction  could  be  made 
between  Sikh  and  Sikh  on  the  grounds  of 
where  the  ceremony  was  performed.  From  the 
priests  he  now  had  a  standing  invitation  to  visit 
Sri  Hazur  Sahib  on  the  occasion  of  Hola  every 
year.  They  addressed  him  as  "Huzuria"  i.e.  one 
who  had  been  granted  the  citizenship  of  Sri 
Hazur  Sahib.  The  word  got  added  as  a  suffix 
to  his  name. 

Besides  being  a  powerful  orator  and 
debater,  Teja  Singh  was  a  writer.  He  published 
five  books  in  Punjabi,  namely  Sahajdhari  Sikh, 
Dase  Guru  lkk  Rup  San  (all  ten  Gurus  reflected 
one  spirit);  Ham  Hindu  Nahih  (  We  are  not 
Hindus);  Khalsa  Panth;  and  Sri  Abchalnagar 
Sahib  de  Adbhut  Darshan,  an  account  of  his 
pilgrimage  to  Takht  Sachkhand  Sri  Hazur 
Sahib. 

Bhai  Teja  Shgh  died  on  1  January  1922. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Piar  Singh,  Teja  Singh  Samundri.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Silver  Jubilee  Book.  Amritsar,  1935 

3.  Singh  Sabha  Lahir  da  Ik  Aduti  Sevak.  Delhi,  n.d 

P.S.G. 

TEJA  SINGH,  PROFESSOR  (1894-1958), 
teacher,  scholar  and  translator  of  the  Sikh 
sacred  texts,  was  born  Tej  Ram  on  2  June  1894 
at  the  village  of  Adiala  in  Rawalpindi  district, 
now  in  Pakistan.  His  father's  name  was  Bhalakar 
Singh.  At  the  age  of  three,  Tej  Ram  was  sent  to 
the  village  gurdwara  to  learn  to  read  and  write 
Gurmukhi  and  later  to  the  mosque  to  learn 
Urdu  and  Persian.  While  still  a  small  boy,  he 
received  initiatory  rites  at  the  hands  of  Baba 
Sir  Khem  Singh  Bed!  and  was  converted  to 
Sikhism  with  the  name  of  Teja  Singh.  His  early 
life  was  very  hard  and  full  of  adventure.  Since 
his  father  could  not  afford  to  send  him  to  a 


TEJA  SINGH,  PROFESSOR 


339 


TEJA  SINGH,  PROFESSOR 


regular  school,  he  absconded  from  home  in 
search  of  education.  He  managed  to  attend 
schools  in  Rawalpindi  and  thereafter  in 
Sargodha  and  enter  the  Khalsa  College  at 
Amritsar  after  passing  his  matriculation 
examination. 

Teja  Singh  had  a  sensitive  nature.  The 
babbling  brooks  of  Pothohar  and  the  stories 
of  the  Gurus  and  heroes  he  had  heard  as  child 
shaped  his  imagination.  In  his  seventh  form, 
he  wrote  in  English  a  treatise  on  painting  and 
depicted  in  drama  the  noble  and  heroic 
martyrdom  of  the  sons  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh. 
He  painted  pictures  and  although  he  had  to 
work  to  pay  his  way  through  college,  he  had 
engaged  a  musician  from  a  neighbouring 
village  to  come  daily  to  his  hostel  to  play  the 
sitar  for  him. 

After  passing  the  intermediate 
examination  from  Khalsa  College,  Teja  Singh 
returned  to  Rawalpindi  to  join  the  Gordon 
College  which  had  afforded  him  a  fee 
concession.  He  took  his  master's  degree  in 
English  literature  in  1916.  In  March  1919,  he 
got  an  appointment  at  the  Khalsa  College  at 
Amritsar  where  first  he  taught  history  and  then 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century  English  literature. 
Those  were  the  days  of  much  political  activity 
in  the  Punjab  of  which  Amritsar  was  .an 
important  centre.  Teja  Singh  was  among  the 
13  Sikh  professors  of  Khalsa  College  who 
resigned  as  a  protest  against  government's 
control  in  the  management  of  the  institution. 
This  gave  rise  to  a  widespread  agitation  and 
the  government  was  forced  to  replace  all  11 
official  members  of  the  Khalsa  College 
Managing  Committee  by  "non-official"  Sikhs. 
Teja  Singh  was  also  connected  with  the  Sikhs' 
long-drwan  struggle  in  the  twenties  for  the 
release  of  their  holy  places  from  the  control  of 
an  effete  and  corrupt  priestly  order.  In  1923, 
he  was  arrested  during  this  campaign  and 
served  more  than  one  year  in  jail.  On  his 
release  in  1925  For  reasons  of  health,  he 
returned  to  Khalsa  College  and  his  old 
profession  of  teaching.  But  he  retained  his 


contact  with  public  causes  through  his  writings 
and  lectures.  In  1939,  he  undertook  a  lecture 
tour  of  Malaya  and  delivered  nearly  300 
speeches  in  two  months'  time. 

A  gracious  and  kindly  figure  radiating 
warmth  and  friendliness,  Teja  Singh  presided 
over  the  cultural  and  literary  activity  in  the 
Punjab  for  three  decades.  Punjabi  letters  and 
Sikh  history  and  philosophy  were  his  special 
fields  of  study.  In  the  former  he  exercised 
pontifical  influence  and  initiated  new  values 
and  standards.  With  his  vast  background  in 
oriental  learning  combined  with  a  deep  study 
of  Western  literature,  he  was  an  ideal  critic  and 
arbiter  of  literary  excellence.  His  writings 
helped  to  fix  the  form  and  structure  of  Punjabi 
idiom.  He  encouraged  and  introduced  to 
readers  many  young  writers  and  it  was  accepted 
custom  for  all  new  practitioners  to  first  show 
their  work  to  him. 

As  a  scholar  of  Sikh  religion,  he  wrote 
copiously  and  authoritatively  on  the  subject. 
He  was  for  many  years  the  interpreter  and 
expositor  of  Sikhism  to  the  outside  world 
through  his  articles  in  English.  Such  writings 
of  his  were  collected  in  book  form  and 
published  under  the  titles  Sikhism  :  Its  Ideals 
and  Institutions  (1938)  and  Essays  in  Sikhism 
(1944).  He  wrote  in  collaboration  with  Dr 
Ganda  Singh  A  Short  History  of  the  Sikhs 
(1950).  Some  of  his  renderings  of  the  holy  texts 
such  as  japu,  Asa  ki  Var  and  Sukhmani  had 
established  themselves  as  classics.  The 
Sabadarth,  an  annotated  edition  of  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib,  sponsored  by  the  Gur  Sevak 
Sabha,  which  was  completed  in  five  years  (1936- 
41),  was  primarily  the  work  of  Teja  Singh.  Teja 
Singh  also  compiled  an  English-Punjabi 
dictionary.  One  of  his  ambitions  was  to  render 
the  entire  Guru  Granth  Sahib  into  English.  The 
portion  he  had  completed  during  his  lifetime 
was  published  by  the  Punjabi  University  in 
1985  under  the  title  The  Holy  Granth  (Sri  Rag 
to  Rag  Majh). 

In  Punjabi  literature  Teja  Singh  is 
remembered  primarily  as  an  essayist.  The  first 


TK|A  SINGH  SAMUNDRI 


340 


TK|A SINGH  SAMUNDRI 


collection  of  his  essays  in  Punjabi  was  published 
in  1941  under  the  title  Naviari  Sochari, 
followed  by  Sahij  Subha  in  1942  and  Sahit 
Darshan  in  1951.  His  autobiography,  Arsi 
(Finger-Glass  of  Memory) ,  a  model  of  chaste 
and  crisp  Punjabi  prose,  was  published  in  1952. 
A  scholarly  work  in  Punjabi  was  Sri  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  vich  Shzbadahtik  Lagan  Matrah 
de  Gujhe  Bhed  (  Subtle  Distinctions  of  Word- 
ending  Vowel  Symbols  in  the  Sri  Guru  Granth 
Sahib). 

In  1945,  Teja  Singh  took  over  as  Principal 
at  the  Khalsa  College  at  Bombay.  He  stayed  at 
this  post  for  about  three  years  and.  then 
returned  to  Punjab  as  Secretary  of  the 
Publications  Bureau  of  the  Pahjab  University. 
In  January  1949  he  was  appointed  Principal  of 
Mohindra  College,  Patiala.  At  Patiala  ,  he  also 
held  additional  charge  for  a  time  as  Secretary 
and  Director  of  the  newly  established  Punjabi 
Department.  He  retired  from  the  service  of  the 
PEPSU  government  in  1951. 

Teja  Singh  died  after  a  stroke  at  Amritsar 
on  10  January  1958.  He  is  remembered  as  a 
great  man  of  letters  who  combined  with  deep 
learning  a  rare  personal  charm  and  kindliness. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Amole,  S.S.,  Professor  Teja  Singh.  Patiala,  1977 

2.  "Teja  Singh,"  Arsi.  Amritsar,  1952 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  Aspects  of  Punjabi  Literature. 
Firozpur,  1961 

S.S.B. 

TEJA  SINGH  SAMUNDRI  (1882-1926),  a 
leading  figure  in  the  Gurdwara  reform 
movement,  was  born  the  son  of  Deva  Singh 
and  Nand  Kaur  at  Rai  ka  Burj  in  Tarn  Taran 
tahsil  of  Amritsar  district,  on  20  February  1882. 
On  land  being  assigned  to  Deva  Singh  in  the 
Sandal  Bar  tract  of  fahsii  Samundri  of  Lyallpur 
district,  he  shifted  with  his  family  to  the  newly 
developed  colony.  Teja  Singh's  formal 
educadon  did  not  go  beyond  the  primary  stage, 
but  he  was  well-equipped  in  the  Sikh  religious 
and  historical  texts. 


Following  in  his  father's  footsteps,  he 
joined  the  army  as  a  Dafadar  in  22  Cavalry.  But 
his  army  career  lasted  only  three  and  a  half 
years.  He  returned  to  his  village,  Chak  140  GB, 
to  devote  himself  to  the  promotion  of  religious 
and  social  reform  in  the  panth.  He  became  a 
member  of  the  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan  and  helped 
to  establish  the  Khalsa  Diwan  Samundri.  Later 
this  and  other  similar  societies  working  in  that 
area  were  through  his  initiative  knit  into  a 
bigger  organization  called  the  Khalsa  Diwan 
Bar.  For  the  education  of  children,  he 
established  two  schools  Khalsa  Middle  School 
in  his  village  and  Sri  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Khalsa 
High  School  at  Sarhali  in  Amritsar  district. 
Some  more  schools  were  opened  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Khalsa  Diwan  Bar. 

Teja  Singh  started  taking  interest  in  the 
Akali  movement.  He  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Sikh  daily  newspaper,  the  Af:a/j.  He 
organized  public  meetings  to  protest  against 
the  demolition  by  the  government  of  one  of 
the  walls  of  Gurdwara  Rikabganj  at  Delhi  and 
was  one  of  the  100  Sikhs  who  had  volunteered 
to  lay  down  their  lives  in  a  bid  to  have  it 
restored.  He  was  nominated  a  member  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  administer  the 
Nankana  Sahib  Gurdwara  after  the  tragic 
happenings  of  1921. 

He  was  among  the  founder-members  of 
the  Shiromani  Gurdwara.  Parbandhak 
Committee  of  which  he  later  became  Vice- 
president.  He  was  also  Vice-president  of  the 
Punjab  Congress  Committee.  From  November 
1921  to  January  1922,  he  suffered 
imprisonment  for  his  part  in  the  agitation 
concerning  the  keys  of  the  Golden  Temple 
treasury,  which  had  been  taken  into  possession 
by  the  government.  On  13  October  1923,  he 
was  arrested  in  connection  with  the  Jaito 
morcha.  He  was  among  those  Akali  leaders 
who  refused  to  secure  their  release  by  giving 
government  the  assurance  that  they  would' 
work  by  the  Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act  passed  on  9 
July  .  1925.  Sardar  Teja  Singh  died  in  custody 
on  1 7  July  1926  following  a  heart  attack.  Among 


TF.|A  SINGH,  SANT 


341 


TK|A  singh  swatantar 


his  contemporaries,  he  was  widely  esteemed 
for  his  qualities  of  character  and  dedication 
and  for  his  talent  for  organization.  The 
handsome  Teja  Singh  Samundri  Hall  in 
Amritsar,  which  houses  the  offices  of  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee, 
today  honours  his  memory. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Dard,  Hira  Singh,  Meriaii  Kujh  Itihasak  Yadaii. 
Jalandhar,  1960 

2.  Niranjan  Singh,  Jivan-Yatra  Master  Vara  Singh. 
Amritsar,  1968 

3.  Piar  Singh,  Teja  Singh  Samundri.  Amritsar,  1975 

4.  Sahni,  Ruchi  Ram,  Struggle  for  Reform  in  Sikh 
Shrines .  Amritsar,  n.d 

P.S. 

TEJA  SINGH,  SANT,  earlier  name  Narahjan 
Singh,  was  born  on  14  May  1877  in  a  Mahita 
Khatri  family  (  father  :  Ralia  Singh  :  mother  : 
Sada  Kaur)  at  the  village  of  Ballovah",  in 
Gujrahwala  district  of  the  Punjab  (now  in 
Pakistan).  Teja  Sirigh  completed  his  schooling 
at  Fazilka  and  then  went  to  Lahore  where  he 
received  his  Master's  degree  in  English 
literature  in  1900  from  Pahjab  University, 
studying  at  Government  College.  At  Lahore  he 
also  took  the  Law  degree.  His  first  appointment 
was  as  headmaster  of  the  Anglo-Sanskrit  High 
School,  Bhera.  He  was  vice-principal  of  the 
Khalsa  College  at  .Amritsar  when  he  received 
the  rites  of  initiation  at  the  hands  of  Sant  Atar 
Singh  of  Mastuana  (1906),  receiving  the  Name 
of  Teja  Singh.  Sant  Atar  Singh  sent  him  abroad, 
along  with  four  other  young  Sikhs,  for  higher 
studies.  In  August  1906  Teja  Singh  joined  the 
University  College,  London,  but  left  it  without 
completing  the  course  to  join  the  Teachers 
College,  Columbia  University,  in  the  U.S.A., 
to  train  as  a  teacher.  From  Columbia,  he 
transferred  himself  to  Harvard  when  he  got 
his  A.M.  in  1911.  Along  with  his  academic 
work,  Teja  Singh  had  continued  preaching  the 
gospel  of  Guru  Nanak.  To  this  end  he  had, 
when  in  London,  established  a  Sikh  Jatha  ,  and 


when  in  the  U.S.A.,  lectured  extensively  in  that 
country  as  well  as  in  Canada. 

Returning  to  India,  he  settled  down  at 
Mastuana,  the  headquarters  of  Sant  Atar  Singh. 
Briefly  he  was  at  Bhasaur,  not  far  from  there, 
teaching  at  the  Sikh  women's  college.  He 
served  as  principal  of  the  Guru  Nanak  Khalsa 
College  from  1917-19.  For  a  brief  spell  he  also 
worked  as  principal  of  Teachers'  College  at 
Banaras  Hindu  University  (1920-21).  He  was 
the  founder-principal  of  Akal  Degree  College, 
Mastuana,  an  institution,  aiming,  as  Sant  Atar 
Singh  had  willed,  at  combining  humanistic 
study  with  crafts  and  mechanics. 

Sant  Teja  Singh  attended,  in  1910,  the 
Congress  of  Free  Christianity  and  Religious 
Progress  at  Berlin,  set  up  by  the  Unitarian 
Church  of  Chicago.  In  1956,  he  participated 
in  the  8th  Conference  of  Religion  for  World 
Peace  held  in  Japan  contributing  a  paper 
entitled,  "The  Way  to  Establish  World  Peace." 
His  major  publication  was  biography  in  Punjabi 
of  Sant  Atar  Singh  (  Languages  Department, 
Patiala,  1970). 

Sant  Teja  Singh  died  at  the  village  of 
Chima  on  3  July  1965. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Visakha  Singh,  Sant,  MaJva  Itihas.  Kishanpura, 
1954 

2.  Teja  Sihgh,JiVar>  Katha  Curmukh  Piare  Sant  Atar 
Singh  Ji  Maharaj.  Patiala,  1 970 

3.  Balwant  Singh,  Giani,  Agam  Agadh  Purakh 
Shriman  Pujya  Sant  Atar  Singh  Ji  Maharaj 
Mastuane  Valian  da  Sampuran  Jivan  Charittar. 
Mastuana,  1983 

S.S.G. 

TEJA  SINGH  SWATANTAR  (1901-1973),  Sikh 
preacher  turned  revolutionary,  was  born 
Samund  Singh  at  Aluna,  a  village  in  Gurdaspur 
district  of  the  Punjab,  on  16  July  1901.  His 
father's  name  was  Kirpal  Singh.  After  finishing 
school,  he  joined  Khalsa  College  at  Amritsar 
where  he  took  a  leading  part  in  organizing  a 
meeting  to  protest  against  the  atrocity 


TliJA  SINGH  SWATANTAR 


342 


TEJA  SINGH  SWATANTAR 


committed  by  the  British  in  the  Jalliahvala 
Bagh  (13  April  1919).  For  this  he  had  to  leave 
the  College.  He  joined  the  Akali  Dal  and  took 
part  in  the  agitation  for  the  liberation  of  Sikh 
places  of  worship.  In  September  1921,  he 
raised  a  squad  called  Swatantar  Jatha  which  in 
its  maiden  attempt  had  the  gurdwara  at  Teja,  a 
village  in  Gurdaspur district,  released  from  the 
possession  of  the  degenerate  mahants.  In 
celebration  of  the  event,  his  colleagues  named 
him  Teja  Singh  Swatantar-'Teja'  from  the 
gurdwara  liberated  and  'Swatantar'  from  the 
Jatha  of  which  he  was  the  leader.  In  a  similar 
action,  the  Swatantar  Jajtha  brought  the 
gurdwara  at  Othiah,  also  intiurdaspur  district, 
under  the  control  of  the  reformists.  Teja  Singh 
also  took  part  in  the  Guru  ka  Bagh  campaign. 

Early  in  1923,  Teja  Singh  went  to  Kabul 
as  a  Sikh  missionary.  There  he  came  in  contact 
with  Ghadr  leaders  such  as  Odham  Singh  Kasel, 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Ratan  Singh  and  Santokh 
Singh,  who  persuaded  him  to  undergo  a  course 
of  military  training.  In  1925,  Teja  Singh 
proceeded  to  Turkey  under  the  assumed  name 
of  Azad  Beg.  He  took  up  Turkish  citizenship 
and  graduated  in  military  sciences,  receiving  a 
commission  in  the  army.  Five  years  later,  Teja 
Singh  moved  to  Berlin,  which  had  been 
another  important  centre  of  the  Ghadrites.  He 
travelled  all  over  the  continent  and  also  visited 
■  Canada  and  the  United  States  of  America 
(U.S.A.).  Wherever  he  went  ,  he  preached 
revolution  at  congregations  of  Indians,  mainly 
Punjabi  Sikh  immigrants.  A  brilliant  orator,  he 
was  described  by  the  American  intelligence  as 
a  'fiery  speaker'.  In  January  1932,  he  left  North 
America  and  visited  Mexico,  Cuba,  Panama, 
Argentina,  Uruguay  and  Brazil  before  reaching 
Moscow  where  he  joined  the  university.  In 
December  1934,  Teja  Singh  returned  to  India 
and  became  a  prominent  leader  of  the  Kirti 
group  of  the  Communist  Party.  Disguised  as  a 
sadhu,  he  wandered  throughout  the  Punjab 
countryside  and  contributed  regularly  articles 
to  the  Party  journal,  the  Kirti.  On  16  January 
1936,  he  was  arrested  along  with  other 


Communist  leaders,  and  sent  to  Campbellpore 
jail.  During  his  confinement  he  passed  his 
Bachelor  of  Arts  examination  from  the 
University  of  the  Panjab,  Lahore.  While  in  jail, 
he  was  elected  unopposed  to  the  Punjab 
Legislative  Assembly  in  May  1937  as  a  nominee 
of  the  Indian  National  Congress. 

Teja  Sirigh  Swatantar  was  secretary  of  the 
Punjab  Communist  Party  from  1944  to  1947, 
and  a  prominent  leader  of  the  Kisan  Sabha. 
He  led  a  number  of  peasant  agitations  against 
government  and  the  landlords.  A  highlight  of 
the  period  of  his  career  was  the  agitation  at 
Harsa  Chhlna  in  1 946.  After  Independence,  Teja 
Singh  formed  his  Lai  (red)  Party  with  the  former 
Kirti  group  of  the  Punjab  Communist  Party  as 
the  nucleus.  Lai  Party  became  an  active 
constituent  of  the  Punjab  Riyasti  Praja  Mandal  and 
campaigned  for  the  merger  of  the  princely 
states  into  the  Punjab  and  against  the  tenancy 
laws  prevalent  in  these  territories.  Warrants  of 
arrest  were  issued  against  him  in  1948,  but  he 
went  underground  and  reappeared  in  public 
only  when  these  were  withdrawn  on  5  January 
1963. 

Teja  Singh  edited  Lai Jhanda,  a  monthly 
in  Urdu,  and  Lai  Savera,  a  weekly  in  Punjabi, 
and  contributed  frequently  to  other  papers  and 
journals.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Punjab 
Legislative  Council  from  1964-69  and  was,  in 
1971,  elected  to  the  Lok  Sabha.  He  died  after 
a  heart  attack  in  Central  Hall  of  Parliament  on 
12  April  1973. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Vaid,  Chhajju  Mall,  Lokan  Laijoojh  Gaya  Ik  Tyagi 
Tapasvi  te  Tajasvi:  Teja  Singh  Sutantar.  Silverjubilee 
Souvenir  of  the  C.P.I.  Punjab.  26January  1976 

2.  Warsbla,  Swaran  Singh,  Visphot  ton  Pehlan. 
Amritsar,  1978 

3.  Sairisara,  Gurcharan  Sirigh,  Ghadar  Parti  da 
Itihas.  Jalandhar,  1969 

4.  Jagjit  sirigh,  Ghadar  Parti  Lahir.  Delhi,  1979 

5.  Walia,  Ramesh,  Praja  Mandal  Movement  in  East 
Punjab  States.  Patiala,  1972 

H.K.P. 


TEJ  BHAN,  BABA 


343 


TEJ  SINGH,  RAJA 


TEJ  BHAN,  BABA  (d.  1533),  affectionately 
referred  to  as  Tejo  in  early  chronicles,  was  the 
father  of  Guru  Amar  Das,  Nanalk  III  (1479- 
1574).  A  Khatri  of  the  Bhalla  clan,  Tej  Bhan 
was  born  to  Bafoa  Hariji  and  Mata  Milavi  of 
Basarke  Gillah,  a  village  12  km  southwest  of 
Amritsar.  He  was  married  at  the  age  of  12  to 
Bakht  Kaur  (also  known  as  Lachhrni,  Lakhmi 
or  simply  Lakkho)  from  a  Duggal  Khatri  family. 
Guru  Amar  Das,  born  on  5  May  1479,  was  the 
eldest  of  their  four  sons,  the  other  three  being 
Ishar  Das,  Khem  Rai  and  Manak  Chand.  The 
family  lived  partly  by  agriculture  and  pardy  by 
trade.  According  to  Kesar  Singh  Chhibbar, 
BarisavaJihama,  Baba  Tej  Bhan  died  in  Kattak 
1590  Bk,  corresponding  to  October  1533. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Chhibbar,  Kesar  Singh,  Bansavalmama  Dasan 
Patshahiah  Ka,  ed.  Ratan  Singh  Jaggi. 
Chandigarh,  1972 

2.  Gian  Singh,  GianI,  Twarikh.  Guru  Khalsa.  Patiala, 
1970 

3.  Bhalla,  Sarup  Das,  Mahimk  Prakash.  Patiala,  1971 

4.  Satbir  Singh,  Parbatu  Meran.Jalandhar,  1983 

5.  Jodh  Singh,  Life  of  Guru  Amar  Das.  Amritsar, 
1949 

Hn.S. 

TEJ  SINGH,  RAJA  (1799-1862),  son  of  Misr 
Niddha,  a  Gaur  Brahman  of  Meerut  district, 
was  born  in  1799.  His  original  name  was  Tej 
Ram.  He  was  a  nephew  of  Jamadar  Khushal 
Singh,  a  dignitary  of  the  Sikh  kingdom.  He  took 
up  service  at  the  court  in  1812.  In  1816,  he 
received  the  rites  of  Khalsa  and  was  named  Tej 
Singh.  He  proved  his  worth  as  a  soldier  and 
made  rapid  progress  in  the  army  cadre, 
becoming  a  general  in  1818.  He  served  in  all 
the  three  Kashmir  expeditions  of  1813,  1814 
and  1819,  and  took  a  leading  part  in  reducing 
Mankera,  Leiah  and  the  Derajat.  He  was  a 
divisional  commander  in  the  Peshawar 
campaign  of  1823  and  fought  in  the  batde  of 
Teri.  In  1831,  he  had  under  his  command 
twenty-two  battalions  of  the  regular  Sikh  army. 


In  1839,  he  was  sent  to  Peshawar  with  other 
army  generals  to  help  Colonel  Wade's 
contingent  to  force  the  Khaibar  Pass  for  an 
invasion  of  Afghanistan. 

Tej  Singh  acquired  great  influence  over 
Kahvar  Nau  Nihal  Singh.  He  supported  the 
cause  of  Rani  Chand  Kaur,  when,  after  the 
death  of  Nau  Nihal  Singh,  she  staked  her  claim 
to  regency.  He  was  among  those  who  signed 
the  agreement  of  27  November  1840 
proclaiming  Chand  Kaur  as  Regent.  On  the  eve 
of  the  Anglo-Sikh  war  of  1845-46,  Tej  Singh 
was  appointed  commander-in-chief  of  the  Sikh 
army.  His  conduct  during  this  war  and  during 
the  one  following  was  however  marked  by 
duplicity.  He  established  secret  liaison  with  the 
British  and  desired  their  victory  rather  than 
that  of  the  army  he  led.  Two  divisions  under 
his  command  hovered  around  Firozpur  when 
that  strategic  town  could  have  been  stormed 
and  the  small  Bridsh  garrison  destroyed.  At 
the  fiercely  fought  battle  of  Ferozeshah  (21 
December  ,1845),  he  kept  his  army  away  from 
the  batdefield.  When  the  action  was  over,  he 
appeared  with  his  army  on  the  morning  of  22 
December  and  drove  straight  into  the  shattered 
BriUsh  cavalry  lines.  But  suddenly  his  guns 
ceased  to  fire.  He  abandoned  the  field  and  took 
the  road  to  Lahore.  At  Sabhraoh  ( 10  Feburary 
1846),  he  advised  the  brave  Sikh  general,  Sham 
Singh  Atarivala,  to  leave  the  battlefield.  The 
latter  continued  the  battle  determined  to  fight 
to  the  end,  but  Tej  Singh  and  Commander 
Lai  Singh  fled  hastily  even  as  the  contest  hung 
in  the  balance. 

As  the  batde  went  in  favour  of  the  Bridsh, 
Tej  Singh  cut  out  the  retreat  of  the  Sikh  army 
by  sinking  the  bridge  of  boats  and  the  tete  de 
pont  constructed  in  front  of  it.  At  the  end  of 
the  war,  he  made  an  offer  of  Rs.  25,00,000  to 
Lord  Hardinge  to  buy  for  himself  an 
independent  kingdom  like  Gulab  Singh  had 
done.  However,  he  retained  his  position  of  pre- 
eminence in  the  new  set-up.  He  was  nominated 
president  of  the  council  of  Regency  in 
December  1846,  and  was  allowed  to  continue 


TEK  SlftGH,  BHAI 


344 


THACKWELL,  SIR  EDWARD  JOSEPH 


as  commander-in-chief  of  the  Sikh  army.  He 
was  created  Raja  of  Sialkot  in  August  1847. 

At  the  time  of  the  annexation  of  the 
Punjab  to  Britain,  he  was  guaranteed  the 
enjoyment  of  all  the  privileges  and  rights  which 
he  possessed  under  the  Sikh  government.  He 
was  invested  with  the  full  powers  of  a  magistrate 
in  his  estate  and  was  nominated  a  member  of 
the  committee  for  the  management  of  the 
Golden  Temple.  During  the  uprising  of  1857, 
he  raised  Sikh  cavalry  regiments  to  aid  the 
British.  His  scattered  jagirs  were  consolidated 
and  he  received  the  new  tide  Raja  of  Batala. 
He  died  on  4  December  1862  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  adopted  son  Harbahs  Singh 
(his  brother  whom  he  had  adopted  before  the 
birth  of  his  son,  Narindar  Singh). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 

3.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations. 
Hoshiarpur,  1968 

4.  Chopra,  Barkat  Rai,  Kingdom  of  the  Punjab. 
Hoshiarpur,  1969 

5.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

J.S.K. 

TEK  SINGH,  BHAI,  a  priest  at  the  Golden 
Temple,  Amritsar,  was  an  associate  of  Bhai  Maharaj 
Singh,  leader  of  the  anti-British  revolt  of  184&49. 
On  receiving  a  written  message  from  Maharaj 
Singh,  he  came  to  Jalandhar  Doab  with  30  to  35 
men  to  join  the  renewed  struggle.  On  the  arrest 
of  Bhai  Maharaj  Singh,  he  went  underground  and 
evaded  arrest  for  a  considerable  time. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Ahluwalia,  M.L.,  Bhai  Maharaj  Singh.  Patiala, 
1972 

M.L.A. 

THACKWELL,  SIR  EDWARD  JOSEPH  (1781- 
1859),  commander  of  cavalry  division  of  the 


army  of  the  Sutlej  under  Lord  Hugh  Gough 
in  the  first  Anglo-Sikh  war  was  born  on  1 
February  1781,  the  son  of  John  Thackwell.  A 
veteran  of  Peninsula  and  Waterloo,  he  assumed 
command  of  the  army  of  the  Indus  in  the 
Afghan  campaign  of  1838-39.  He  also 
commanded  the  cavalry  division  of  Sir  Hugh 
Gough 's  army  in  the  campaign  against  the 
Marathas  of  Gwalior  at  the  close  of  1843.  In 
the  first  Anglo-Sikh  war,  he  was  in  command 
of  the  cavalry  at  Sabhraoh  on  10  February 
1846.  In  November  1846,  he  was  promoted 
major-general. 

In  the  second  Anglo-Sikh  war,  Major- 
General  Thackwell  commanded  the  2nd 
division  of  the  infantry.  On  the  death  of 
Brigadier  Cureton  in  the  batde  at  Ramnagar, 
he  took  over  the  command  of  the  Cavalry 
Division.  Gough  sent  a  force  of  eight  thousand 
men  under  Thackwell  to  pass  the  river  higher 
up,  and  help  dislodge  the  Sikhs  from  their 
position  by  moving  on  to  their  left  flank  and 
rear.  Thackwell  crossed  the  river  at  Wazirabad 
and,  on  3  December  1848,  encamped  near 
Sadullapur.  He  was  attacked  by  the  Sikhs,  and 
the  British  pickets  were  driven  out  of  three 
villages.  Thackwell  also  saw  action  at 
Cheliahvala  and  Gujrat.  At  Cheliahvala, 
Thackwell's  cavalry  brigade  under  Pope 
courted  disaster.  Pope's  brigade  had  advanced 
to  protect  the  flank  and  movement  of  the  3rd 
Infantry  Division  under  Major-General 
Campbell,  when  some  hundred  ghorcharhas 
fell  upon  them,  and  by  successive  onslaughts 
broke  up  the  British  cavalry  line  and  cut  down 
their  horsemen.  The  Sikh  horsemen  swept  the 
field  like  lightning  and  their  Khalsa  war-cries 
so  frightened  the  entire  British  cavalry  brigade 
as  if  they  had  seen  a  ghost.  They  fled,  galloping 
their  own  horse  artillery  and  leaving  behind 
their  comrades  at  the  mercy  of  the  Sikhs. 
Dalhousie  records  the  rout  of  Thackwell's  2nd 
cavalry  brigade  in  these  words  :  "The  cavalry 
on  the  right  disgraced  their  name  and  the 
colours  they  carry....  They  galloped  on  into  the 
Field  Hospital,  among  the  wounded  and  never 


THAKAR  DAS 


345 


THAKAR  SINGH,  DOCTOR 


stopped  till  they  were  brought  up  by  the 
Chaplain,  who  was  administering  to  the 
wounded  and  who,  pistol  in  hand,  declared  he 
would  shoot  at  the  first  man  who  passed  him." 

Thackwell  wrote  Narrative  of  the  Second 
Sikh  War  in  1848-49,  published  in  London  in 
1851.  The  chronicle  is  a  detailed  account  of 
the  battles  of  Ramnagar,  Cheliarivala  and 
Gujrat. 

In  1854,  Thackwell  was  promoted 
lieutenant-general.  He  died  on  8  April  1 859. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations. 
Hoshiarpur,  1968 

2.  Gough,  C.  and  A.D.  Innes,  The  Sikhs  and  the 
Sikh  Wars.  London,  1897 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Private  Correspondence 
relating  to  the  A^nglo-Sikh  Wars.  Amritsar,  1955 

B.J.H. 

THAKAR  DAS,  son  of  Kanhaiya  Lai,  worked  as 
keeper  of  the  small  private  signet  of  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh  in  place  of  his  father  for  some 
time.  He  was  later  appointed  manager  of  the 
area  of  Dhanni,  Rupoval,  etc.,  on  a  salary  of 
rupees  4,320  per  annum  when  Kahvar  Nau 
Nihal  Singh  was  in  power.  Thakar  Das  received 
a  pension  of  Rs  360  from  die  British  government 
on  the  annexation  of  the  Punjab  in  1849. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lahore,  1890 

G.S.N. 

THAKAR  SINGH  ATARIVALA  (d.  1842)  was 
the  eldest  son  of  Sham  Singh  Atarivala,  the 
celebrated  general  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh. 
During  the  expeditions  against  Bannu  and 
Peshawar  in  the  time  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh, 
he  served  as  a  commandant  of  artillery.  He 
died  in  1842  during  the  lifetime  of  his  father. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 


2.  Ganda  Singh,  Sardar  Sham  Singh  Atarivala. 
Amritsar,  1942 

3.  Griffin,  Lepel,  and  C.F.Massy,  Chiefs  and  Families 
of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1909 

G.S. 

THAKAR  SINGH,  BHAI  (1890-1921),  one  of 
the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  the  son  of  Bhai 
Indar  Singh  and  Mai  Atar  Kaur  of  the  village 
of  Manak  Ghumman,  in  Jalandhar  district.  In 
the  hope  of  a  better  living  he  migrated  to 
Chakk  No.  91  Dhannuana,  district  Lyallpur,  in 
the  Lower  Chenab  Canal  Colony,  and  setded 
on  an  agricultural  farm  he  had  rented.  Most 
of  the  colonizers  of  this  village  had  come  from 
Jalandhar  district.  Thakar  Singh  had  felt  at 
home  here  from  the  very  beginning  and  soon 
became  very  popular  for  his  open  and  polite 
manner.  Dhannuana  was  a  village  which,  had 
become  politically  very  alive  under  the 
influence  of  Akali  reformation. 

Like  other  Akali  activists  of  the  village, 
Thakar  Singh  joined  the  jatha'  of  Bhai 
Lachhman  Singh  Dharovali  and  fell  a  martyr 
under  the  shower  of  bullets  from  the 
opponents  of  reform  (20  February  1921). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

THAKAR  SINGH,  DOCTOR  (1885-1945),  a 
Ghadr  activist  who  also  took  part  in  the  Akali 
movement  of  1920-25,  was  the  son  of  Sher 
Singh  of  Ikulaha,  a  village  6  km  southwest  of 
Khanna  (30n-42'N,  76°-13'E)  in  Ludhiana 
district  of  the  Punjab.  He  was  an  undergraduate 
at  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar,  when  he  gave  up 
his  studies  to  go  to  China.  He  was  employed  as 
a  sanitary  inspector  on  the  Canton-Kowloon 
railway  where  his  duties  included  dispensing 
medicines  to  sick  employees  which  earned  him 
the  popular  title  of  "Doctor". 

'The  Ghadr  movement  which  took  birth 
on  the  west  coast  of  the  United  States  and 


THAKAR  SINGH,  DOCTOR 


346 


THAKAR  SINGH,  GIANi 


Canada  in  1913  soon  spread  to  Asian  countries, 
collectively  known  as  the  Far  East.  Thakar  Singh 
was  among  the  first  immigrants  to  join  it.  He 
sailed  for  India  at  the  end  of  1914  with  the 
intention  of  preparing  ground  for  a  revolution 
in  the  country.  Meva  Singh,  another  member 
of  the  Ghadr  party,  who  had  been  chief  officer 
of  the  French  Consular  Police  at  Canton  had 
written  a  letter  to  Harchand  Singh  of  Lyallpur 
commending  Thakar  Singh  to  him.  This  letter 
was  apparendy  intercepted  by  government,  for 
on  arrival  in  India  Thakar  Singh  was  restricted 
to  his  village.  No  certain  evidence  coming  forth 
against  him  he  was  permitted  to  go  to  Hong 
Kong  in  May  1915.  A  letter  of  his  written  in 
November  1915  from  Canton  and  addressed 
to  Giani  Bhagvan  Singh,  granthl or  scripture- 
reader  at  San  Francisco  and  a  Ghadr 
revolutionary,  was  intercepted.  This  letter  spelt 
out  a  plan  for  a  simultaneous  outbreak  at 
Ludhiana  and  Firozpur  and  for  establishing  a 
state  in  which  all  property  would  be  held  in 
common,  all  necessities  of  the  people  supplied 
and  all  men  trained  for  military  service.  Doctor 
Thakar  Singh  was  arrested  at  Hong  Kong  and 
sent  to  India  where  he  was  interned  on  arrival 
in  October  1915.  He  was  tried  at  Ludhiana  and 
sentenced  to  five  years'  rigorous  imprisonment 
and  a  heavy  fine.  Soon  after  his  release  in  early 
1920,  he  joined  the  Akali  movement  for 
Gurdwara  reform.  He  was  arrested  on  18 
February  1922  for  joining  a  demonstration 
against  the  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  and 
sentenced  to  three  years'  imprisonment  and 
fine  in  lieu  of  which  a  major  portion  of  his  land 
was  attached. 

As  he  reached  Amritsar  on  30  December 
1924  after  his  release  from  the  Miarivah  jail, 
Doctor  Thakar  Singh  was  honoured  with  a 
siropi  or  robe  of  honour  at  Sri  Akal  Takht.  By 
this  time  the  Jaito  morcha  or  agitation  in  the 
princely  state  of  Nabha  had  come  into  full 
swing.  The  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  and  Shiromani  Akali  Dal  had  been 
oudawed.  Thakar  Singh  acted  as  vice-president 
of  Shiromani  Akali  Dal  from  7  November  1925 


to  the  end  of  January  1926.  He  became  head 
of  the  District  Akali  Jatha,  Ludhiana,  on  23 
March  1926.  By  the  end  of  1926,  most  of  the 
Akali  leaders  were  released  from  jail  and  the 
Gurdwara  Reform  movement  had  come  to  an 
end.  Doctor  Thakar  Singh  retired  from  active 
politics  and  went  to  live  in  Rajasthan.  He, 
however,  died  in  his  native  Ikulaha  on  12 
August  1945. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sairisara,  Gurcharan  Singh,  Qhadar  Parti  Itihas. 
Jalandhar,  1969 

2.  Jagjit  Singh,  Qhadar  Parti  Lahir.  Delhi,  1979 

H.S.D1. 

THAKAR  SINGH,  GIANI  (1838-1943),  learned 
in  Sikh  sacred  texts  which  he  expounded  with 
exceptional  virtuosity,  was  born  on  10 
November  1838  at  the  village  of  Jandiala  in 
Hoshiarpur  district  of  the  Punjab,  the  son  of 
Bhai  Mahan  Singh,  a  soldier  in  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh's  army.  Mahah  Singh  was  a  follower  of 
Bhai  Maharaj  Singh  of  Naurahgabad  under 
whose  care  Thakar  Singh  had  his  early  lessons 
in  the  Sikh  Scriptures  and  at  whose  hands  he 
received  the  Sikh  initiatory  rites.  After  the 
arrest  by  the  British  of  Bhai  Maharaj  Singh  in 
December  1849,  Thakar  Singh  and  his  father 
fled  roaming  from  place  to  place.  During  these 
forced  travels,  they  visited  most  of  the  Sikh 
shrines  of  historical  importance.  Young  Thakar 
Singh  kept  elaborate  notes  on  the  basis  of 
which  he  later  wrote  a  book  on  the  sacred  sites 
titled  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan.  As  order  was 
restored  in  the  Punjab,  father  and  son  returned 
home.  Thakar  Singh  joined  the  seminary  at 
Damdama  Sahib,  Talvandi  Sabo,  where  he 
received  further  education  in  Sikh  lore  and 
religion.  He  also  acquired  proficiency  in  Braj, 
Urdu  and  Persian.  For  his  learned  exposition 
of  the  Gurus'  word,  he  came  to  be  called  a 
giani,  lit.  possessor  of  religious  and  spiritual 
knowledge.  Thereafter  he  set  out  on  his  long 
career  of  preaching  and  initiating  neophytes 
into  the  Khalsa  fold.  He  actively  participated 


JHAK.UR  SINGH 


347 


THAKUR  SINGH  SAN D H ANVALlA 


in  the  activites  of  the  Khalsa  Dhvan,  Lahore, 
and  enjoyed  the  respect  of  Sikh  aristocracy  as 
well  as  of  the  Sikh  masses. 

In  1888,  he  started  the  annual  jor-mela 
or  religious  fair  at  Gurdwara  Fatehgarh  Sahib, 
near  Sirhind,  to  ohserve  the  martyrdom 
anniversary  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  mother, 
Mata  Gujari,  and  his  sons,  Zorawar  Singh  and 
Fateh  Singh.  Giani  Thakar  Singh  was  a  founder- 
member  of  t  he  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan  established 
in  1902.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
committee  which  drafted  the  Diwan's 
constitution.  For  a  time  he  lectured  on  Sikhism 
at.  Jjbalsa  College,  Arnritsar.  He  was  an  officiant 
at  the  marriage  of  Maharaja  Bhupinder  Singh 
of  Patiala  which  was  performed  in  1908 
according  to  anand  rites.  He  was  supporter  of 
the  Gurdwara  Reform  movement  launched  in 
1920.  Giani  Thakar  Singh  opened  in  Arnritsar 
an  institution  for  the  training  of  preachers  and 
scripture-readers  which  he  named  Bhal  Mani 
Singh  Giani  Granthi  Ate  Shahid  Ashram. 

Giani  Thakar  Singh  was  a  poet  of  some 
merit.  Apart  from  his  Gurduare  Darshan 
(1923)  which  is  in  prose,  all  his  smaller  works 
are  in  verse.  They  include  Sidq  Sikkhi-  Prasang 
Bhaijodha  Dhesi  (n.d.);  Shahid  Bilas :  Sri  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  Sahibji  de  Sri  Mata  Gujatfji  ate 
Chare  Sahibzadiah  di  Shahidi  Katha  (n.d.); 
Baramaha  :  Ustat  Sri  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Ji 
(1901)  ;  Pothi  Gurmat  Itihas  (1903);  Shahid 
Bilas  B'ab'a  Wip  Singh  Ji  Shahid  (1904)  ;  Sidq 
Jivan-Mani  Singh  Shahid  da  Jivan  Britant 
(1907)  ;  Vadda  Shahid  Bilas  (1913)  ;  Kunjian 
diDard  Bhari  Katha  (1922). 

Giani  Thakar  Singh  died  at  Arnritsar  on 
5  January  1943  at  the  age  of  104  years. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Barrier,  N.  Gerald,  The  Sikhs  and  Their 
Literature.  Delhi,  1970 

2.  Panjabi  Prakashanan  di  Suchi.  Patiala,  1971 

N.S.G. 

THAKUR  SINGH,  a  kahar  or  waterman  of 
village  Jagatpur,  in  Arnritsar  district,  was  the 


son  of  Ratan  Singh,  one  of  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh's  personal  attendants.  Ratan  Singh  was 
a  great  favourite  and  had  had  jagirs  of  over 
one  lakh  rupees  granted  to  him,;  His  son 
Thakur  Singh  had  in  his  younger  days  served 
Maharaja  Duleep  Singh.  When  Maharaja 
Duleep  Singh  was  coming  back  from  England 
in  1886,  he  contacted  Thakur  Singh  with  a  view 
to  offering  him  employment  in  his  household. 
Thakur  Singh  went  to  Bombay  to  meet  him 
but  returned  disappointed  as  the  Maharaja  was 
detained  at  Aden  and  was  not  permitted  to 
continue  the  journey  to  India. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  History  of  the  Freedom 
Movement  in  the  Panjab  (Maharaja  Duleep 
Singh  Correspondence) .  Patiala,  1972 

K.S.T. 

THAKUR  SINGH,  one  of  the  five  Sikhs  who 
administered  pahul  or  the  Sikh  rites  to 
Maharaja  Duleep  Singh  at  Aden  on  25  May 
1886,  belonged  to  the  village  of  Wagah,  in 
present-day  Arnritsar  district.  He  was  the  son 
of Jawahar  Singh  by  the  daughter  of  one  of 
Maharani Jind  Kaur's  sisters  and  thus  a  nephew 
of  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh's. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  History  of  the  Freedom 
Movement  in  the  Panjab.  (Maharaja  Duleep 
Singh  Correspondence).  Patiala,  1972 

K.S.T. 

THAKUR  SINGH  S AN D H AN VALI A  (1837- 
1887),  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Singh  Sabha 
and  a  scion  of  the  Sandhahvalia  family,  who 
master-minded  the  campaign  for  the 
restoration  of  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh  to  the 
throne  of  the  Punjab,  was  son  of  Lahina  Singh, 
who  in  the  reign  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh 
enjoyed  the  tide  of  Ujjal-didar,  Nirmal-buddh, 
Sardar-i-ba-waqar  (resplendent  presence, 
pure  of  intellect,  the  Sardar  with  prestige 
marked).  Born  in  1837,  in   a  Punjab  which 


THAKUR  SINGH  SAND HANVALl  A 


348 


THAKUR  SINGH  SAN  D  HANVALl  A 


was  soon  to  fall  into  chaos  as  a  result  of  courtly 
intrigue  and  murder,  Thakur  Singh  was  a  mere 
child  of  six  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death.  As 
he  grew  up,  he  was  given  appointment  by  the 
British  as  extra-assistant  commissioner  for 
Amritsar  district.  He  was  also  nominated  a 
member  of  the  Golden  Temple  managing 
committee.  In  this  capacity,  he  observed  how 
Sikh  religion  had  been  corrupted  by  the 
accretion  of  customs  and  rituals  contrary  to  the 
teachings  of  the  Gurus.  He  also  felt  concerned 
about  the  general  state  of  the  Sikh  community. 
In  1873,  occurred  an  event  which  gave  a 
decisive  turn  to  his  career.  Four  Sikh  pupils  of 
the  Mission  High  School  in  Amritsar  declared 
their  intention  of  abjuring  their  faith  in  favour 
of  Christianity.  Thakur  Singh  called  in  Amritsar 
a  meeting  of  some  of  the  leading  Sikhs  of  the 
day,  including  Baba  Sir  Khem  Singh  Bedi,  a 
descendant  of  Guru  Nanak,  Kahvar  Bikrama 
Singh  of  Kapurthala,  and  Giani  Gian  Singh  of 
Amritsar.  This  Sikh  meeting  laid  the  foundation 
of  a  society  called  the  Sri  Guru  Singh  Sabha. 

Thakur  Singh  became  the  first  president 
of  the  Singh  Sabha.  Apart  from  religious 
reform  among  the  Sikhs,  the  Singh  Sabha 
ushered  in  a  new  cultural  consciousness  in  the 
Punjab.  It  aimed  especially  at  the  development 
of  modern  education.  Thakur  Singh  remained 
at  the  helm  of  affairs  of  the  new  society  for  a 
whole  decade.  He  was  a  distinguished  scholar 
of  Persian  and  Punjabi,  well  versed  in  Indian 
as  well  as  in  Muslim  lore. 

Because  of  his  independent  views,  Thakur 
Singh  was  deprived  of  his  position  as  extra- 
assistant  commissioner.  In  1883,  his  estate  was 
placed  under  a  court  of  wards.  The  same  year 
he  received  from  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh, 
living  as  a  ranked  British  noble  in  London  after 
being  deprived  of  the  throne  of  the  Punjab,  a 
wire  inviting  him. 

Before  his  departure  for  England  in  1884, 
Thakur  Singh  visited  the  Takhts.  the  principal 
Sikh  shrines-at  Amritsar,  Anandpur,  Patna  and 
Nanded-to  pray  for  the  prosperity  of  Duleep 
Singh's  cause.  Accompanied  by  two  of  his  sons, 


Narindar  Singh  and  Gurdit  Singh,  a  granthi 
or  Scripture  reader,  Partap  Singh,  and  three 
servants,  he  reached  London,  where  he  stayed 
as  the  guest  of  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh.  He 
daily  read  out  from  the  holy  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
to  the  Maharaja  and  instructed  him  in  the 
tenets  of  Sikhism.  Under  his  influence,  Duleep 
Singh  determined  to  rejoin  the  faith  of  his 
forefathers. 

In  August  1885,  Thakur  Singh  returned 
to  the  Punjab.  Duleep  Singh  himself  decided 
to  return  to  his  motherland  and  left  England 
on  31  March  1886  to  settle  down  quietly  in 
Delhi.  He  invited  Thakur  Singh  to  meet  him 
at  Bombay  and  arrange  for  his  reinitiation  into 
Sikhism,  but  the  government  refused  him 
permission  to  go  to  Bombay.  Furthering  the 
cause  of  Duleep  Singh  was  now  Thakur  Singh's 
sole  concern.  To  win  support  for  him,  he  visited 
secretly  the  Indian  princely  states  and  the  Sikh 
shrines.  Major  Evans  Bell's  book,  The 
Annexation  of  the  Punjab  and  the  Maharajah 
Duleep  Singh,  exhibiting  the  illegality  of  British 
occupation  of  the  Punjab,  was  widely 
circulated.  Thakur  Singh  had  the  book 
translated  into  Punjabi  by  his  friend  Partap 
Singh,  the  granthi  and  published  by  another 
supporter,  Diwan  Buta  Singh,  of  Aftab-i-Punjab 
Press. 

Thakur  Singh  was  now  Uie  most.suspicious 
character  in  the  eyes  of  the  government.  In 
intelligence  reports  and  other  government 
papers,  he  was  described  as  "a  troublesome 
person... the  friend  and  inciter  of  Duleep 
Singh."  Yet  he  made  good  his  escape  into 
Pondicherry  on  6  November  1886.  His  home 
in  the  Rue  Law  de  Lauristan  became  the  centre 
of  activity  against  the  British.  Thakur  Singh 
received  correspondence  from  Duleep  Singh 
through  the  French  post  office.  Through  the 
same  medium  he  sent  to  him  his  letters  and 
the  Indian  newspapers  such  as  The  Times  of 
India  and  Madras  Times.  He  laid  out  a  fairly 
extensive  system  of  communication  in  the 
Punjab,  and  had  a  continuous  stream  of  visitors 
in  Pondicherry  including,  occasionally, 


THANESAR 


349 


THANKSAR 


soldiers  from  the  Indian  Army. 

Envoys  came  from  Duleep  Singh  as  well. 
From  Russia,  he  sent  to  Thakur  Singh  a  seal 
and  letter  in  token  of  his  appointment  as  prime 
minister'  to  his  emigre  government  But  the 
latter  had  not  long  to  live.  He  suddenly  fell  ill 
and  died  on  18  August  1887.  His  ashes  were 
taken  to  his  ancestral  village  of  Raja  Sansl.  His 
sons  continued  to  live  in  Pondicherry,  the 
eldest,  Gurbachan  Singh,  receiving  from 
Duleep  Singh  the  title  of  prime  minister. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Punjab  Chiefs.  Lah  ore,  1890 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  History  of  the  Freedm 
Movement  in  thePanjab  (Maharaja  Duleep  Singh 
Correspondence).  Patiala,  1972 

4.  Jagjit  Singh,  Singh  Sabha  Lahir.  Ludhiana,  1974 

Gdl.S. 

THANESAR  (Kurukshetra)  (29"-58'N,  76"- 
50  E)  is  an  ancient  pilgrim  centre  of  the 
Hindus.  Devotees  from  all  over  India  have 
since  time  immemorial  been  forgathering  here 
for  a  dip  in  the  holy  lakes,  especially  on  the 
occasion  of  solar  eclipse.  Several  of  the  Sikh 
Gurus  also  visited  the  place  to  preach  to  the 
pilgrims.  There  are  today  six  historical 
gurdwaras  in  Thanesar  commemorating  their 
visits. 

gurdwara  ghhkvTn  1PATSHAHI  is  dedicated  to 
Guru  Hargobind  who  visited  Thanesar  at  the 
time  of  the  solar  eclipse  fair  probably  in  1638. 
This  was  not  his  first  visit,  for  he  had  spent 
some  time  here  while  returning  from  Nanak 
Mata.  Guru  Nanak  and  Guru  Amar  Das  had 
been  there  as  well  and  people  had  known  them 
as  holy  men.  They  were  now  surprised  to  see 
Guru  Hargobind,  in  succession  from  Guru 
Nanak,  carrying  arms  and  having  armed 
attendantsas  his  companions.  But  their  doubts 
were  dispelled  as  they  heard  his  discourse  full 
of  spiritual  insight. 


The  place  near  the  Senayat  tank  where 
the  Guru  had  stayed  was  later  marked  by  a 
memorial  platform  over  which  a  gurdwara  was 
raised  in  1909.  This  too  has  since  been 
replaced  by  an  imposing  white-marble 
building  by  Sant  Baba  Jivan  Singh  and  his 
successors.  It  has  a  large  hall  with  a  high  ceiling 
and  a  canopied  throne  for  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  in  the  centre.  Above  it  is  a  large  lotus 
dome  with  an  ornamental  pinnacle.  The  whole 
exterior  surface,  including  the  dome,  is 
covered  with  white-marble  slabs.  In  the 
adjoining  compound  are  the  Guru  ka  Lahgar 
and  rooms  for  pilgrims.  The  headquarters  of 
the  Haryana  branch  of  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  are  also 
located  on  these  premises. 

GURDWARA  DASVIN  PATSHAHI,  a  small  shrine  in 
a  house  in  Mohalla  Saudagarah  occupied  by 
the  descendants  of  Pandit  Mani  Ram,  who  had 
received  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  blessing  when 
he  visited  Kurukshetra  in  1702-03.  At  the 
request  of  Mani  Ram  the  Guru  had  visited  his 
house.  The  shrine  in  the  old  premises  is  a  small 
square  room.  It  is  privately  owned. 

GURDWARA  NAVlN  PATSHAHI,  north  of  the  old 

town  of  Thanesar  is  dedicated  to  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  who  arrived  here  from  Barna  in  the 
course  of  one  of  his  journeys  through  these 
parts.  The  Mahji  Sahib  set  up  to  commemorate 
the  visit  has  been  replaced  by  a  new  building, 
which  has  a  hall,  with  the  sanctum  in  the 
middle  of  it. 

GURRWara  RAJ  GHAT,  a  single  flat-roofed  square 
hall,  commemorates  the  visit  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  to  Kurukshetra  on  the  occasion  of  the 
solar  eclipse  in  1702.  It  stands  on  the 
northwestern  end  of  the  holy  tanks  and  marks 
the  site  where  the  Guru  had  pitched  his  tents. 

GURDWARA  SIDDH  15ATI  PATSHAHI  PAH1I.I  is  sacred 

to  Guru  Nanak  who  came  to  Kurukshetra  at 
the  time  of  the  solar  eclipse  fair.  As  the 


THANKSAR 


350 


THATTA 


tradition  goes,  he  invited  the  wrath  of  the 
Brahman  priests  by  having  meat  cooked  on  the 
occasion.  Cooking  of  food  at  the  time  of  eclipse 
was  considered  a  sacrilege  and  eating  meat  was 
in  any  case  taboo. 

Guru  Nanak  said  that  the  eclipses  were 
the  natural  phenomena  and  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  food  men  ate.  This  discourse  took 
place  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  main  sacred 
tanks.  The  original  shrine  established  on  the 
spot  was  destroyed  during  the  devastation 
suffered  by  Thanesar  at  the  hands  of  Mughal 
and  Afghan  invaders.  It  was  rebuilt  after  the 
Sikhs  had  occupied  this  territory  in  1764.  The 
present  shrine  was  constructed  by  Bhai  Udai 
Singh  of  Kaithal.  It  is  about  two  kilometres 
from  Gurdwara  Chhevih  Patshahi,  the  premier 
Gurdwara  of  Thansar  and  headquarters  of  the 
local  managing  committee.  It  is  in  the  form  of 
a  walled  haveli  built  on  a  high  plinth.  The 
sanctum  consists  of  a  single  square  room  in 
the  middle  where  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is 
seated. 

GURDWARA  TISARl  ATE  SATVlN  PATSHAHI, 

common  to  the  memory  of  Guru  Amar  Das 
and  Guru  Har  Rai,  is  about  half  a  kilometre 
northeast  of  Thanesar  railway  station.  Guru 
Amar  Das'  visit  took  place  on  the  occasion  of 
the  solar  eclipse  on  14  January  1553,  a  date 
which  has  been  abstracted  by  a  contemporary 
scholar  from  one  of  Guru  Ram  Das'  hymns  in 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Guru  Har  Rai,  when 
he  visited  Kurukshetra,  stayed  here  at  this 
spot. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian. 
Amritsar,  n.d 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

4.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

M.G.S. 


THARAJ  SINGH,  an  eighteenth-century 
warrior,  was  one  of  seven  sons  of  Bhai  Nagahia, 
grandson  of  Bhai  Kala  of  Laungoval .  Receiving 
the  vows  of  Klialsa  discipline  at  the  hands  of 
Bhai  Man!  Singh,  he  chose  to  stay  with  him  at 
Amritsar  to  defend  the  Harimandar  against  the 
onslaughts  of  the  Mughals  and  Afghans.  Tharaj 
Singh  attended  on  Nawab  Kapur  Singh  as  his 
bodyguard  and  obtained  from  him  a  command 
of  100  soldiers.  He  fought  in  the  battle  of 
Sirhind  (1764)  at  which  he  is  said  to  have  cut 
off  the  head  of  the  faujdar,  Zain  Khan.  When 
Khushal  Singh,  nephew  and  successor  of 
Nawab  Kapur  Singh,  carved  out  for  himself  the 
Sirighpuria  principality,  he  put  Tharaj  Singh 
in  charge  of  Bharatgarh,  one  of  the  major 
towns  within  his  territory. 

Tharaj  Singh  died  fighting  for  his  chief 
in  one  of  his  battles  of  conquest. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Guru  Panth  Prakash 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

P.S. 

THARVA,  village  in  Ambala  district  of 
Haryana,  2  km  from  Lakhnaur,  is  sacred  to 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  who  is  said  to  have  visited 
it  during  his  stay  at  Lakhnaur  in  1670-71. 
Gurdwara  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Sahib 
commemorating  that  visit  consists  of  three 
rooms  in  a  row  witii  a  walled  compound  in  front 
The  shrine  is  maintained  by  the  village  sangat. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kahn  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurushabad  Ratanakar 
Mahan  Kosh.  Patiala,  1983 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

M.G.S. 

THATTA,  a  small  village  10  km  west  of 
Kapurthala  (31"-22'N,  75"-22'E)  in  the  Punjab, 
has  a  historical  shrine,  Gurdwara  Damdama 
Sahib,  commemorating  the  visit  of  Guru 
Nanak.  According  to  local  tradition,  Gurij 


THATTHA 


351 


THIRTY-FIVE  YEARS  IN  THE  EAST 


Nanak  and  the  guests  who  constituted  his 
marriage  party,  on  their  way  from  Sultanpur 
Lodhi  to  Batala  in  1487,  made  their  first  day's 
halt  here.  Hence  the  name  of  Gurdwara, 
damdama,  in  Punjabi  meaning  a  resting  place. 
Baba  Bir  Sirigh  of  Naurahgabad  (d.  1844), 
celebrated  Sikh  saint  of  early  nineteenth 
century,  is  said  to  have  served  the  shrine  for  some 
time.  The  construction  of  the  present  complex 
was  commenced  by  Sant  Kartar  Singh  of  Goindval 
in  1958  when  a  mosaic-floored  square  hall, 
was  added  to  the  older  building  raised  in  1919. 
A  new  three-stoireyed  domed  building  and 
residential  block  were  completed  by  1984.  The 
Gurdwara  is  managed  by  Sant  Kartar  Singh. 
Besides  the  daily  services  and  observance  of 
major  Sikh  anniversaries,  a  religious  fair  is  held 
on  27  Baisakh  (May)  every  year. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Kahn  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurushabad  Ratanakar 
Uahan  Kosh.  Patiala,  1981 

3.  Gurmukh  Singh,    Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

Gn.S. 

THATTHA,  village  12  km  northwest  of  ZIra 
(30"-58'N,  74"-59'E)  in  Firozpur  district, 
claims  a  historical  Gurdwara  dedicated  to  Guru 
Hargobind  who  encamped  here  once  on  his 
way  from  Amritsar  to  Darauli.  Called  Giurdwara 
Chhevih  Patshahi  or  simply  Gurdwara  Thattha 
Sahib,  the  shrine  is  situated  one  kilometre 
south  of  the  village  within  a  walled  compound. 
The  foundation  of  its  present  building,  a 
square  hall  with  a  domed  sanctum  in  the 
centre,  was  laid  by  Baba  Kharak  Singh  on  16 
Har  1992  ilk/1  July  1935.  The  large  compound 
has  a  sarovar  as  well.  The  Gurdwara  is  under 
the  management  of  the  Shiromanl  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 


[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Kahn  Singh,  Bhai  Gurushabad  Ratanakar  Mahan 
Kosh  [Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

3.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S. 

THEPJ,  pronounced  Therhl  or  Thehri,  village 
9  km  west  of  Giddarbaha  (30"-12'N,  74"-39'E) 
in  Faridkot  district  of  the  Punjab,  is  sacred  to 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  who  visited  it  on  his  way 
from  Muktsar  to  Talvandi  Sabo  in  1706.  Here 
he  humbled  the  pride  of  a  yogi,  Hukam  Nath, 
who  claimed  to  possess  occult  powers.  An  old 
chronicle,  Malva  Des  Ratan  di  Sakhi  Pothi, 
records  an  anecdote  similar  to  the  one 
associated  with  a  place  in  Rajasthan,  called 
Dadudvara.  The  Guru,  it  says,  saluted  the  grave 
of  Qasim  Bhatti,  a  local  Muslim  saint,  near 
which  sat  Hukam  Nath,  by  lowering  his  arrow 
to  it.  The  Sikhs  accompanying  him  at  once 
objected,  for  the  Guru  had  himself  forbidden 
his  followers  to  bow  before  tombs  and  graves. 
They  laid  him  under  penalty,  declaring  him 
to  be  tankhahia  or  guilty  of  breach  of  the  Sikh 
code.  Guru  Gobind  Singh  appreciated  their 
vigilance,  and  willingly  paid  the  fine  imposed. 

Gurdwara  Thehri  Sahib,  marking  the  spot 
Where  the  Guru  had  halted  close  to  a  group  of 
three  J  and  trees  (Prosopis  spicigera),  was 
raised  in  1913.  It  is  affiliated  to  the  Shiromanl. 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  and  has 
been  temporarily  handed  over  to  the  followers 
of  Sant  Gurmukh  Singh  Sevavale  for 
renovation. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ma/va  Des  i?atan  di  Sakhi  Pothi.  Amritsar,  1968 

2.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sahgrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

M.G.S. 

THIRTY-FIVE  YEARS  IN.  THE  EAST,  with  its 
long  sub-title,  "Adventures,  Discoveries, 


THIRTY-FIVE  YEARS  IN  THE  EAST 


352 


THITI 


Experiments,  and  Historical  Sketches,  relating 
to  the  Punjab  and  Cashmere  ;  in  connection 
with  Medicine,  Botany,  Pharmacy,  &  C, 
together  with  an  original  Materia  Medica ;  and 
a  Medical  Vocabulary,  in  four  European  and 
five  Eastern  Languages,"  by  John  Martin 
Honigberger  (1795-1865),  physician  to  the  Sikh 
court  from  1829  to  1849,  was  published  in 
London  in  1852.  It  contains,  besides  the 
author's  memorabilia,  interesting  information 
about  the  Sikh  rulers  and  their  court  as  well  as 
about  various  diseases  and  their  remedies  in 
allopathy,  homoeopathy,  Ayurvedic  and  Unani 
medical  systems.  Divided  into  two  volumes 
bound  in  one,  it  covers  events  up  to  1846.  The 
first  volume  contains,  in  addition  to  historical 
information,  lively  vignettes  of  Punjabi  life, 
manners  and  customs  ;  the  second  which 
primarily  deals  with  medicine  and  surgery  also 
narrates  certain  contemporary  events.  The 
book  includes  drawings  of  the  members  of  the 
Sikh  royal  family  as  well  as  of  the  important 
courtiers. 

Honigberger's  account  is  valuable  as  a 
historical  document  for  two  reasons  :  he  has  a 
matter-of-fact  style  and  is  objective  in  his 
narration.  Second,  being  deeply  devoted  to  his 
profession,  he  has  little  interest  in  politics.  He 
presents  the  historical  and  social  situations 
without  prejudice  and  partiality.  For  example, 
he  does  not  allow  his  personal  friendship  with 
Avitabile  to  affect  his  objectivity  while 
portraying  the  man's  character*  He  frankly 
remarks  that  Avitabile  "exervcised  his  sway  in 
a  most  arbitrary  manner. . .  The  pleasure  which 
he  took  in  seeing  people  hung  by  dozens  must 
be  attributed  to  his  brain."  He  acknowledges 
that  "Ranjit  Singh  was  a  man  whose  talents  and 
prudence  had  acquired  for  him  a  great 
reputation,  whose  memory  is  honoured  and 
whose  name  will  long  occupy  a  glorious  place 
in  the  history."  Yet,  he  does  not  forbear  from 
referring  to  some  of  his  personal  weaknesses. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Fauja  Singh,  ed.,  Historians  and  Historiography 


of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi,  1978 

2.  Khurana,  Gianeshwar,  British  Historiography  on 
the  Sikh  Power  in  Punjab.  Delhi,  1985 

3.  Darshan  Singh,  Western  Perspective  on  the  Sikh 
Religion.  Delhi,  1991 

S.K.B. 

THITI,  with  the  variation  THITTIN,  is  a  tide 
shared  by  three  different  compositions,  one 
each  by  Guru  Nanak,  Guru  Arjan  and  Kabir, 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  According  to 
traditional  Indian  calendar,  thitt  (Skt.  tithi) 
denotes  a  day  or  a  date  of  the  lunar  cycle  of 
the  month.  In  Brahmanical  ritualism,  certain 
lunar  days  acquired  sanctity  for  being 
associated  with  some  deity  or  incarnation  of 
god  or  goddess  and  began  to  be  observed  as 
especially  auspicious.  The  ThitI  hymps 
discountenanced  the  notion  of  one  day  being 
more  propitious  than  the  others.  All  days,  they 
reiterate,  are  auspicious  if  devoted  to  God's 
remembrance  and  to  good  deeds. 

Guru  Nanak's  ThitI,  in  Raga  Bilaval, 
comprises  twenty  six-line  stanzas,  each  with  an 
additional  verse  of  rahau  (pause).  Through  the 
days  of  the  waning  half  of  the  lunar  month,  the 
poem  brings  spiritual  and  moral  truths  home 
to  man.  The  Supreme  Being,  unborn  and 
unfathomable,  is  the  creator  of  all  gods  and 
goddesses,  vedas  and  sastras.  He  is  realized 
through  the  guidance  of  the  Guru.  Fasts  and 
ritual  bathing,  asceticism  and  yogic  practices 
are  of  litde  avail.  One  is  adjured  instead  to  repeat 
God's  Name  and  take  truthful  living.  Thus  will 
knowledge  be  attained  and  through  self- 
realization  duality  ended.  Says  Guru  Nanak: 
mamata jal  te  rahai  udasa  pranavati  nanak  ham 
take  dasa-  he  who  is  not  entangled  by  attach- 
ment, Nanak  bows  to  him  as  a  slave  (GG,  840). 

Guru  Arjan's  ThitI,  in  Raga  Gauri,  consists 
of  seventeen  paurls  or  stanzas,  with  a  sloka 
added  to  each.  Proceeding  from  ekam,  i.e.  the 
first  day  of  the  waning  half  of  the  lunar  month, 
the  poem  goes  on  to  amavas,  the  last  day  of 
the  dark  half  of  the  month,  thereafter  referring 
to  purnima,  the  full-moon  day,  it  stresses  in 


THOMAS,  GEORGE 


353 


THOMAS,  GEORGE 


stanza  after  stanza  the  supremacy  of  the  path 
of  devotion.  Meditation  on  the  Elivine  Name 
eliminates  attachment  and  ego.  It  banishes 
ignorance  and  evil  and  brings  humility, 
discernment  and  bliss.  Through  God's  grace, 
one's  heart  and  body  are  purified.  The  Name 
revealed  by  the  Guru  liberates  one  from  the 
cycle  of  births  and  deaths  and  one  attains  union 
with  the  Divine.  Everyone  irrespective  of  the 
yarna  or  caste  he  belongs  to  can  win  liberation 
by  repeating  the  Name-khatri  brahmanu  sudu 
baisu  udharai  sirnari  chandal  (GG,  300) 

Kabir  in  his  Thitin,  employing  duts  of 
the  waxing  half  of  the  month  urges  the  need 
to  know  Reality  from  illusion  and  sets  forth  love 
of  the  Lord  as  the  way  to  breaking  the  circuit 
of  transmigration.  The  yogic  practices  are 
considered  futile,  for  they  only  beget  ego.  One 
must  instead  devote  oneself  to  remembering 
the  Lord  God  (verses  on  the  first  day  of  the 
moon)  ;  one  must  transcend  the  three  states 
to  attain  the  fourth  ultimate  state  of  bliss  (third 
day)  ;  and  one  must  control  the  capricious 
mind  and  shun  lust  and  wrath.  Blessed  is  he 
who  drinks  the  nectar  of  the  Lord's  love  (fifth 
day) .  Discipline  the  nine  doors  of  the  body  and 
keep  a  check  upon  your  many  desires  (ninth 
day)-  nauml  navai  duar  kau  sadhi  bahati 
manasa  rakbabu  bandhi" (C,G,  343-4.4).  On 
ekadasi,  the  eleventh  day,  take  to  one  single 
direction  and  thereby  avert  the  pangs  of 
rebirth.  On  the  full-moon  day,  you  will  attain 
equipoise  and  see  the  full  moon  rise  in  the  sky. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Ji.  Amritsar, 
1964 

T.S. 

THOMAS,  GEORGE  (1756-1802),  Irish  soldier 
of  fortune,  deserted  the  British  navy  in  India 
in  1781  in  which  he  had  served  as  a  gunner. 
Lie  first  joined  a  band  of  mountain  robbers  in 
south  India  and  then  took  up  service  in  the 
army  of  the  Nizam  of  Hyderabad  as  a  gunner, 
but  soon  afterwards  came  to  Delhi  where  he 


secured  employment  under  Begam  Samru, 
who  had  married  a  European  adventurer  and 
succeeded  to  his  jagir  at  Sardhana,  in  Uttar 
Pradesh.  Serving  under  her  for  six  years, 
Thomas  left  her  to  join  the  Maratha  army 
under Appa  Khande  Rao.  He  raised  troops  for 
the  Marathas  and  instructed  them  in  the 
European  system  of  drill.  He  was  rewarded  with 
the  grant  of  a  jagir  comprising  the  district  of 
Jhajjar.  Here  he  built  a  fort  which  he  named 
Georgegarh.  After  some  time,  he  broke  away 
from  the  Marathas  and  sought  in  1797  the  help 
of  the  Sikh  chiefs  against  them.  In  1798,  he 
established  himself  at  Hans!  and  carved  out 
an  independent  kingdom  in  the  wastelands  of 
Haryana.  From  Hahsi,  he  ruled  over  Hissar, 
Hahsi,  Sirsa  and  Rohtak.  In  1799,  he  attacked 
Jind  and  defeated  the  combined  forces  of  the 
chiefs  of  Patiala,  Kaithal,  Jind,  Ladva  and 
Thanesar  and  imposed  upon  them  his  own 
terms  for  friendship.  But  soon  after  he  broke 
the  truce  and  took  possession  of  Fatehabad  and 
pillaged  the  Sikh  territories  of  Bhavanigarh, 
Sunam,  and  Narahgval.  He  invaded  Kaithal 
and  Safidoh,  but  was  halted  at  the  latter  place 
and  defeated. 

In  1801,  a  force,  12,000  strong,  under 
Louis  Bourquien,  a  French  officer  in  the 
service  of  the  Marathas,  joined  by  the  Sikh 
contingents  of  Jind  and  Kaithal,  drove  George 
Thomas  to  Llahsi  which  was  laid  under  siege. 
Bourquien  asked  Thomas  to  surrender, 
offering  him  a  position  in  Daulat  Rao  Scindia's 
army.  Thomas  refused,  vacated  Hahsi  and 
marched  off  to  Georgegarh.  The  whole  of 
Bourquien's  army,  now  reinforced  to  20,000 
men,  came  in  pursuit  of  him.  Outnumbered 
by  the  Maratha  forces,  Thomas  surrendered 
to  Louis  Bourquien  on  1  January  1802,  but  was 
allowed  to  retire  to  British  territory.  En  route 
to  Calcutta,  he  died  of  a  fever  on  board  his 
pinnace  at  Berhampore,  West  Bengal,  on  22 
August  1802. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Franklin,  W.,  Military  Memoirs  of  George 


TIRATHA,  1WAI 


356 


TIRATH,  BHAi 


the  Mughal  satrap,  Wazir  Khan. 
Tilok  Singh  died  in  1710. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Panth  Prakash.  Delhi,  1880 

2.  Sukha  Singh,  Gurbilas  Dasvin  Patshahi.  Lahore, 
1912 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

B.S. 

TIRATHA,  BHAI,  a  devoted  Sikh  of  the  time 
of  Guru  Ram  Das.  His  name  figures  in  Bhai 
Gurdas,  Varan,  XI.  17.  He  once  came  to  the 
Guru  to  seek  instruction.  The  latter  told  him 
and  his  companions  to  shed  pride  and  be 
truthful  in  word  and  deed. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

Gr.S. 

TIRATHA,  BHAi,  a  Sabharval  Khatri,  was  a 
prominent  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru  Ram  Das 
mentioned  by  Bhai  Gurdas  in  his  Varan,  XI.  17. 
As  he  first  came  to  visit  the  Guru,  he  begged 
to  be  instructed  in  the  right  path.  Guru  Ram 
Das  said,  "There  is  no  virtue  higher  than  truth 
and  no  vice  worse  than  a  lie.  Shun  falsehood. 
Be  truthful  in  word  as  well  as  in  thought."  Bhai 
Tiratha  followed  the  Guru's  precept  and 
became  a  devoted  Sikh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

Gr.S 

TIRATHA,  BHAI,  a  Chaddha  Khatri,  was  a 
piouS  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan.  His  name 
is  included  among  the  Guru's  devotees  in  Mani 


Singh,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Man!  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

TIRATHA,  BHAI,  a  devoted  Sikh  of  the  time 
of  Guru  Hargobind.  According  to  Bhai  Mani 
Singh,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala,  the  Guru 
advised  him  to  serve  holy  men.  Answering  his 
query  as  to  how  to  recognize  a  holy  man,  the 
Guru  said,  "Serve  all  your  Sikh  brethren,  and 
you  will  certainly  meet  among  them  a  gurmukh 
or  one  to  the  Divine  adapted  whose  words  will 
bring  you  solace."  Tiratha  also  served  in  the 
Mughal  army  as  a  soldier. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  30 

M.G.S. 

TIRATH,  BHAI,  a  Beri  Khatri  of  Muzahg,  in 
Lahore,  was  an  eminent  Sikh  of  the  time  of 
Guru  Arjan.  His  name  occurs  in  Bhai  Gurdas, 
Varari,  XI.  25. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

TIRATH,  BHAI,  a  pious  Sikh  of  the  time  of 
Guru  Arjan,  was  one  of  those  who  went  to 
inform  the  Guru  of  some  spurious  hymns 
composed  by  Prithi  Mall  and  Mahadev  with 
Nanak  as  a  pseudonym.  His  name  is  included 
among  the  Guru's  devotees  in  Mani  Singh, 


TITLES  AND  ORDERS  OF  MERIT 


357 


TITLES  AND  ORDERS  OF  MERIT 


Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Man'i  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

TITLES  AND  ORDERS  OF  MERIT,  instituted 
at  his  court  by  Maharaja  Ranjlt  Singh,  broadly 
followed  the  Mughal  pattern,  though  there  did 
not  exist  among  the  Sikh  nobility  a  specific 
classification  or  hierarchy  which  marked  the 
mansabdari  system  of  the  Mughals.  Tides  and 
awards  were  granted  to  princes  of  the  royal 
blood,  principal  sardars  and  high  officials  of 
the  State,  and  they  carried  with  them  privileges 
as  well  as  jagirs.  Thus  did  the  Maharaja  also 
patronize  his  favourites  and  men  of  proven 
loyalty  to  him  and  his  family.  The  highest  title 
seems  to  have  been  Raja-i-Rajgan  held  only  by 
one  person  in  the  history  of  Sikh  rule.  That 
was  Dhian  Singh  Dogra,  also  titled  Raja  Kalari, 
who  had  the  privilege  of  holding  his  own 
miniature  darbar.  Next  was  the  title  of  Raja, 
which  was  held  among  others  by  Dhian  Singh's 
brothers,  Gulab  Singh,  and  his  son,  Hira  Singh, 
the  Maharaja's  favourite.  Gulab  Singh  was 
awarded  the  title  of  Raja  of  Jammii  in  1822, 
with  jagirs  amounting  to  over  7,00,000  rupees 
annually.  He  was  the  most  highly  favoured 
vassal  and  tributary  of  the  Maharaja,  the 
condition  of  his  allegiance  being  the 
maintenance  of  a  special  body  of  horse  and 
foot  for  his  sovereign.  Suchet  Singh  was  the 
Raja  of  Ramnagar,  with  a  jaglr  worth  3,00,000 
rupees  and  command  of  the  Charyari  Sowars. 
Hira  Singh  received  the  dtle  of  Raja  with  a  jagir 
of  the  value  of  well  over  5,00,000  rupees 
annuity,  with  the  exceptional  privilege  of  a  seat 
in  the  Darbar. 

Some  of  the  military  titles  were  Hizbar- 
i-Jahg  (lion  in  battle),  Zafar  Jang  (victorious 
in  war),  Dilawar  Jang  (gallant  in  war),  Safdar 
Jang  (valiant  in  war),  Samsam  ud-Daulah 


(sharp-edged  sword  of  the  State),  Shuja'  ud- 
Daulah  (valour  of  the  State),  I'timad  ud-Daulah 
(support  of  the  State),  Mubariz  ul-Mulk  (hero 
of  the  country)  and  Jarnail-i-Awwal  (general 
of  the  first  rank).  If  the  military  titles  referred 
to  qualities  of  bravery  and  courage,  those  of 
the  civil  departments  lauded  honesty,  sagacity 
and  industry.  For  instance  :  Dayanat  Panah 
(abode  of  honesty),  Firasat  Dastgah 
(manufactory  of  wisdom)  and  Mashakhkhat 
Panah  (refuge  of  the  distinguished). 
Ecclesiastical  tides  lauded  the  qualities  of  piety 
and  nobility  of  life  and  conduct.  One  such  dde 
was  Brahm  Murat  (picture  of  divinity) .  The  dde 
of  Sardar,  common  to  military  and  civil 
officers,  was  mainly  reserved  for  Sikhs.  'Izaz-i- 
Sardari  was  the  highest  honour  most 
distinguished  Sikh  generals  such  as  Hari  Singh 
Nalva,  Gurmukh  Singh  Lamma  ,and  Dal  Singh 
Naherna  received.  Complimentary  expressions 
like  Bawaqar  (of  high  prestige),  'Azim  ush- 
Shan  (of  high  glory),  Ujjal  Didar  (of 
immaculate  appearance)  and  Nirmal  Buddh 
(of  clear  intelligence)  were  prefixed  to  this  title 
in  official  correspondence.  Among  the 
notables  who  were  the  recipients  of  military 
and  civil  titles  were  Raja  DIna  Nath,  Diwan 
Savan  Mall,  Sardar  Atar  Singh  Sandhahvalia, 
Captain  C.M.Wade,  Diwan  Jodha  Ram, 
General  Avitabile,  Sardar  Lahina  Singh 
Majithia,  Kahvar  Slier  Singh  and  Sardar  Tej 
Singh. 

One  prestigious  award  instituted  by 
Maharaja  Ranjlt  Singh  in  1837  on  the  occasion 
of  the  marriage  of  his  grandson,  Kahvar  Nau 
Nihal  Singh,  was  Kaukab-i-Iqbal-i-Pahjab,  Star 
of  the  Prosperity  of  the  Punjab.  The  order  and 
the  medal,  which  was  the  insignia  of  the  order, 
created  at  the  suggestion  of  Sir  Henry  Fane, 
the  British  commander-in-chief,  who  had  come 
to  attend  the  wedding  as  a  guest,  resembled  in 
shape  the  French  Legion  de  Honour  instituted 
by  Napoleon  Bonaparte  in  1802.  The  first 
recipient  of  this  title  was  Kahvar  Nau  Nihal 
Singh  himself.  The  order  had  three  grades, 
each  having  its  own  medal.  The  medals  bore 


TOIJA  BHATT 


358 


TO DAR  MALI.,  SETH 


the  effigy  of  Ranjit  Sirigh  on  one  side  and  had 
silk  ribands  of  gold  and  scarlet  colour.  They 
were  in  the  shape  of  a  star  and  were  meant  to 
be  worn  round  the  neck.  The  first-grade  medal 
was  ornamented  with  one  big  diamond.  It  was 
meant  for  the  members  of  the  royal  family  and 
those  chiefs  who  showed  exceptional  devotion 
to  the  person  of  the  Maharaja  and  his  family. 
The  second-grade  medal,  with  a  diamond  and 
aiy  emerald  set  in  it,  was  bestowed  on  loyal 
courtiers  and  sardars.  The  third  contained  a 
single  emerald  and  was  open  to  civil  and 
military  officers  who  had  rendered  some 
special  service  to  the  State. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut—Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Kohli,  Sita  Ram,  Catalogue  of  the  Khalsa  Darbar 
Records.  Lahore,  1919-27 

3.  Fane,  H.E.,  Five  Years  in  India.  London,  1842 

4.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  (First 
Death  Centenary  Memorial  Volume).  Amritsar, 
1939 

BJ.H 

TODA  BHATT.  a  Brahman  bard  of  Sultanpur 
Lodhl,  was  a  pious  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru 
Arjan.  His  name  is  included  among  the  Guru's 
devotees  in  Man!  Singh,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat 
Mala. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Man!  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhal,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  21 

T.S. 

TODA  MAHITA,  BHAI,  a  Mahita  Khatri,  was 
a  pious  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan.  His 
name  is  included  in  the  roster  of  the  Guru's 
devotees  in  Man!  Singh,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
He  was  one  of  those  who  performed  dedicated 
service  and  received  instruction  at  the  time  of 


the  excavation  of  the  sacred  tank  at  Amritsar. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Sirigh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  18 

T.S. 

TODAR  MALL,  SETH,  a  wealthy  merchant 
of  Sirhind,  according  to  tradition,  performed 
the  last  rites  for  the  two  younger  sons  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  martyred,  on  12  December 
1706,  under  the  orders  of  Wazir  Khan,  faujdar 
of  Sirhind,  and  of  Mata  Gujari,  the  Guru's 
mother  who  died  of  the  shock  on  the  same 
day.  It  is  said  that  landowners  around  the 
Sirhind  Fort  would  not  permit  him  to  hold  the 
cremation  in  their  fields,  until  one  Chaudhari 
Atta  agreed  to  sell  him  a  plot.  The  seller's 
stipulation  was  that  the  buyer  (Todar  Mall)  will 
take  only  as  much  of  the  spree  as  he  could 
cover  with  gold  mohars,  he  would  lay  out  for 
the  purchase.  The  Seth  produced  the  coins  and 
bought  the  piece  of  land  he  needed.  He 
cremated  the  three  bodies  and  putting  the 
ashes  in  an  urn  buried  them  there.  The  site  is 
now  marked  by  Gurdwara  Joti  Sarup  at 
Fatehgarh  Sahib,  near  Sirhind.  Modern 
historians  have  tried  to  identify  Seth  Todar 
Mall  as  a  son  or  later  descendant  of  Raja  Todar 
Mall,  of  Sirhind,  who  won  renown  as  an 
administrator  under  the  Mughal  emperors, 
Shah  Jahan  and  Aurarigzib,  and  who, 
according  to  Shah  Nawaz  Khan,  Ma'asir  ul- 
Umara,  lived  up  to  1076  AH/AD  1666.  To 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  noble-minded 
Seth,  a  road  in  Sirhind  town  and  a  hall  in 
Gurdwara  Fatehgarh  Sahib  have  now  been 
named  after  him. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Sirigh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa.  Patiala, 
1970 

2.  Harbans    Singh,     Guru    Gobind  Singh. 


TOKA  SAHIB,  GURDWARA 


359 


TOSHAKHANA 


Chandigarh,  1967 
3.  Macauliffe,  M.A.,  The  Sikh  Religion.  Oxford, 
1909 

Gb.S. 

TOKA  SAHIB,  GURDWARA,  established  in 
honour  of  Guru  Goibind  Singh,  who  stayed 
here  for  a  few  days  in  1688,  is  on  the  border  of 
Himachal  Pradesh  and  Haryana.  The 
Gurdwara  is  in  Sirmur  district  of  Himachal 
Pradesh,  but  the  nearest  village  Tota,  about 
one  kilometre  to  the  southeast,  is  in  Axnbala 
district  of  Haryana.  The  Gurdwara  is  a  modest 
flat-roofed  room,  with  an  all-round  verandah. 
An  improvised  hut  near  by  serves  as  the 
residence  of  a  lone  Nihang  who  looks  after  the 
shrine.  There  is  an  old  well  here  which, 
according  to  an  inscription,  was  dug  in  1823 
"in  memory  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  and 
Nawab  Fateh  Singh  Ahluwalia."  According  to 
another  slab  (inscribed  only  in  1968),  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  came  here  with  2200  horsemen 
on  4  Baisakh  1742  Ilk/  1  April  1685  to  help 
Raja  Medini  Prakash  of  Nahan.  According  to 
Gurushabad  Ratanakar  Mahan  Kosh  and 
Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa.  however,  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  halted  here  on  his  way  back  from  Paonta 
to  Anandpur  in  1688. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sahgrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

3.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

4.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10,  ed.,  Sharnsher 
Singh  Asliok.  Patiala,  1968 

M.G.S. 

TOSHAKHANA,  from  Persian  toshakhanah 
(toshah  =  food  or  provisions  for  journey  or 
food  articles  in  general+  khana  =  house,  store) 
or  tosha  khana  (loshak  =  bedding,  clothing  + 
khana)  means  in  Punjabi  a  treasury  or  secured 
storehouse  for  valuables.  It  is  now  generally 


used  for  the  storehouse  in  the  Darbar  Sahib 
complex  at  Amritsar  where  costly  items 
presented  as  offerings  at  the  Harimandar,  the 
Akal  Takht  and  the  shrine  of  Baba  Atal 
accumulated  over  the  centuries,  mosdy  during 
the  Sikh  rule  in  the  Punjab,  are  normally  kept 
under  tight  security.  They  are  taken  out  for 
jalau  or  display  in  the  shrines  on  special 
occasions  such  as  major  festivals  or 
anniversaries.  They  mosdy  comprise  gold  and 
silver  ornaments  such  as  chhabbas  (dome-like 
pendants),  seharas  (fringes  of  pearls  and 
gems),  chhatars  (umbrellas),  jhalars 
(bejewelled  frills),  etc.  Other  cosdy  items  like 
door  leaves  of  the  Harimandar  lined  with  gold 
sheets  and  valuable  rumalas  (scarves  or 
wrappings  for  Guru  Granth  Sahib)  are  also 
stored  in  the  Toshakhana.  Two  rare  items  are 
a  richly  bejewelled  canopy,  originally  a  present 
from  the  Nizam  of  Hyderabad  to  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh  (1780-1839),  who  considering  it 
too  good  for  himself  made  an  offering  of  it  at 
the  Harimandar,  and  a  chandan  da  chaur  or 
fly-whisk  made  of  fibres  of  sandalwood 
prepared  by  a  Muslim  craftsman,  Haji 
Muhammad  Maskin.  He  had  made  two  such 
whisks,  one  of  which  he  had  presented  at  the 
Holy  Ka'aba  at  Mecca,  and  was  in  search  of  a 
holy  place  in  India  deserving  of  his  offering. 
Guided  by  Bhai  Hira  Singh  Ragi,  a  well-known 
exponent  of  gurmat  kirtan  (singing  of  sacred 
hymns  of  Guru  Granth  Sahib),  he  offered  the 
whisk  at  the  Harimandar  on  31  December 
1925. 

The  Toshakhana  is  located  on  the  first 
floor  of  Darshani  Deorhi,  the  gateway  to  the 
Harimandar,  and  is  guarded  by  employees  of 
the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee.  The  contents  are  properly 
accounted  for  and  the  records  kept  by  the 
secretary  of  the  local  managing  committee 
until.  1945,  when  the  local  committee  was 
disbanded  and  the  administration  of  the 
Darbar  Sahib  complex  was  put  under  the  direct 
control  of  the  Shiromani  Committee.  It  was 
the  confiscation  of  the  keys  of  this  treasury  by 


TOTA,  BHAI 


360 


TOTA  PURI 


the  British  administration  on  7  November 
1921  that  led  to  the  keys  agitation,  the  first 
direct  confrontadon  between  the  government 
and  the  Akalis  during  the  Gurdwara  Reform 
movement.  It  ended  in  the  resdtudon  of  the 
Golden  Temple  keys  to  the  shrine  authority  on 
5  January  1922.  A  government  official  came  to 
the  Darbar  Sahib  complex  and  surrendered 
the  keys  wrapped  in  a  red  piece  of  cloth  to 
Baba  Kharak  Singh,  then  president  of  the 
Shiromani  Committee. 

Toshakhana  too  was  fired  at  by 
government  troops  during  "Operation  Blue 
Star"  on  the  night  of  5/6  June  1984.  It  was 
pardy  damaged  by  artillery  shells  from  guns 
mounted  on  tanks.  The  treasury,  however, 
remained  intact  except  that  the  famous 
Hyderabad  canopy  was  scorched  by  heat 
generated  by  shelling. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Madanjit  Kaur,  The  Golden  Temple  Past  and 
Present.  Amritsar,  1983 

2.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurduara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh    Sri  Amritsar 
[Reprint].  Amritsar,  1977 

4.  Singh  Sabha  Patrika  (Bhai  Sahib  Ragi  Hira  Singh 
Vishesh  Ank).  Amritsar,  1979 

M.G.S. 

TOTA,  BHAI,  received  inidation  at  the  hands 
of  Guru  Arjan.  He  was  trained  in  the  martial 
art  in  the  time  of  Guru  Hargobind  and  became 
a  skilled  swordsman.  He  laid  down  his  life  in 
the  battle  of  Amritsar  in  1629.  His  name  is 
included  in  Bhai  Gurdas,  Varan,  XI.  18. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

9 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhaii  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

TOTA  MAHITA,  BHAI,  a  devoted  Sikh 


contemporary  of  Guru  Arjan  and  of  Guru 
Hargobind.  During  latter's  time,  he,  along  with 
Bhai  Tiloka,  came  to  be  known  as  a  soldier, 
adept  in  handling  musket,  sword  and  javelin. 
Bhai  Tota  Mahita  and  Bhai  Tiloka  fell  fighting 
in  the  batde  of  Amritsar  in  May  1629.  Bhai 
Gurdas,  in  one  of  his  stanzas,  describes  Bhai 
Tota  Mahita  as  "a  man  of  noble  genius,  devoted 
to  the  Guru  as  well  as  to  the  holy  Word." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  28 

T.S. 

TOTA  PURI,  a  nineteenth-century  monk,  was 
the  preceptor  of  Sri  Ramakrishna  Paramhahsa 
whom  he  initiated  into  sannyasa.  Little  is 
known  about  his  early  life  except  that  he  hailed 
from  the  Punjab.  He  was  born  presumably  of 
a  Sikh  family.  Tota  was  his  monastic  name  and 
Puri  the  name  of  a  sub-caste  of  Dashnami 
Sampradaya  of  Shaivite  sadhus  to  which  he 
belonged.  Among  the  Puris,  he  belonged  to 
the  Naga  order  of  militant  ascetics  who  believe 
in  combating  their  opponents  with  sastra 
(weapon)  as  well  as  with  sastra  (scriptural 
debate).  Nagas  are  organized  around  several 
monastic  establishments  called  akharas.  Tota 
Puri  belonged  to  the  Mahanirvani  Akhara.  He 
received  his  initial  training  in  the  dera  of  Baba 
Raj  Puri  at  Ladana,  in  Kaithal  district  of 
Haryana,  where  he  was  trained  with  great  care 
by  Gyan  Puri,  fifth  in  spiritual  succession  from 
Raj  Puri,  the  founder  of  the  monastery. 
Recognition  came  to  him  when  he  was  elected 
in  1852,  Sri  Mahant  or  head  of  an  executive 
body  of  eight  mahantsfor  the  management  of 
the  Mahanirvani  Akhara,  with  its  headquarters 
at  Paryag  (Allahabad).  He  was  re-elected  to  the 
office  for  another  term  of  three  years  in  1855. 
In  1858,  Tota  Puri  returned  to  Ladana  and  was 
chosen  to  be  head  of  the  dera  after  the  death 


TOTA  PURl 


361 


TRANSMIGRATION  OF  THE  SOUL 


of  Gyan  Purl.  In  1861,  he  set  out  on  a 
pilgrimage  of  holy  places  across  the  country. 
During  this  journey  he  is  said  to  have 
experienced  the  nirvikalpa  samadhi,  a 
supersensuous  and  superconscious  stage  of 
meditation  in  which  consciousness  attains  to 
the  state  of  perfect  quietude.  Towards  the  end 
of  1864,  Tota  Puri  arrived  at  Dakhshineshvar, 
a  suburban  village  about  6  km  north  of 
Calcutta,  where  Gadahar  had  been  the  chief 
priest  of  the  temple  of  the  goddess  Kali 
worshipping  her  with  intense  devotion  and 
yearning  for  seeing  the  Deity,  face  to  face. 
Although  he  had  been  blessed  with  the  beatific 
vision  of  the  Mother,  his  spiritual  quest  had 
not  ended.  He  also  practised  tantric  and 
vaisnava  sadhna.  It  was  at  this  stage,  that  Tota 
Puri  appeared  and  initiated  Gadahar  into  the 
all-renouncing  path  of  sannyasa  and  taught 
him  the  philosophy  of  Advait  Vedanta 
according  to  which  the  entire  phenomenal 
existence  is  only  an  illusion  (maya)  caused  by 
avidya  or  primal  ignorance. 

He  gave  the  monastic  name  Ramakrishna 
to  Gadahar  and  asked  him  to  practise 
withdrawing  his  mind  from  all  sense-objects 
and  meditate  on  the  real  and  divine  nature  of 
his  self,  thus  progressing  gradually  towards 
nirvikalpa  samadhi.  Ramakrishna  very  soon 
attained  the  goal  when  he  remained  in.  trance 
for  72  hours  at  a  stretch,  but  as  he  regained 
consciousness  his  mind  went  back  to  his  divine 
Mother  who  commanded  him  "  to  remain  on 
the  threshold  of  relative  consciousness  for  the 
sake  of  humanity."  Thus  he  alternated  at  will 
between  concentrated  meditation  upon  the 
formless  Brahman  and  devotional  worship  of 
the  visible  image  of  the  goddess  Kali,  who  for 
him  was  the  living  Mother.  Tota  Puri  stayed  in 
the  vicinity  of  Dakshineshvar  for  eleven  months, 
contrary  to  his  normal  practice  of  not  stopping 
for  more  than  a  few  days  at  a  place  during  his 
travels.  Being  a  staunch  monist,  he  often  riled 
Ramakrishna  over  relapsing  into  worship  of 
maya(  the  goddess)  even  after  attaining  the 
supreme  vision.  Tola  Puri  left  Dakshineshvar 


towards  the  end  of  1865  to  make  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  Jagannath  temple  of  Puri.  After  that  he 
returned  to  the  dera  of  Baba  Raj  Puri  at  Ladana 
where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Farquhar,  J.N.,  Modern  Religious  Movements  in 
India.  Delhi,  1967 

S.K.K. 

TRANSMIGRATION  OF  THE  SOUL, 
doctrine  of  rebirth  based  on  the  theory  that 
an  individual  soul  passes  at  death  into  a  new 
body  or  new  form  of  life.  Central  to  the 
concept  is  the  principle  of  universal  causality, 
i.e.  a  person  must  receive  reward  or 
punishment  if  not  here  and  now  then  in  a 
subsequent  birth,  for  his  actions  in  the  present 
one.  The  soul,  it  is  held,  does  not  cease  with 
the  physical  body,  but  takes  on  a  new  birth  in 
consequence  of  the  person's  actions 
comprising  thoughts,  words  and  deeds.  The 
cumulative  effect  of  these  determines  his  next 
existence.  Attached  to  worldly  objects,  man  will 
continue  in  the  circuit  of  birth-death-rebirth 
until  he  attains  spiritual  liberation,  annulling 
the  effect  of  his  past  actions. 

Belief  in  reincarnation  is  basic  to  the 
eschatology  of  all  religions  of  Indian  origin. 
Some  Western  philosophers  of  yore  also 
believed  in  the  transmigration  of  soul,  but  for 
them  it  was  associated  with  the  concept  of  the 
immortality  of  soul.  In  Indian  tradition,  on  the 
other  hand,  transmigration  is  an  essential 
concomitant  of  the  doctrine  of  karma, 
according  to  which  every  action,  physical  or 
mental,  has  its  own  consequence  which  must 
be  faced  immediately  or  in  future,  either  in 
this  life  or  in  the  hereafter,  good  actions 
leading  to  a  favourable  reward  and  bad  actions 
entailing  punishment.  The  individual  soul 
(jivatma),  so  it  is  believed,  does  not  perish  with 
the  physical  body  but  dons  a  new  corporeal 
vesture  in  a  new  birth  which  is  determined  by 
its  karma  in  the  preceding  births.  Every  new 
birth  in  its  turn  necessarily  involves  new  karma 


TRANSMIGRATION  OF  THE  SOUL 


362 


TRANSMIGRATION  OF  THE  SOUL 


or  action  leading  to  further  consequences. 
Jivatma  is  thus  tied  to  a  karmik  chakra  or  an 
endless  cycle  of  birth-action-death-rebirth, 
until  the  chain  is  broken  and  karmik 
accumulation  is  dissipated  and  the  jiva  attains 
mukti or  moksa,  i.e.  liberation  or  release  from 
transmigration. 

The  origin  of  the  idea  of  transmigration 
is  traced  back  to  the  post-Vedie  period.  The 
early  Aryans  simply  believed  that  good  men 
ascended  to  heaven  to  join  company  with  the 
gods  while  the  souls  of  the  wicked  sank.down 
into  the  abyss  of  hell.  The  postulate  that  there 
is  no  unmerited  happiness  and  unmerited 
misery  and  that  the  individual  soul  takes  after 
death  a  new  existence  during  which  it  reaps 
what,  good  or  bad,  it  had  sown  earlier  was  first 
propounded  in  the  £atpatha  Brahmana,  one 
of  the  several  commentaries  that  preceded  the 
appearance  of  the  Upanisads.  Since  then  in 
India  the  highest  spiritual  goal  has  been  the 
release  of  the  jivatma  from  the  cycle  of  birth 
and  death  or  avagaman  (lit.  coming  and 
going) .  Different  traditions  within  the  Indian 
religious  systems  offer  different  analyses  and 
correspondingly  different  solutions.  One  view 
is  that  since  transmigration  is  subject  to  karma 
or  actions,  the  cycle  can  be  broken  only 
through  the  annihilation  or  karma.  Various 
methods  have  been  suggested  to  achieve  this 
end  such  as  renunciation,  non-action,  ritualism 
and  gian  (/nana)  or  philosophical  and 
metaphysical  knowledge. 

The  doctrines  of  transmigration  of  soul 
and  karma  are  accepted  in  the  Sikh  system, 
but  with  significant  individual  shades  and 
emphases.  Karma,  it  is  true,  determines  its  own 
consequence  :  jehe  karma  kamai  teha  hoisi- 
as  one  acts  so  shall  one  be  (GG,  730).  However, 
karma  as  part  of  the  Divine  Order  (hukam)  is 
a  natural  -  compulsion  and  hence  is 
unavoidable.  What  is  needed,  therefore,  is  not 
annihilation  of  karma  through  non-action,  but 
doing  good  deeds  and  avoiding  evil  ones.  Men 
are  naturally  endowed  with  power  to 
discriminate  between  good  and  evil.  Human 


life  is  on  this  account  a  valuable  chance  not  to 
be  frittered  away.  Guru  Nanak  warns  :  sum 
sum  sikh  hamari  sukritu  klta  rahasimerejiare 
bahurina  avai  van—  Listen,  listen  to  my  advice, 
O  my  Mind  !  Only  good  deeds  shall  endure, 
and  there  may  not  be  another  chance  (GG,  154). 
Says  Guru  Arjan  :"  milu  jagadis  milan  ki  baria 
chirahkal  ih  deh  sanjaria-  do  meet  the  Lord 
of  the  Universe,  for  now  is  the  time.  After  ages 
(passing  through  many  different  forms)  have 
you  attained  the  gift  of  human  life"  (GG,  176). 
Here  in  the  world  man  has  the  opportunity  to 
achieve  ethical  perfection,  cherish  the  Lord 
and  earn  final  release. 

Secondly,  what  lies  at  the  root  of  the  problem 
is  not  karma,  but  haumai,  i.e.  egoity  or  the 
sense  of  I-ness.  Jivatma  (individual  soul)  is  a 
spark  or  ray  of  the  Ineffable  Spirit,  Paramatma, 
and  its  deliverance  lies  in  its  reunion  with  its 
source.  What  hinders  such  reunion  is  the  jiva's 
egoism.  The  jiva  confined  in  its  narrow  shell 
and  devoid  of  understanding  of  the  infiniteness 
of  Reality  claims  for  itself  a  separate, 
individuated  existence.  It  is  haumai  that  robs 
a  jiva's  karma  or  potential  merit.  Even  the 
holiest  of  acts  would  not  avail  when 
accompanied  by  haumai  or  self-conceit.  Says 
Guru  Arjan,  Nanak  V  :  "jo  jo  karam  kie  hau 
haumai  te  te  bhae  ajae-  All  actions  performed 
in  ego  go  waste,"  (GG,  999)  and  "apas  kau 
karamvantu  kahavai,  janami  marai  bahu  joni 
bhramavai-As  long  as  he  (jiva)  thinks  he  is 
the  doer,  so  long  shall  he  continue  wandering 
through  wombs  and  births"  (GG,  278).  What  is 
needed  is  not  annihilation  of  karma,  but  the 
conquest  of  haumai.  This  is  done  through  right 
understanding  of  hukam  (Divine  Order),  and 
the  sabad  (Divine  Word)  itself.  As  says  Guru 
Amar  Das,  Nanak  III,  "ham  kia  ham  karahage 
ham  murakh  gavar  karnaivala  visaria  dujai  bhai 
piaru-  Utterly  misguided  are  they  who,  filled 
with  ego  lay  out  many  claims  for  what  has  been 
done  and  for  what  remains  to  be  done,  forgetting 
the  one  who  guides  all  of  our  actions,  and 
falling  a  prey  to  illusion  and  duality"  (GG,  39). 
When  haumai  is  overcome  and  actions  are 


TRANSMIGRATION  OF  THE  SOUL 


363 


TRAVELS  IN  CASHMERE  AND  THE  PUNJAB 


dedicated  to  God,  individuation  ceases  and  the 
soul  merges  into  the  Absolute  Beings. 

Another  Sikh  principle  having  bearing  on 
the  concept  of  transmigration  is  that  of  nadar. 
Divine  Order  {hukAm)  although  generally 
immutable  is  yet  tempered  by  nadar  or  Divine 
Grace.  The  law  of  transmigration  of  soul,  too, 
does  not  condemn  a  soul  to  irrevocable 
predestination  and  eternal  karmik  chakra. 
God's  nadar  (lit,  favourable  glance)  can  at  any 
stage  redeem  a  soul  and  release  it  forever  from 
the  circuit  of  avagaman  or  transmigration. 
Mukti  or  deliverance  from  the  bondage  of 
birth  and  death,  according  to  Sikh  belief,  is 
not  contingent  upon  the  end  to  the  present 
life.  With  God's  grace  one  can  be  a jivan-mukta, 
emancipated  while  still  living.  What  is  required 
of  the  seeker  of  nadar  is  to  behave  and  act  in 
such  a  way  that  he  qualifies  himself  for  His 
grace.  Thus  while  karma  is  necessary  and  good 
deeds  helpful,  liber  ation  finally  comes  through 
nadar.  Says  Guru  Nanak  in  the  Japu,  "karmi 
avai  kapra  nadarl  mokhu  duaru-  body  is 
determined  by  karma,  but  through  nadar  is 
found  the  door  to  liberation"  iGG,2). 

There  is  nothing  dreadful  as  such  about 
birth  and  death,  i.e.  transmigration,  although 
to  transcend  the  cycle  is  ever  the  soul's  goal. 
Birth  and  death* are  part  of  hukam  and  are  to 
be  accepted  as  His  raza  or  Will.  Guru  Nanak 
says  :  "jammanu  marna  hukamu  pachhanu- 
know  that  birth  and  death  are  by  His  hukam 
alone,"  (GG,  412).  Again,  "jammanu  marana 
hukamu  hai  bhanai  avai  jai-  birth  and  death 
are  by  His  hukam  ;  by  His  Will  does  one  come 
and  go"  (GG,  472).  Besides  being  in  tune  with 
the  Divine  Will  and  practising  humility  and 
truth,  the  jiVa  is  urged,  in  Sikhism,  to  take 
shelter  in  nam  or  sabda.  Without  savouring 
nam  one  wanders  endlessly  from  birth  to  birth. 
Says  Guru  Nanak  "gur  kau  jani  na  janai  kia 
tisu  chaju  acharu  andhulai  namu  visaria 
manmukhi  andh  gubaru  avanu janu  na  chukai 
marijanamai  hoi  khuaru-  They  who  have  not 
cherished  the  Guru  nor  realized  nam  will 
continue  to  transmigrate"  (GG,  19). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  ^abadarth  SriGuru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1959 

2.  Jodh  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurmatf  Nirnaya.  Lahore,  1932 

3.  Caveeshar,  Sardul  Singh,  Sikh  Dharam  Darshan. 
Patiala,  1969 

4.  Sher  Singh,  The  Philosophy  of Sikhism.  Lahore, 
1944 

5.  Wazir  Singh,  Philosophy  of  Sikh  Religion.  Delhi, 
1981 

K.T.L. 

TRAVELS  IN  CASHMERE  AND  THE 
PUNJAB,  "containing  a  particular  account  of 
the  government  and  character  of  the  Sikhs," 
is  an  English  translation  by  T.B.  Jervis  of  Baron 
Charles  Hugel's  travelogue  written  originally 
in  German.  The  German  edition  was  published 
at  Stuttgart,  in  four  parts,  at  distant  intervals, 
and  the  English  version  in  1845  by  John 
Petheram  of  London.  Baron  Hugel  visited  the 
court  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  in  1835.  He 
seems  to  have  possessed  extensive  knowledge 
of  the  narratives  of  early  travellers,  viz.,  Bemier 
(1667),  Forster  (1783),  Moorcroft  (1820), 
Jacquemont  (1831)  and  Wolff  (1832),  as  well 
as  a  reasonable  familiarity  with  the  local 
chronicles,  in  Persian,  relating  to  these  parts. 

Hugel's  account  begins  with  the 
geographical  description  of  the  Punjab  and 
Kashmir,  dwelling  especially  on  the  scenic 
beauty  of  the  latter.  The  history  of  the  Sikhs 
falls  into  three  main  parts —  the  careers  of  the 
Ten  Gurus,  the  establishment  of  Sikh  misls  or 
confederacies  and  the  rise  of  the 
Sukkarchakkias  under  Ranjit  Singh.  He  gives 
a  dispassionately  interesting  account  of  the 
character  and  military  style  of  the  Maharaja, 
his  court  and  the  persons  around  him.  The 
Maharaja  has  no  throne.  "My  sword  procures 
me  all  the  distinction  I  desire  ;  I  am  quite 
indifferent  to  external  pomp"  (p.  288).  He  also 
gives  a  description  of  the  Maharaja's  person  : 
"When  he  seats  himself  in  a  common  English 
arm-chair,  with  his  feet  drawn  under  him,  the 
position  is  one  particularly  unfavourable  to 
him  ;  but  as  soon  as  he  mounts  his  horse,  and 


TREATY  WITH  GULAB  SINGH 


364 


TRKATY  WITH  GULAliSlNGH 


with  his  black  shield  at  his  back  puts  him  on 
his  mettle,  his  whole  form  seems  animated  by 
the  spirit  within,  and  assumes  a  certain  grace 
of  which  nobody  could  believe  it  susceptible. 
In  spite  of  the  paralysis  affecting  one  side,  he 
manages  his  horse  with  the  greatest  ease"  (pp. 
380-81).  He  outlines  the  Sikh  ruler's  policy  : 
"The  sole  aim  of  Ranjit  Singh  is  the 
preservation  and  extension  of  his  own 
unlimited  power  ;  and  although  his  ambitious 
mind  considers  all  means  perfectly  allowable 
to  this  end,  he  has  never  wantonly  imbrued 
his  hands  in  blood.  Never  perhaps  was  so  large 
an  empire  founded  by  one  man  with  so  little 
criminality"  (p.  382). 

Hugel  refers  to  various  salient  features  of 
the  Maharaja's  character  :  his  inquisitiveness 
(p.  289)  ;  his  love  of  horses  and  elephants  (pp. 
304-05),  the  celebrated  horse  Laili  (p.  333), 
acquisition  of  the  Koh-i-Nur  (pp.  303-04),  the 
principal  officers  of  his  court  (pp.  286-88)  and 
his  aversion  to  retributivejustice,  especially  his 
unwillingness  to  inflict  penality  of  death  and 
mutilation,  and  his  ability  to  reconcile  mildness 
with  the  just  reward  due  to  crime  (p.  317). 
Hugel  has  reproduced  Murray's  statistics  of  the 
revenue  and  army  of  the  Sikh  kingdom  ; 
revenue  2,68,09,500  rupees  ;  army  80,000  men 
including  the  French  legion  of  8,000  trained 
in  European  discipline  ;  101  elephants ;  34,104 
horses  ;  376  ordnance  ;  and  370  small  canons 
carried  by  camels  (pp.  403-04) . 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Fauja  Singh,  ed.,  Historians  and  Historiography 
of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi,  1978 

2.  Khurana,  Gianeshwar,  British  Historiography  on 
the  Sikh  Power  in  the  Punjab.  Delhi,  1985 

3.  Darshan  Singh,  Western  Perspective  on  the  Sikh 
Religion.  Delhi,  1991 

B.J.H. 

TREATY  WITH  GULAB  SINGH,  16  March 
1846.  Gulab  Singh  Dogra  was  formally  invested 
with  the  title  of  Maharaja  on  15  March  1846 
and  on  the  following  day  was  concluded 


between  him  and  the  British  government  a 
treaty  whereby  he  was  recognized  as  ruler  of 
the  hill  territory  of  Jammu  and  Kashmir,  the 
erstwhile  provinces  of  the  Sikh  kingdom  of 
Lahore.  This  included  "all  the  hilly  or 
mountainous  country  with  its  dependencies, 
situated  to  the  eastward  of  the  River  Indus,  and 
westward  of  the  River  Ravi."  In  consideration 
of  the  transfer  made  to  him,  Maharaja  Gulab 
Singh  was  to  pay  to  the  British  government  a 
sum  of  seventy-five  lacs  of  Nanakshahi  rupees. 
He  would  refer  to  the  arbitration  of  the  British 
government  any  disputes  with  the  Lahore 
government  and  would,  with  the  whole  of  his 
military  force,  join  the  British  troops  when 
employed  within  the  hills.  He  would  not  take 
any  British  subject  or  European  or  American 
into  his  service,  without  the  consent  of  the 
British  government.  Maharaja  Gulab  Singh 
acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  the  British 
government,  who  in  return  guaranteed 
protection  of  his  territories  from  external 
enemies. 

Lord  Hardinge's  treaty  with  Gulab  Singh 
regarding  the  sale  of  Kashmir  was  subjected 
to  severe  criticism.  In  England,  Lord  Ripon 
and  Sir  James  Weir  Hogg,  the  Chairman  of  the 
East  India  Company,  had  objected  to  the 
propriety  of  the  measure.  Lord  Ellenborough 
condemned  it  as  a  reward  for  Gulab  Singh's 
treachery  towards  the  Sikhs.  Hardinge 
stubbornly  defended  the  treaty  both  on 
political  and  financial  grounds.  His  reply  to 
Gulab  Singh's  critics  was  "He  had  done  good 
service  to  us,  which  we  recognized  before  he 
was  a  Sikh  Commissioner.  After  the  war 
commenced,  were  we  to  abandon  our  policy 
and  treat  with  indifference  the  only  man  who 
had  not  lifted  up  his  arm  against  us  ?  His 
forbearance  was  rewarded,  because  that 
forbearance  was  in  accordance  with  an 
intended  policy,  and  because  the  charge  of 
treason  could  not  be  substantiated." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Cunningham,  Joseph  Davey,  A  History  of  the 


TREHAN 


365 


TRILOCHAN 


Sikhs.  London,  1849 

2.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations. 
Hoshiarpur,  1968 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Private  Correspondence 
Relating  to  the  Anglo-Sikh  Wars.  Amritsar,  1955 

B.J.H. 

TREHAN,  a  sub-caste  of  Khatris.  It  belongs  to 
the  Sarin  group,  one  of  the  four  sub-groups 
into  which  the  Khatris  are  divided.  They  are 
categorized  in  two  main  divisions-the  higher 
and  the  lower.  The  Trehans  belong  to  the 
higher  group. 

The  etymology  of  the  word  trehan  is  not 
very  clear.  According  to  some,  trehan  is  the 
distorted  form  of  conjunctive  trai-rin,  lit.  three 
debts.  The  legend  has  it  that  their  elder  was 
freed  in  his  lifetime  itself  from  three  Puranic 
debts-debt  to  the  parents,  debt  to  the  gods  and 
debt  to  the  pitrs  (ancestors).  According  to 
another  legend,  Trehan  is  the  title  which  an 
elder  in  the  line  known  for  his  piety  and 
philanthrophy  adopted  for  himself. 

The  Trehans,  also  known  as  Bavas,  are 
numerically  very  small  and  are  mostly  found 
in  and  around  Khadur  Sahib,  in  the  Amritsar 
district,  which  was  once  the  abode  of  Guru 
Ahgad,  who  was  himself  born  in  a  Trehan 
family. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Rose,  H.A.,  A  Glossary  of  the  Tribes  an  d  Castes 
of  the  Punjab  and  North-West  Frontier  Province 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Vanjara  Bedi,  Soliinder  Singh,  Panjabi  Lokdhara 
VishavKosh.  Delhi,  1978 

S.S.V.B. 

TRILOCHAN,  one  of  the  three  Maharashtrian 

* 

saint-poets  whose  compositions  are  included 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the  other  two  being 
Namdev  and  Parmanand.  Trillochan  is  said  to 
have  been  born  in  AD  1267  of  a  Vaisya  family. 
There  is  no  unanimity  among  scholars 
regarding  the  place  of  his  birth.  Some  say  that 
he  was  born  in  the  village  of  Barsi  in  present- 


day  Sholapur  district  of  Maharashtra,  others 
that  he  was  born  and  brought  up  in  Uttar 
Pradesh  but  came  to  Maharashtra  where  he 
spent  most  of  his  life.  Besides  being  an  ardent 
Vaisnavite,  Trilochan  (lit.  the  three-eyed,  that 
is  one  who  can  see  the  past,  present  and  future 
all  at  once)  was  a  learned  scholar  well  versed 
in  the  Puranic  lore  and  Indian  philosophical 
thought.  Among  the  slokas  of  Bhakta  Kabir, 
incorporated  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  are 
interposed  two  (212  and  213)  which  purport 
to  represent  a  dialogue  between  Trilochan  and 
Namdev.  In  the  first  sloka  Trilochan,  adressing 
Namdev,  who  was  commonly  seen  occupied 
with  the  printing  of  cotton-sheets,  which  was 
his  profession,  derided  him  for  being  too  much 
attached  to  the  world.  Namdev  in  the  second 
sloka  gendy  tells  Trilochan  that  true  bhakti  lay 
in  lovingly  repeating  the  Lord's  Name  while 
doing  one's  work  with  one's  hands  and  feet. 

Four  hymns  of  Trilochan  are  included  in 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  one  each  in  Siri  Riga 
and  Dhanasari  Raga,  and  two  in  Gujari  Raga. 
The  theme  of  the  hymn  in  the  Siri  Raga  (GG. 
92)  turns  upon  God,  man,  devotion,  death  and 
the  final  release  (moksa).  God  is  all-pervading, 
present  in  every  place,  and  knows  everything ; 
man,  oblivious  of  death,  remains  engrossed  in 
love  of  family,  the  neighbour's  possessions, 
pleasures  and  mammon  and  comes  to  grief. 
Of  Trilochan's  two  hymns  in  Raga  Gujari,  the 
first,  in  order  to  stress  the  superiority  of  a  pure 
heart  and  devotion  to  God,  questions  seriously 
the  validity  of  all  mendicant  garbs,  ritualistic 
observances,  and  ascetical  practices.  The 
second  hymn  in  Raga  Gujari  centres  upon  the 
psyche  of  man  and  transmigration.  Trilochan 
in  consonance  with  the  Indian  religious 
conception  says  that  the  last  thoughts  of  the 
dying  man,  the  result  of  the  passion  and  desires 
which  ruled  his  life,  determine  his  future  birth. 
A  dying  man  absorbed  in  the  thought  of  wealth 
will  be  born  a  serpent,  a  man  absorbed  in  the 
thought  of  woman  will  be  born  sans  morals. 
Trilochan's  hymn  in  Raga  Dhanasari  (GG.695) 
abounding  in  allusions  to  the  Indian  Puranic 


TRIPARTITE  TREATY 


366 


TRIPTA,  MATA 


literature  and  mythology  puts  forth  the  view 
that  one's  own  acts  are  exonerable  only 
through  the  remembrance  of  God's  Name.  In 
this  hymn,  as  in  the  hymns  of  Namdev,  the  use 
of  che  has  been  made  in  relational  cases,  e.g. 
"...ta  che  mohijapiale  rim  che  naman,"  "bisv 
ka  dlpaku  svami  ta  che  re  suarathi  panklu  rai 
garur  ta  che  badhava",  etc. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1959 

2.  Gurdit  Singh,  Giant,  Itihas  Sri  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  (Bhagat  Bani  Bhag).  Chandigarh,  1990 

3.  Sahib  Singh,  Bhagat  Bani  Sauk.  Amritsar,  1959-60 

4.  Chaturvedi,  Parshu  Rim,  Uttari  Bharat  ki  Sant 
Prampara.  Allahabad,  1964 

5.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Autliors.  Oxford, 
1909 

T.S. 

TRIPARTITE  TREATY  (June- 1838).  As  the 
rumours  of  Russian  infiltration  into  Persia  and 
Afghanistan  spread  in  the  late  thirties  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  the  Governor-General, 
Lord  Auckland,  despatched  Captain  Alexander 
Burnes  to  Kabul  to  make  an  alliance  with  Amir 
Dost  Muhammad.  The  Afghan  ruler  made 
Peshawar  the  price  of  his  co-operation  which 
the  British  could  not  afford  without  going  to 
war  with  the  Sikhs. 

Auckland  had  to  choose  between  Dost 
Muhammad  and  Ranjit  Singh.  He  chose  Ranjit 
Singh  and  decided  to  seek  his  help  in  ousting 
Dost  Muhammad  and  putting  Shah  Shuja'  on 
the  throne  of  Afghanistan.  In  April  1838, 
Burnes'  mission  was  withdrawn  from  Kabul.  In 
May  1838,  Sir  William  Macnaghten  was  deputed 
to  Lahore  to  engage  the  Maharaja  in  a  treaty 
which  aimed  at  the  revival  of  the  defunct  Sikh- 
Afghan  agreement  of  1833.  After  prolonged 
negotiations,  the  treaty  was  signed  by  Ranjit 
Singh  on  26  June  1838  which  is  known  as  the 
Tripartite  Treaty.  The  Treaty  confirmed  control 
of  the  Sikh  kingdom,  in  perpetuity,  over  the 
former  Afghan  possessions  of  Kashmir,  Altock, 


Hazara,  Peshawar  and  its  dependencies  up  to 
the  Khaibar.  Bannu,  Tonk,  Kalabagh  and 
other  dependent  Waziri  districts,  the  Derajat 
and  the  rich  and  fertile  province  of  Multan. 
For  relinquishing  its  claims  to  Shikarpur,  the 
Lahore  Government,  under  British  mediation, 
was  to  receive  a  sum  of  15,00,000  rupees  out 
of  the  levy  on  the  Amirs  of  Sindh.  Shah  Shuja' 
renounced  all  his  claims  in  regard  to  Sindh 
and  agreed  to  abide  by  the  settlement  made 
by  the  British  and  the  Sikh  ruler  in  Sindh.  Shah 
Shuja'  surrendered  to  joint  Anglo-Sikh 
authority  control  of  the  foreign  relations  of 
Afghanistan.  The  Lahore  Government  bound 
itself,  for  an  annual  payment  of  2,00,000  rupees 
by  the  Shah,  to  maintain  a  Muhammadan 
auxiliary  force  of  not  fewer  than  5,000  men 
for  the  Shah's  aid.  Finally,  Hirat  was  to  be 
independent,  and,  at  Kabul,  Shah  Shuja'  was 
required  to  have  a  British  envoy.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  real  purpose  of  the  British  in 
working  out  the  Tripartite  treaty  was  to  thwart 
Sikh  designs  on  Sindh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Cunningham,  Joseph  Davey,  A  History  of  the 
Sikhs.  London,  1849 

2.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,    Anglo-Sikh  Relations. 
Hoshiarpur,  1968 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Private  Correspondence 
Relating  to  the  Anglo-Sikh  Wars.  Amritsar,  1955 

B.J.H. 

TRIPTA,  MATA,  mother  of  Guru  Nanak,  was 
the  daughter  of  Bhai  Rama  and  Mai  Bharai  of 
Chahal  village  near  Lahore.  According  to  Bhai 
Man!  Singh's  Janam  Sakhi,  Mata  Tripta  died 
at  Kariarpur  (Ravi)  soon  after  the  death,  in 
1522,  of  her  husband,  Baba  Kalu. 
See  KALIAN  CHAND,  BABA 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  Tile  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

2.  Grt-wal,  J.S.,  Guru  Nannk  in  History.  Chandigarh, 
19(19 


TRUMPP'S  TRANSLATION 


367 


TRUMPP'S  TRANSLATION 


3.  McLeod,  W.H.,  tr.,  The  B40  Janam-Sakhi. 
Amritsar,  1980 

4.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  ed.,  Janam  Sakhl  Bhai 
Bala.  Chandigarh,  1975 

5.  Vir  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Puratan  Janam  Sakhl. 
Amritsar,  1971 

6.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa.  Patiala, 
1970 

Gn.S. 

TRUMPP'S  TRANSLATION  OF  PORTIONS 
OF  THE  GURU  GRANTH  SAHIB,  first 
published  in  1877  under  the  title  The  Adi 
Granth,  was  the  earliest  attempt  at  rendering 
the  Scripture  of  the  Sikhs  into  another 
language.  The  translator,  Dr  Ernest  Trumpp 
(1828-85),  an  eminent  linguist  proficient  in 
several  languages,  western  as  well  as  eastern, 
was  born  on  13  March  1828  at  Ilsfeldt,  a  village 
in  Wurtemberg  province  of  Germany.  In  1849, 
owing  to  political  disturbances  in  his  country, 
he  migrated  to  London  where  he  was  employed 
as  assistant  librarian  at  the  East  India  House, 
later  known  as  India  Office.  Sponsored  by  the 
Ecclesiastical  Mission  Society,  Trumpp  came 
to  India  around  1854  to  study  Indian  languages 
and  prepare  their  grammars  and  glossaries  for 
use  by  Christian  missionaries.  Staying  first  at 
Karachi,  he  learnt  Sindhi,  and  published  a 
Sindhi  grammar  and  a  reading  book  as  well  as 
a  Persian  translation  of  the  common  Prayer 
Book  in  1858.  From  Karachi  Trumpp  moved 
to  Peshawar  where  he  took  up  missionary  work 
and  studied  Pashto.  He  returned  to  his  home 
in  Germany  in  1860. 

It  was  in  1869  that  India.  Office 
commissioned  Dr.  Ernest  Trumpp  to  translate 
into  English  the  sacred  book  of  the  Sikhs,  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib.  He  again  came  out  to 
India,  this  lime  staying  in  Lahore  where  he  set 
to  work  with  his  characteristic  assiduity.  He  first 
engaged  two  granthis  or  Sikh  scripture-readers 
to  assist  him  and  also  consulted  some  granthis 
at  Amritsar,  but  was  not  satisfied  with  their 
interpretations.  He  then  took  hold  of  some  old 
commentaries  which  explained  vocabulary, 


and  with  their  help  started  a  direct  study  of 
the  entire  text,  noting  down  as  he  proceeded 
grammatical  forms  and  unfamiliar  words.  And 
thus,  as  Trumpp  records  in  his  preface  to  The 
Adi  Granth,  "I  gradually  drew  up  a  grammar 
and  a  dictionary,  so  that  I  could  refer  to  every 
passage  again,  whenever  I  found  it  necessary 
for  the  sake  of  comparison."  Having  prepared 
his  tools,  he  returned  to  his  native  town, 
Wurtemberg,  in  the  spring  of  1872  and  got 
started  on  the  translation.  He  combined  this 
work  with  his  duties  as  Assistant  Professor  of 
Oriental  Languages  at  the  University  and  his 
study  of  Ethiopic.  By  1876,  he  had  translated 
Japu,  So  Daru,  So  Purakhu,  Sohila,  the  Ragas 
Siri,  Majh,  Gauri  and  Asa,  slokas  of  Kabir  and 
Shaikh  Farid,  Savaiyyas  of  the  Bhatts  and  slokas 
of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  Then  adding  a  few 
introductory  essays  such  as  "The  Life  of  Nanak 
according  to  the  Janam-Sakhis,"  "Sketch  of  the 
Life  of  the  other  Sikh  Gurus,"  "  Sketch  of  the 
Religion  of  the  Sikhs,"  "On  the  Composition 
of  the  Granth"  and  "On  the  Language  and  the 
Metres  used  in  the  Granth,"  he  submitted  his 
incomplete  work  for  publication  under  a 
preface  signed  by  him  "Munich,  23  January 
1877." 

Dr.  Ernest  Trumpp  was  a  great  scholar  in 
his  own  fields-linguistics,  philosophy  and 
religion.  But  he  was  a  rulist,  and  he  was  a 
Christian.  He  failed  to  bring  any  measure  of 
empathy  to  the  study  of  the  Sikh  faith.  As  a 
result  his  approach  was  prejudiced  and  his 
conclusions  offensive,  even  insulting.  To  him, 
"Sikhism  is  a  waning  religion,  that  will  soon 
belong  to  history...;"  "Nanak  himself  was  by 
no  means  an  independent  thinker...;"  and 
"The  tenth  Guru,  Govind  Singh,  relapsed  in 
many  points  again  into  Hinduism,  he  being  a 
special  votary  of  Durga. . ."  He  treated  Sikhism 
as  a  part  of  the  Hindu  complex.  This  is  clear 
frorn  his  translation  of  the  very  first  line,  the 
Mul  Mantra  or  the  root  formula,  of  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  He  translates  Ik  Orikar  simply 
as  "om!"  ignoring  the  significant  figure  1  and 
the  suffix  kar.  For  him  ajuni  and  saibhar)  are 


TUlAMliA 


368 


TULSA,  BHAI 


synonymous,  both  meaning  "  not  produced 
from  the  womb."  Further,  his  grammarian's 
passion  kept  him  from  studying  the  finer 
shades  of  Sikh  thought.  His  comments  on  Sikh 
history  turned  out  to  be  equally  pejorative.  For 
these  reasons,  his  work  did  not  receive  the 
approval  of  the  Sikhs.  In  the  words  of  Max 
Arthur  Macauliffe,  it  "gave  mortal  offence  to 
the  Sikhs  by  the  odium  theologicum 
introduced  into  it."  It  must,  however,  be 
remembered  that  Trumpp's  The  Adi  Granth 
inaugurated  exploration  in  matters  Sikh  by 
Sikhs  and  non-Sikhs  alike.  A  major  work  that 
followed  was  Macauliffe's  own  The  Sikh 
Religion.  As  the  author  records  in  the  Preface, 
"One  of  the  main  objects  of  the  present  work 
is  to  endeavour  to  make  some  reparation  to 
the  Sikhs  for  the  insults  which  he  (Trumpp) 
offered  to  their  Gurus  and  their  religion." 

Another  fortunate  result  of  Dr  Ernest 
Trumpp's  labours  was  the  discovery  of  a 
valuable  text  now  commonly  referred  to  as 
Puratan  Janam  Sakhi,  the  earliest  known 
biography  of  Guru  Nanak.  Trumpp  found  it 
among  some  manuscripts  forwarded  to  him 
from  India  Office  Library  in  1872  in  hope  that 
some  of  them  may  be  useful  in  the  project 
entrusted  to  him. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Darshan  Singh,  Western  Perspective  on  the  Sikh 
Religion.  Delhi,  1991 

2.  Khurana,  Gianeshwar,  British  Historiography  on 
the  Sikh  Power  in  the  Punjab.  Delhi,  1985 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

Np.S. 

TULAMBA,  commonly  pronounced  Talumb'ha, 
an  ancient  sit  e  now  also  known  as  Makhdumpur. 
a  rail/road  station  along  the  Lahore-Multan 
highway  in  Multan  district  of  Pakistan,  was 
where  Guru  Nanak  met  Shaikh  Sajjan,  who, 
according  to  the  Janam  Sakhi  tradition,  was  a 
th  unliving  in  apparent  piety.  Sajjan  maintained 


a  mosque  as  well  as  a  temple  for  use  by  Muslim 
and  Hindu  travellers  and  seemed  to  welcome 
anyone  for  a  night's  lodging  and  meal.  Many 
unsuspecting  wayfarers  gratefully  accepted  his 
hospitality  and  fell  into  the  trap  laid  out  by 
Sajjan,  who  to  rob  them  of  their  goods 
strangulated  them  during  the  night.  As  Guru 
Nanak  travelling  through  southwest  Punjab 
once  arrived  at  his  house  on  the  highway,  he 
welcomed  him  with  his  customary  courtesy,  but 
all  cunning  thoughts  soon  vanished  frpm  his 
heart.  He  bowed  at  the  Guru's  feet  and  turned 
a  disciple,  giving  away  all  the  goods  sinfully 
gathered.  Sajjan  converted  his  house  into  a 
dharamsala,  i.e.  a  place  of  religious  assembly, 
and  became  a  zealous  disseminator  of  Guru 
Nanak's  teaching.  Later,  Bhai  Jodh,  a  Sikh  of 
the  time  of  Guru  Har  Rai  (1630-61),  who 
preached  the  Sikh  faith  in  this  area,  made 
Tulamba  his  centre.  His  descendants  raised  a 
gurdwara  here  in  1913,  but  it  had  to  be 
abandoned  during  the  1947  exodus  caused  by 
Partition. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Sura/' 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  VIi  Singh,  Bhai,  ed.,  Puratan  Janam  Sakhi. 
Amritsar,  1971 

M.G.S. 

TULSA,  BHAI,  a  Bhalla  Khatri  of  the  village 
of  Dalla,  now  in  Kapurthala  district  of  the 
Punjab.  He  received  the  rites  of  initiation  at 
the  hands  of  Guru  Amar  Das  and  learnt  to  shed 
the  pride  of  caste.  His  name  figures  in  Bhai 
Gurdas,  Varan,  XL  16. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Man!  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhah  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1926-37 

B.S.D. 


TULSA,  BHAI 


369 


TURBAN 


TULSA,  BHAI,  a  Vahura  (Vohra)  Khatri  trader 
living  in  Sultanpur  Lodhi,  now  in  Kapurthala 
district  of  the  Punjab,  received  the  rites  of 
initiation  during  the  time  of  Guru  Amar  Das. 
His  name  is  included  among  the  Guru's 
devotees  in  Man!  Singh,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat 
Mala. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Man!  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Arnritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Arnritsar,  1926-37 

3.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  16 

T.S. 

TULSIA,  BHAI,  -  a  Dhiir  Khatri,  received 
initiation  at  the  hands  of  Guru  Arjan.  He  lived 
up  to  the  time  of  Guru  Hargobind  and 
remained  in  attendance  on  him.  His  name  is 
included  in  Bhai  Gurdas'  roster  of  the  leading 
Sikhs  of  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan,  Varan,  XI. 
18. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Arnritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Arnritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

TULSIA,  BHAI,  a  Bhardvaj  Brahman,  received 
initition  at  the  hands  of  Gurii  Arjan.  He 
acquired  mastery  of  the  Sikh  doctrine  and 
became  a  preacher.  His  name  appears  in  Bhai 
Gurdas,  Varan,  XI.  20. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Arnritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Arnritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

TUR,  village  9  km  southwest  of  Khadur  Sahib 
(31"-26'N,  75"-6'E)  in  Arnritsar  district  of  the 


Punjab,  claims  a  historical  shrine,  Gurdwara 
Patshahi  Dusari,  dedicated  to  Guru  Ahgad 
(1506-52)  who,  according  to  local  tradition, 
first  came  here  from  Khadur  Sahib  at  the 
insistence  of  local  peasants  misguided  by  an 
ascetic.  From  here  the  Guru  went  on  to  Khan 
Chhapri.  A  simple  shrine  established  here  was 
replaced  by  a  gurdwara  raised  by  Bhai  Nattha 
Singh  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
century.  The  present  buildings  within  a  two- 
acre  walled  compound  were  constructed 
during  the  1960's  through  Jcar-seva.  The 
sanctum  is  atone  end  of  a  marble-floored  hall. 
Above  the  sanctum  is  a  square  domed  room 
topped  by  a  gold-plated  pinnacle.  The 
Gurdwara  is  maintained  by  the  local  sarigat. 

Gn.S. 

TURBAN,  derived  from  the  ancient  Persian 
word  dulhand  through  the  Turkish  tarbush,  is 
a  long  scarf  wrapped  around  the  head.  It  is  a 
common  head-dress  for  men  in  Middle  Eastern 
and  South-Asian  countries.  As  a  form  of  head- 
dress, it  is  of  Semitic  origin  and  was  an  essential 
part  of  the  Israeli  High  Priest's  uniform  in 
Moses'  day,  1300  lie,  as  stated  in  the  Old 
Testament  (Exodus,  28  :4).  In  India,  it  is  to  be 
seen  as  worn  by  men  depicted  in  the  Ajanta 
caves  (200  BC)  and  on  the  Sahchi  Gateway  (150 
liC).  Traditionally,  wearing  of  turban  was  a  sign 
of  holiness,  and  frequently,  its  size,  material 
and  style  indicated  the  position  and  rank  of 
the  wearer.  The  Sanskrit  word  pak,  from  which 
the  Punjabi  pagg,  or  turban,  is  obviously 
derived,  stands  for  maturity  and  greyness  of 
hair.  Punjabi  idiom  and  usage  also  testify  to 
the  importance  of  turban  as  a  symbol  of 
respectability.  For  example,  pagg  di  laj 
rakkhna,  lit.  to  maintain  the  honour  of  the 
turban,  means  to  behave  in  a  socially  proper 
manner  ;  pagg  lahuna,  lit.  to  knock  off  the 
turban,  means  to  insult ;  and  pag  vatauna,  lit. 
to  exchange  turbans,  signifies  the 
transformation  of  friendship  into  brotherhood 
vowing  fraternal  love  and  loyalty.  Until  recent 
times  wearing  of  a  head-dress,  turban  or  cap, 


TURIiAN 


370 


TURBAN 


usually  of  the  former,  by  all  men  from  boyhood 
onwards  was  almost  universal  in  the  Punjab. 
Even  now  customs  persist  preserving  the 
importance  of  turban  in  Punjabi  society  and 
culture.  A  bridegroom,  irrespective  of  the 
religious  tradition  he  belongs  to,  would  as  a 
rule  wear  a  turban  on  his  wedding  day.  A 
turban  is  ceremonially  presented  to  and  worn 
by  the  son  at  the  end  of  the  obsequies  in 
honour  of  a  deceased  parent.  Turban  is  the 
coveted  prize  during  wrestling  matches. 

While  other  communities  in  the  Punjab 
have  gradually  discarded  the  wearing  of  turban 
generally  under  the  influence  of  western 
culture,  for  the  Sikhs  it  has  a  religious 
significance.  In  fact,  along  with  untrimmed 
hair,  turban  has  become  a  distinguishing 
feature  of  the  Sikh  male  the  world  over.  The 
Gurus  wore  turbans,  and  their  disciples 
naturally  followed  them.  Guru  Arjan  (1563- 
1606)  describing  a  true  man  of  God  had 
mentioned  turban  being  a  part  of  an  ideal 
appearance  (GO,  1084).  By  the  time  of  the  Sixth 
Master,  Guru  Hargobind  (1595-1644),  turban 
wearing  Sikhs  began  to  think  themselves 
equals  of  the  beturbaned  ruling  class,  the 
Mughals.  When  in  1699,  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
(1666-1708)  manifested  the  Khalsa,  he 
included  the  kes  or  hair,  and  kangha  or  comb, 
among  the  five  K's  or  mandatory  symbols  of 
the  faith  to  be  worn  by  all  Sikhs.  Turban,  being 
essential  to  keep  the  hair  neatly  tied  up,  thus 
became  an  obligatory  item  of  dress  for  the  Sikh 
male.  The  women  continued  to  keep  their  hair 
combed  downwards  and  covered  with  a  flowing 
scarf,  although  some  of  them  particularly  those 
joining  the  fighting  Nihahg  order,  also  donned 
turbans  like  the  males.  The  use  of  a  cap  or 
tarbush  below  the  turban  is  not  permitted  the 
Sikhs.  Instead,  a  shorter  and  lighter  piece  of 
cloth  is  normally  used  as  an  under-turban.  The 
shape  or  style  and  colour  of  the  turban  allow 
for  individual  taste.  However,  particular  styles 
and  colours  have  come  to  be  adopted  by 
followers  of  certain  sects.  The  Nihahgs,  for 
instance,  carry  blue  or  yellow  turbans  spun 


around  their  heads  in  a  conical  shape,  whereas 
the  Namdharis  invariably  wear  white  in  a  flat, 
coif-like  style.  The  newly-emerged  community 
of  American  Sikhs  has  also  taken  to  white 
headgear  for  men  as  well  as  for  women.  The 
Nirmalas  wear  ochre  and  members  of  the 
political  party,  the  Akali  Dal,  generally  deep 
blue  or  black.  A  style  becoming  popular  with 
the  youth  is  the  turban  wrapped  a  bit  bulkily, 
but  sprucely,  to  a  sharp,  high  frontal  point, 
imparting  to  it  a  regal  look.  This  came  from 
the  court  of  the  Sikh  Maharaja  of  Patiala. 
Another  distinctive  mode  is  marked  by  the  Sikh 
army  soldier's  turban  with  its  neatly  arranged 
emphatic  folds.  Geography  demarcates  turban 
styles  too,  more  among  the  common  people. 

For  Sikhs,  the  use  of  turban  excludes  the 
wearing  of  a  cap.  In  India,  Sikh  riders  of  motor 
cycles  are  exempt  from  wearing  crash  helmets. 
Similarly,  a  Sikh  soldier  would  not  wear  a  steel 
helmet  even  under  shelling  or  firing.  However, 
in  some  foreign  countries  the  compulsion  of 
wearing  a  turban,  like  the  wearing  of  long, 
untrimmed  hair,  has  sometimes  led  to  the  Sikhs 
being  placed  in  a  position  of  conflict  with 
employers  or  even  governments  whose  rules 
or  laws  require  the  wearing  of  a  cap  or  helmet. 
The  turban-being  religiously  obligatory  for  the 
Sikhs,  a  more  tolerant  view  has  begun  to  be 
taken  recendy.  For  example,  the  Motor  Cycle 
Crash  Helmets  (Religious  Exemption)  Act 
passed  in  British  Parliament  in  1976  exempts 
"any  follower  of  the  Sikh  religion  while  he  is 
wearing  a  turban"  from  having  to  wear  a  crash 
helmet.  Similarly,  the  highest  court  of  the 
country  in  the  United  Kingdom,  the  House  of 
Lords,  has  ruled  that  Sikh  drivers  and 
conductors  of  public  vehicles  are  not  to  be 
compelled  to  wear  caps.  Similarly  in  Canada 
in  1986  Sikhs  in  Metro  Toronto  Police  were 
permitted  to  wear  turbans  while  on  duty,  and 
since  1990  turbaned  Sikhs  mayjoin  The  Royal 
Canadian  Mounted  Police  (RCMP). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Sikh  Rahit  Maryada.  Amritsar,  1964 


TURK 


371 


TUZUK-I-IAHANGIRI 


2.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Rahitname.  Patiala,  1974 

3.  Cole,  W.  Owen,  and  Piara  Singh  Sambhi,  The 
Sikhs  :  Their  Religious  Beliefs  and  Practices. 
Delhi,  1978 

P.S.S. 

TURK,  a  word  standing  in  Sikh  tradition  usually 
for  a  Muslim,  is  really  the  name  of  a  race  of 
people  which  orginating  probably  in  Central 
Asia  established  itself  in  Asia  Minor  and 
southeastern  Europe  in  the  west  and  in  India 
in  the  east.  The  earliest  references  to  Turks 
connect  them  historically  and  linguistically 
with  Tu-kiu,  the  name  given  by  the  Chinese 
to  a  group  of  nomad  tribes  who  in  the  sixth 
century  of  the  Christian  era  ruled  over  a  vast 
tract  stretching  from  Black  Sea  to  the  borders 
of  China.  They  were  later  divided  into  two 
main  groups  separated  by  the  Caspian  Sea  and 
Iran  which  was  inhabited  by  people  of  Aryan 
extraction.  The  western  group  settled  in  parts 
of  Europe,  Turkey  and  northwestern  part  of 
Iran,  while  the  eastern  group  remained  in 
Central  Asia  comprising  the  present  republics 
of  Kazakhstan,  Turkmenistan,  Uzbekistan  and 
Kirghizia,  and  the  Sinkiahg  province  and  Altai 
regions  of  China.  They  accepted  Islam  as  their 
religion  during  the  seventh  and  the  eight 
centuries.  It  was  some  of  the  Central  Asian 
Turks,  Ilbaris  and  Khaljls,  branches  of  Guzz 
Turks,  who  pressed  southwards  by  the  advance 
of  Mongols,  settled  in  parts  of  Afghanistan  and 
later  established  the  first  Muslim  empire  in 
India. 

The  Turks  were  a  handsome  and 
ferocious  people.  These  two  characteristics 
earned  for  the  term  turk  many  different 
derivative  meanings  in  Indo-Persian 
literature.  For  example,  Steingass,  A 
Compre7jeiisive  Persian-^English  Dictionary, 
defines  Turk  thus  :  "A  turk,  comprehending 
likewise  those  numerous  nations  of  Tartars 
between  Khwarzam  and  China,  who  all  claim 
descent  from  Turk,  son  ofjaphet ;  Turkistan  ; 
a  Scythian,  barbarian,  robber,  plunderer, 
vagabond  ;  (met.)  a  beautiful  boy  or  girl,  the 


beloved..."  For  the  Indians,  Turk  became  a 
synonym  of  Muslim  as  distinguished  from 
Hindu.  The  word  in  this  sense  occurs  in 
several  verses  in  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Bhai 
Gurdas  who  uses  the  wordnn  the  same  sense, 
in  Varari,  1.26,  and  the  term  turkman  for  the 
racial  stock  known  as  Turkoman  in  Varan, 
VIII.  16.  As  persecution  of  the  Sikhs 
commenced  in  the  seventeenth  century  and 
became  severer  in  the  eighteenth,  the  word 
came  to  signify  for  them  the  tyrannical  ruler 
and  the  dreaded  invader,  coincidentally 
Muslim  in  both  cases.  While  in  Guru  Gobind 
Singh's  bam,  the  word  continues  to  be  used 
in  the  ordinary  sense  of  a  Muhammadan,  it 
comes  to  take  on  sharper  connotations  in  the 
Rahitanamas  or  codes  of  conduct  for  the 
Sikhs.  The  Rahitnamas  enjoin  on  the  Sikhs 
not  to  trust  or  befriend  a  Turk. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Rose,  H.A.,  ed.,  A  Glossary  of  the  Tribes  and 
Castes  of  the  Punjab  and  North-West  Frontier 
Province.  Lahore,  1911-19 

B.J.H. 

TUZUK-I-JAHANGlRl  is  one  of  the  several 
titles  under  which  autobiographical  writing  of 
the  Mughal  Emperor,  Jahahgir  (1605-27),  is 
available,  the  common  and  generally  accepted 
ones  being  Tuzuk-i-Jahangirl,  Waqi'at-i- 
Jahahgiri,  and  Jahahgir  Namah.  The  Tuzuk-i- 
Jahangiri  based  on  the  edited  text  of  Sir  Sayyid 
Ahmad  Khan  of  'Aligarh  is  embodied  in  two 
volumes  translated  by  Alexander  Rogers, 
revised,  collated  and  corrected  by  Henry 
Beveridge  with  the  help  of  several  manuscripts 
from  the  India  Office  Library,  British  Library, 
Royal  Asiatic  Society  and  other  sources.  The 
first  volume  covers  the  first  twelve  years,  while 
the  second  deals  with  the  thirteenth  to  the 
nineteenth  year  of  the  reign.  The  material 
pertaining  to  the  first  twelve  of  the  twenty-two 
regnal  years,  written  by  the  Emperor  in  his  own 
hand,  is  followed  by  events  and  occurrences  of 
the  next  three  years  which  were  recorded 


TUZUK-l-IAHANCIIli 


372 


TWAH1KH  GURU  KHAISA 


under  imperial  orders  by  Mu'tamad  Khan  in 
his  Iqbalnamab,  at  the  end  of  which  he  omit  ted 
the  royal  name.  Muhammad  Had!  continued 
the  account,  adding  a  preface  and  notes  up  to 
the  death  of  the  Emperor.  Jahahgir  had  the 
memoirs  of  the  first  twelve  years  of  his  reign 
bound  in  a  volume,  of  which  several  copies 
were  made  and  distributed.  The  Iqbalnamab 
and  the  account  and  notes  by  Muhammad 
Had!,  followed  in  due  course  of  lime.  The  work 
is  in  chaste  Persian  which  Jahahgir  knew  as  well 
as  he  did  his  ancestral  Chughtai  Turki, 
language  used  by  his  great-grandfather,  Babar, 
in  his  memoirs,  Tuzuk-i-Babarl.  Jahahgir, 
pleasure-loving,  impulsive,  capricious  and 
unpredictable  and,  at  times,  ruthless  was  a  lover 
of  nature,  art  and  literature,  and  had  an  acute 
power  of  observation  to  which  his  memoirs 
bear  witness.  But  he  lacked  the  religious 
catholicity  of  his  father,  and  leaned  more 
towards  the  orthodox  section  among  his 
courtiers.  This  coterie  was  under  the  influence 
of  Shaikh  Ahmad  Sirhindi  (1569-1(?24),  leader 
of  the  Naqshbandi  order  of  Sufis  whose  one 
aim  was  to  have  Emperor  Akbar's  policy  of 
religious  tolerance  and  eclecticism  reversed. 
The  Sikh  order  was  the  first  to  bear  the  brunt 
of  Jahangir's  intolerance.  As  the  Emperor 
records  in  the  Tuzuk,  he  was  aware  of  the 
popularity  of  Guru  Arjan  (1563-1606)  among 
Hindus  and  Muslims,  and  had  long  desired  to 
put  an  end  to  the  new  creed.  The  meeting  of 
his  rebel  son,  Khusrau,  with  Guru  Arjan  gave 
him  a  ready  excuse.  He  had  the  Guru  arrested 
and  tortured  to  death.  Following  is  a 
translation  of  an  entry  made  by  the  Emperor 
in  his  Tuzuk  on  22  Safar  1015  ah  (19  June 
1606),  20  days  after  the  execution  of  Guru 
Arjan: 

At  Goindval,  situated  along  the  bank  of 
the  River  Beas,  was  a  Hindu  (sic)  named 
Arjun,  who  went  about  as  a  religious 
teacher.  A  large  number  of  simple- 
minded  Hindus,  even  stupid  and 
ignorant  Muslims,  were  attracted  to  his 
way,  and  his  reputation  as  a  teacher  of 


religion  got  widespread.  They  called  him 
Guru.  Followers  and  practitioners  of 
superstition  from  all  directions  turned 
towards  him  and  reposed  great  faith  in 
him.  This  commerce  had  been  going  on 
for  three  or  four  generations.  For  a  long 
time  it  had  been  in  my  mind  that  this 
false  business  should  be  brought  to  an 
end  or  he  [Guru  Arjan]  should  be 
brought  within  the  fold  of  Islam,  until 
the  time  Khusrau  came  that  way... 
Khusrau  made  a  stop  at  his  place.  He  had 
an  audience  [with  Khusrau],  supplied 
certain  provisions  to  him,  and  made  on 
his  forehead  a  saffron  mark  with  his 
finger  called  qashqa  [i.e.  tilak] 
considered  among  the  Hindus  an 
auspicious  sign.  As  this  matter  reached 
the  royal  ear  and  as  I  fully  understood 
his  falsehood,  I  commanded  that  he  be 
brought  before  me.  I  made  over  his 
houses,  lands  and  his  children  to  Murtaza 
Khan  and  ordered  that  his  property  be 
confiscated.  I  ordered  his  execution 
according  to  State  policy  and  law. 
As  for  Khusrau 's  visit  to  Guru  Arjan,  an 
old  Sikh  chroncile,  Mahima  Prakash,  records 
that  "he  (Khusrau)  was  in  serious  trouble.  The 
Guru  extended  to  him  the  hospitality  of  Guru 
ka  Laiigar.  Spending  the  night  there,  he 
resumed  hisjourney."  There  was  no  other  help 
provided  to  the  fugitive  prince. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Beveridge,  Henry,  ed.,  The  Tuzuk-i- Jahangiri. 
Delhi,  1968 

S.H.A. 

TWARIKH  GURU  KHALSA,  a  voluminous 
prose  narrative  delineating  the  history  of  the 
Sikhs  from  their  origin  to  the  time  when  they 
lost  the  Punjab  to  the  British.  The  author,  GianI 
Gian  Singh  (1822-1921),  claimed  descent  from 
the  brother  of  Bhai  Mani  Singh,  the  martyr, 
who  was  a  contemporary  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh.  The  work  is  divided  into  five  parts  : 


TWARIKH  GURU  KHALSA 


373 


TWAlUKH-l-AHMADl 


Janam  Sakhl  Dasari  Guruaii,  Sharnsher  Khalsa, 
Raj  Khalsa,  Sardar  Khalsa,  and  Panth  Khalsa, 
In  the  first  part  the  author  presents  biographies 
of  the  Ten  Gurus  and  sketches  the  evolution 
of  the  community  culminating  in  the 
emergence  of  the  Khalsa.  The  second  part 
deals  with  the  career  of Banda  Singh  Bahadur, 
the  sustained  struggle  Sikhs  waged  against  the 
Mughals  in  face  of  fierce  persecution,  their 
reorganization  in  the  form  of  the  Dal  Khalsa 
and  the  running  battle  between  Ahmad  Shah 
Durrani  and  the  Sikhs.  The  third  part  describes 
the  rise  of  the  twelve  misk  or  independencies 
and  of  the  sovereign  kingdom  of  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh  and  ends  with  the  annexation  of 
the  Punjab  by  the  British.  The  fourth  part 
contained  accounts  of  Sikh  principalities  which 
did  not  form  part  of  Ranjit  Singh's  kingdom. 
The  fifth  part  treats  of  Sikh  sects,  gurdwaras 
and  preaching  centres. 

As  Giani  Gian  Singh  himself  relates  in  the 
book,  he  spent  more  than  fifteen  years 
collecting  information,  mainly  verbal.  His 
sources  were  his  own  elders,  Nagahia  Singh, 
Raghu  Singh  and  Bakhta  Singh  who  had  served 
Guru  Gobind  Singh,  Banda  Singh  Bahadur  and 
the  eighteenth-century  sardars  such  as  Nawab 
Kapur  Singh  and  Baba  Ala  Singh.  Besides,  he 
travelled  extensively  in  quest  of  materials.  Two 
of  the  older  works  he  admits  to  having  made 
use  of  were  those  by  Ratan  Siiigh  Bhahgu  and 
Bute  Shah.  He  received  encouragement  from 
his  mentor,  Tara  Singh  Narotam,  a  Nirmala 
scholar,  and  completed  in  1867  his  first  work, 
the  famed  Panth  Prakash  which  was  a  connected 
history  of  the  Sikhs  in  Punjabi  verse.  The 
Twarikh  Guru1  Khalsa  was  its  expansion  in 
prose. 

The  first  edition  of  the  Twarikh 
comprising  the  first  three  parts  was  printed  in 
1891  at  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Press,  Sialkot,  with 
the  help  of  Mahant  Frem  Singh,  Bhai  Hari 
Singh  of  Sialkot  and  Biita  Singh  of  Rawalpindi. 
Gian  Siiigh  made  over  the  rights  of  publication 
of  his  Twarikh  to  the  Khalsa  Tract  Society, 
Amritsar.  Besides  all  the  copies  of  the 


published  first  three  parts  of  the  Twardch,  the 
manuscripts  of  the  remaining  two  unpublished 
parts  were  also  handed  over  to  the  Society.  The 
Panth  Khalsa  (the  fifth  part)  was  published  in 
Urdu  as  late  as  1919  and  the  Sardar  Khaisa  (the 
fourth  part)  was  never  published. 

The  first  three  parts  severally  and 
collectively  of  this  monumental  work  ran  into 
several  editions  in  Urdu  as  well  as  in  Punjabi. 
They  were  last  published  in  two  volumes  in 
Punjabi  by  the  Languages  Department,  Punjab, 
Patiala,  in  1970. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhagat  Singh,  Giant  Gian  Singh.  Patiala,  1978 

2.  Singh  Sabha  Patrika  (Sri  Guru  Panth  Prakash 
Aiik).  Amritsar,  1979 

B.S. 

TA'ARIKH-I-AHMADI,  or  Tarikh-i-Ahmad,'  is 
a  book  written  by  Abdul  Karim  Alavi  and 
published  by  Mustafa!  Press,  Lucknow,  in  1850. 
Alavi  was  a  prolific  writer  and  his  works  include 
besides  many  translations  from  Arabic  into 
Persian,  the  Tarijd>i-Ahmadwhich  became  the 
most  popular  of  his  works  and  was  translated 
into  Urdu  under  the  title  Waq/at-i-Durranfand 
published  by  Nizami  Press,  Gawnpore  (now 
Kanpur)  in  1875.  The  style  is  simple  and  lucid 
and  not  cumbersome  and  he  refrained  from 
ornate  phraseology  to  praise  Ahmad  Shah 
Durrani  for  his  achievements.  He  did  not  use 
derogatory  language  against  the  opponents  of 
Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  and  narrated  the  events 
faithfully. 

Commencing  with  the  genealogy  of 
Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  he  narrated  the 
achievements  of  the  Shah  in  detail  and  his 
successors  in  brief  up  to  the  assassination  of 
Shah  Shuja'.  He  gave  the  details  of  batdes  of 
Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  with  the  Sikhs. 

The  author  has  given  a  detailed 
description  of  the  five  Doabs  of  the  Punjab  and 
has  described  the  famous  rivers,  passages  and 
important  cities  of  these  Doabs.  The  historical 
value  of  the  work  is  great  as  several  of  the 


TWARlKH-I-HIND 


374 


TWA1UKH-I-PANJAB 


geographical  facts  have  changed  over  the  years. 
About  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  earlier  the 
River  Ravi  used  to  flow  adjacent  to  the  Fort  of 
Lahore  and  there  were  separate  routes  from 
Eminabad  to  Lahore  and  Amrksar. 

The  author  has  described  the  stages  in 
travelling  from  Peshawar  to  Kabul,  Kabul  to 
Qandahar,  Qandahar  to  Herat  and  Herat  to 
Chist.  He  has  mentioned  the  distance  between 
various  stages  and  the  time  spent  while 
travelling  from  one  stage  to  another  and  the 
facilities  available  along  each  route.  The  traders 
and  the  troops  travelled  through  these  stages, 
and  made  halts  there. 

While  writing  about  the  history  of  the 
Durranis,  the  author  has  narrated  some 
interesting  events.  He  writes  that  during  the 
reign  of  Shah  Jahaii,  'All  Mardan  Khan,  Viceroy 
of  Lahore,  planned  the  Shalamar  Gardens.  He 
has  also  recorded  that  never  a  person  suffered 
from  small-pox  at  Qandahar. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,  ed.,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

B.S. 

TWARlKH-I-HIND,  sub-titled  Bayin  i-Ahwal 
i-Mulk-i-Hind  wa  Maluk-i-  An  az  Zaman-i- 
Qadim  ta  1233  A.H.,  by  Ahmad  Shah  of  Batala, 
a  manuscript  preserved  in  Dyal  Singh  Trust 
Library,  Lahore,  is  a  history  of  India  from 
earliest  times  to  AO  1818  according  to  the  sub- 
title, although  it  also  records  the  birth  of  Prince 
Nau  Nihal  Singh  in  1820  and  some  other 
events  in  the  Punjab  even  up  to  1824.  The 
manuscript  comprising  468  folios,  each  with 
17  lines,  was  prepared  in  1866  by  Rajab  'Ali,  a 
native  of  Batala.  The  section  dealing  with  the 
history  of  the  Sikhs  was  published  under  the 
title  Zikr-i-Guriian  wa  Ibtida-i-Singhan  wa 
Mazhab-i-Eshan  in  1885,  as  an  appendix  to 
volume  I  of  Sohan  Lai  Surl's  'Umdat  ut- 
Twarikh.  Sayyid  Ahmad  Shah,  the  author,  came 
of  a  well-known  religious  family  of  Batala,  in 
Gurdaspur  district  of  the  Punjab.  He  was  known 


to  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh,  who  gave  audience 
to  him  at  Batala  in  1814  and*  after  some  time, 
again  at  Lahore.  He  had  cordial  relatio  is  with 
Captain  (later  Lieut-Col  Sir)  Claude  Mardn 
Wade  (1794-1861)  and  Lieut  Murray  of  the 
British  Agency  at  Ludhiana,  and  kept  up 
regular  correspondence  with  them  providing 
them  useful  information  about  the  court  of 
Ranjit  Singh.  Twarikh-i-Hind  was  compiled 
by  him  at  the  request  of  Lieut  Murray.  He  died 
around  1835  ;  the  exact  year  of  his  death  is 
not  mentioned  in  his  family  records. 

The  Twarlkh  begins  with  a  geographical 
description  of  India.  Among  the  provinces 
listed,  Lahore  takes  precedence  in  the  amount 
of  detail  provided.  144  folios  are  devoted  to 
the  author's  home  town  Batala  and  the  history 
of  the  family.  Especially  valuable  for  the 
historian  are  the  accounts  of  the  invasions  of 
Nadir  Shah  and  Ahmad  Shah  Abdali  (Durrani) 
and  of  the  tussle  for  supremacy  between  the 
Sikhs  and  the  Afghans  in  northern  India. 
Ahmad  Shah's  chapter  on  the  "Sikh  Gurus  and 
the  emergence  of  the  Sikhs  and  their  faith," 
however,  has  some  glaring  inaccuracies.  He 
describes  Sikhism  as  a  sect  of  the  Hindus.  He 
regards  only  Guru  Nanak  as  the  real  Guru  and 
calls  the  remaining  Gurus  as  his  Khalifahs  or 
deputies.  His  account  of  Banda  Singh  Bahadur 
also  suffers  from  the  bias  common  to  Muslim 
historiographers.  Although  a  contemporary  of 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Siligh,  his  account  of  his  rule 
is  brief  and  sketchy. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,  ed.,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

Md.A. 

TWARIKH-I-PANJAB.  by  Ghularn  Muhaiy 
ud-Din  Ludhianavi,  popularly  known  as  Bute 
Shah,  is  an  unpublished  Persian  work  on  the 
history  of  the  Punjab  from  ancient  times  to  the 
end  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh's  reign.  Copies 
of  the  manuscript  are  preserved  in  the  British 
Library,  London  ;  India  Office  Library;  Pahjab 


TWARIKH  I-PANJAIi 


375 


TWARIKH  l-PANJAB 


University,  Lahore  ;  Department  of  Punjab 
Historical  Studies,  Punjabi  University,  Patiala  ; 
Khalsa  College,  Amritsar ;  and  the  Punjab  State 
Archives,  Patiala.  Bute  Shah  was  a  munshi  or 
clerk  in  the  service  of  the  British  Political 
Agency  at.  Ludhiana,  enjoying  confidence 
enough  to  be  one  of  the  emissaries  sent  to 
wait  upon  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  on  behalf 
of  the  Political  Agent  in  October  1837. 
Written  at  the  instance  of  Mr  (later  Sir) 
George  Russell  Clerk  (1800-89),  who 
succeeded  Lieut-Colonel  (later  Sir)  Claude 
Martin  Wade  (1794-1861)  as  the  Governor- 
General's  political  agent  at  Ludhiana  in  1840, 
the  work  was  completed  in  1848.  It  is  divided 
into  five  daflars  or  sections  with  an 
introduction  and  a  conclusion.  The 
introduction  gives  an  account  of  Punjab's 
geographical  conditions  and  its  important 
places  and  towns.  Daftar  I  deals  with  the  Hindu 
rulers  up  to  Rai  Pithora  (Prithvi  Raj  Chauhan) , 
the  account  being  based,  according  to  the 
author,  on  the  religious  books  of  the  Hindus. 
Daftar  II  carries  the  History  of  the  Punjab  from 
the  Ghaznavids  to  Emperor  Aurahgzib.  The 
author's  sources  for  this  section  are  historical 
chronicles  such  as  Ha  bib  us-Sa)yiir,  Tiuikh-i- 
Yamini,  Tarikh-i-Alfi.  Jama '  ul-Hikhyat, 
Tabqat-i-Nasirl and  Tarikli-i-Giizhlah.  Daftar 
III  contains  short  life-sketches  of  the  ten  Gurus 
of  the  Sikhs.  For  this  section,  Bute  Shah  claims 
to  have  utilized  the  traditional  sources 
particularly  the  Janam  Sakhis.  This  part  also 
contains  the  names  of  some  of  Guru  Nanak's 
disciples  with  brief  notes  on  a  few  of  them, 
description  of  the  Sikh  institutions  of  langar 


and  inanjls  and  the  baoJi  at  Goindval,  and  a 
somewhat  detailed  account  of  events  such  as 
t  he  martyrdoms  of  Guru  Arjan  and  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur,  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  battles,  the 
creation  of  the  Khalsa  and  Guru  Gobind 
Singh's  death  in  the  Deccan.  Daftar  IV  deals 
with  the  rise,  growth  and  achievements  of  Sikh 
misls  and  their  polity  and  administration.  Bute 
Shah's  approach  in  this  section  is  more  factual 
and  critical.  Daftar  V,  forming  nearly  one-half 
of  the  entire  volume,  is  devoted  to  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh,  his  conquests  and  consolidation 
of  power.  Here  Bute  Shah,  with  his  personal 
knowledge  of  contemporary  events  and  his 
probable  access  to  official  records  and 
correspondence  at  the  Ludhiana  Agency,  is 
more  authentic.  He  also  appears  to  have  had 
access  to  Sohan  Lai  Sun's  '  Umdat  ut-Twarikh 
of  which  a  copy  was  presented  by  the  author 
to  Claude  Wade.  In  fact,  Bute  Shah's  account 
in  this  daftar  appears  to  be  an  intelligent 
summary  c.f  Sohan  Lai's  diary  ;  at  places  even 
the  text  of  his  manuscript  is  the  same  as  that 
of  the  latter's  work.  However,  in  contrast  to 
the  official  diarist  of  the  Lahore  Darbar,  Bute 
Shah  has  a  more  critical  historical  sense.  He 
records  only  the  more  important  events  of  the 
time,  omitting  much  that  is  of  little  historical 
value.  Because  of  his  closer  contact  With  the 
British,  his  use  of  English  names- is  more 
correct .  His  dates  follow  the  Christian  calendar. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,  ed.,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

B.S. 


u 


UBARE  KHAN  (full  name  Abd  ur-Rahiman 
Khan),  a  Pathan  of  the  village  of Jauriah,  near 
Batala,  was,  according  to  Bhai  Bale  Valijanam 
Sakhi,  a  devotee  of  Guru  Nanak.  He  followed  the 
Guru's  instruction  and  obtained  spiritual  insight 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Kirpal  Singh,  ed.,  Janam  Sakhi  Parampara. 
Patiala,  1969 

Gn.S. 

UDA,  BHAI  (d.  1688),  a  Sikh  of  the  Rathaur 
Rajput,  clan,  was  among  those  who  had 
witnessed  Guru  Tegh.  Bahadur's  execution  at 
Delhi.  He  returned  in  distress  to  Dilvali 
Mohalla  where  Sikhs  from  the  neighbour- 
hood assembled  in  the  house  of  Bhai  Nanu, 
the  calico-printer,  to  consider  how  they  could 
recover  the  Guru's  body  and  cremate  it.  They 
decided  to  seek  assistance  from  Bhai  Lakkhi 
Shah,  an  affluent  trader  and  a  Sikh  by  faith. 
Later  in  the  evening  Bhai  Oda  assisted  Bhai 
Lakkhi  Shah  in  recovering  and  cremating  the 
headless  body  of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur,  and 
then  hurried  towards  Anandpur  wither  Bhai 
Jaita,  carrying  the  Guru's  head,  had  already 
repaired.  He  overtook  the  latter  at  Kiratpur 
and  along  with  Bhai  Jaita  received  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  blessing.  He  remained  in 
attendance  upon  the  Guru,  and  fell  a  martyr 
fighting  in  the  batde  of  Bhahgani  in  1688. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  Delhi,  1982 

2.  Trilochan  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur :  Prophet 


and  Martyr.  Delhi,  1967 
3.  Padam,  Piara  Singh  and  Giani  Garja  Singh,  eds., 
Guru  kian  Sakhian.  Patiala,  1986 

A.C.B. 

UDAI  SINGH,  BHAI  (d.  1843),  the  last  ruler 
of  Kaithal  state,  was  the  younger  of  the  two  sons 
of  Bhai  Lai  Singh.  After  the  death  of  Bhai  Lai 
Singh,  his  elder  son  Partap  Singh  succeeded 
him,  but  died  soon  after  without  a  male  heir. 
Udai  Singh  therefore  became  the  next  ruler 
in  the  line  with  the  approval  of  the  British 
government,  whose  supremacy  Bhai  Lai  Singh 
had,  like  the  other  cis-Sutlej  states  in  1809, 
accepted.  The  highlight  of  Udai  Singh's  rule 
was  his  munificent  patronage  of  the  Sikh 
classic,  Bhai  Santokh  Singh's  Gurpratap  Surya, 
more  popular  as  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth. 
Santokh  Singh  came  from  Patiala  to  Kaithal  in 
1825.  Before  coming  to  Kaithal  he  had  already 
put  behind  a  translation  of  the  Sanskrit  classic 
Amar  Kosh  and  Sri  Guru  Nanak  Prakash,  a 
biography  in  verse  of  Guru  Nanak.  In  Kaithal 
he  wrote  his  Garb  Ganjani  Tika  (1829), 
translation  of  Valmiki  Ramayana  (1834)  and 
Atma  Puran  (n.d.).  A  magnum  opus  Sri  Gur 
Pratap  Suraj  Granth  was  completed  in  1843. 

Bhai  Udai  Singh  died  on  15  March  1843 
without  a  male  heir.  A  part  of  the  state 
thereafter  devolved  upon  Bhai  Gulab  Singh  of 
Arnault,  the  rest  of  it  escheated  to  the  British. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Griffin,  Lepel,    The  Rajas  of  the  Punjab 
[Reprint].  Delhi,  1977 

2.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  Vol.  II. 
Delhi,  1978 


UDASI 


377 


UDASI 


3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhal,    Garb  Gahjani  Tika. 
Lahore,  1910 

M.G.S. 

UDASI,  an  ascetical  sect  of  the  Sikhs  founded 
by°Sri  Chand  (1494-1629),  the  elder  son  of 
Guru  Nanak.  Udasi  is  derived  from  the  Sanskrit 
word  udasin,  i.e.  one  who  is  indifferent  to  or 
disregardful  of  worldly  attachments,  a  stoic,  or 
a  mendicant.  In  Sikh  tradition,  the  term  udasi 
has  also  been  used  for  each  of  the  four 
preaching  tours  of  Guru  Nanak  ;  in  this  sense, 
udasi  meant  a  prolonged  absence  from  home. 
Some  scholars,  including  many  Udasis,  trace 
the  origin  of  the  sect  back  to  the  Puranic  age, 
but,  historically  speaking,  Sri  Chand  was  the 
founder.  The  Matra,  the  sacred  incantation  or 
composition,  attributed  to  the  Udasi  saint,  Balu 
Hasna,  records  that  Sri  Chand  received 
enlightenment  from  Guru  Nanak,  the  perfect 
Guru,  and  that,  after  the  passing  away  of  the 
latter,  he  started  his  own  sect. 

Sri  Chand  was  a  devoted  Sikh  and  a  saintly 
person.  His  object  in  establishing  the  order  of 
the  Udasis  was  to  propagate  the  mission  of  his 
father.  Sri  Chand  kept  on  amicable  terms  with 
the  successors  of  Guru  Nanak.  According  to 
Kesar  Singh  Chhibbar,  he  sent  two  turbans  at 
the  death  of  Guru  Ram  Das  in  AD  1581,  one 
for  Prithi  Chand,  the  eldest  son  of  the  deceased 
Guru,  and  another  for  Guru  Arjan  in 
recognition  of  his  succession  to  the  Guruship. 
In  AD  1629,  Sri  Chand  asked  Guru  Hargobind 
to  spare  one  of  his  sons  to  join  him  in  his 
religious  preaching.  The  Guru  gave  him  Baba 
Gurditta,  his  eldest  son.  Baba  Gurditta, 
although  married,  was  disposed  to  saindy  living. 
Before  his  death,  Baba  Sri  Chand  admitted 
Baba  Gurditta  to  the  Udasi  order  and 
appointed  him  his  successor. 

Baba  Gurditta  appointed  iFour  head 
preachers-Almast,  Phul,  Goind  (or  Gonda) 
and  Balu  Husna.  He  gave  them  his  own  dress 
which  became  the  peculiar  Udasi  garb  and 
smouldering  embers  from  Baba  Sri  Chand's 
dhiini  (sadhu's  hearth)  to  be  taken  to  their 


new  monastic  seats.  These  Udasi  sadhus  set  up 
from  those  embers  a  new  dhuari  each  at  his 
seat  and  thus  came  into  existence  the  four 
dhudhs  or  hearths  which  became  active 
centres  of  Udasi  preaching.  Each  dhuari 
came  to  be  known  after  the  name  of  its 
principal  preacher.  The  Udasis  proved 
zealous  preachers  of  Sikhism-  and  carried  its 
message  to  the  far  corners  of  the  country  and 
beyond.  They  especially  rediscovered  places 
which  had  been  visited  by  the  Gurus  and  which 
had  fallen  into  obscurity  with  the  passage  of 
time.  They  established  on  such  spots  their 
deras  and  sarigats  and  preached  Gurbani.  Thus 
the  Udasi  dhiiaris  popularized  the  teaching  of 
Guru  Nanak  not  only  in  the  Punjab  but  also  in 
far-off  places. 

Besides  the  four  dhuaris,  there  emerged 
another  set  of  Udasi  seats  called  bakhshishari. 
which  flourished  during  the  time  of  Guru  Har 
Rai,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  and  Guru  Gobind 
Singh.  A  bakhshish  (lit.  bounty)  was  a 
missionary  assignment  conferred  upon  an 
individual  by  the  Guru.  There  were  six 
prominent  bakhshishari.  viz.  Bhagat  Bhagvanie 
(followers  of  Bhagat  Bhagvan)  ;  Suthrashahie 
(  followers  of  Suthrashah)  ;  Sahgat  Sahibie 
(followers  of  Sahgat  Sahib  )  ;  Mihari  Shahie 
or  Mihari  Dasie,  so  called  after  Mihari,  the  tide 
conferred  by  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  on  Ramdev; 
Bakht  Mallie  (  followers  of  Bakht  Mall)  ;  and 
Jit  Mallie  (followers  of  Jit  Mall) .  The  saints  of 
bakhshishes  travelled  widely  and  established 
their  deras,  sarigats,  maths  and  akharas  in 
distant  places  throughout  India. 

The  Udasis  preached  the  message  of  Guru 
Nanak  and  revered  and  recited  the  baniof  the 
Gurus,  but  they  retained  their  separate  identity. 
Baba  Sri  Chand  did  occasionally  visit  the  Gurus 
who  treated  him  with  respect  for  being  a 
saintly  personage  as  well  as  for  being  a  son  of 
Guru  Nanak.  But  they  extended  no  patronage 
to  his  sect.  However,  after  Baba  Sri  Chand  had 
had  from  Guru  Hargobind  his  eldest  son,  Baba 
Gurditta,  to  admit  to  his  sect,  the  Udasis  began 
to  receive  support  and  guidance  from  the 


UOASI 


378 


UDASI 


Gurus.  Guru  Hargobind's  successors 
conferred  baklishishes  upon  Udasi  sadhus. 
Several  of  the  Udasi  saints  are  remembered 
with  esteem  in  the  Sikh  tradition.  For  instance, 
the  famous  Bhagat  Bhagvan,  Bhai  Pheru  of  the 
Sahgat  Sahibla  order,  who  had  served  in  the 
lahgar  or  community  kitchen  in  the  time  of 
Guru  Har  Rai,  and  Ramdev  (later  known  as 
Mlhah  Sahib),  who  was  originally  a  mkshki  or 
water-carrier  in  the  service  of  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  and  who  had  received  from  him  for 
his  devoted  service  the  tide  of  Mlhah  (bestower 
of  rain)  as  well  as  the  dress  and  marks  of  an 
Udasi  consisting  of  selhl  (woollen  cord),  topi 
(cap),  chola  (hermit's  gown)  and  a  nagkra 
(drum).  Ramdev  established  his  own  order  of 
the  Udasis  which  came  to  be  known  as  Mihah 
Dasle  or  Mihah  Shahie.  Another  notable  Udasi 
sadliu  was  Mahant  Kirpal  who  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  Bhaiigani  (1689)  under  Gum  Gobind  Singh. 

After  the  abolition  of  the  order  of  the 
masands  by  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  the 
preaching  of  Guru  Nanak's  word  fell  to  the 
Udasis  who  also  gradually  took  control  of 
the  Sikh  places  of  worship.  When  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  evacuated  the  Fort  of  Anandpur 
along  with  his  Sikhs,  an  Udasi  monk, 
Gurbakhsh  Das,  underlook  to  look  after  the 
local  shrines  such  as  Sis  Gahj  and  Kesgarh 
Sahib.  When  after  the  death  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh,  one  Gulab  Rai,  an  impostor,  proclaimed 
himself  guru  at  Anandpur  and  tried  to  take 
possession  of  the  shrines,  Gurbakhsh  Das 
thwarted  his  scheme.  Gurbakhsh  Das' 
successors  continued  to  look  after  the 
Anandpur  shrines  till  their  management,  was 
taken  over  hi  recent,  times  by  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee.  At  Nanded 
where  Guru  Gobind  Singh  passed  away, 
Mahant  Ishar  Das  Udasi  performed  the  services 
at  Darbar  Guru  Gobind  Singh  (Hazur  Sahib) 
and  managed  the  shrine  from  1765  15k/ AD  1708 
to  1782  lik/AD  1725.  Me  was  succeeded  by  his 
disciple  Gopal  Das  Udasi,  who  remained  in 
charge  of  Darbar  Hazur  Sahib  up  to  1803  Ilk/ 
Al)  1746.  Gopal  Das  was  succeeded  by  his 


disciple  Saran  Das  Udasi,  who  served  the  shrine 
for  a  long  period  of  30  years.  After  Saran  Das 
the  control  of  the  Darbar  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  Sikhs  who  had,  by  that  time,  come  from 
the  Punjab  in  considerable  numbers  and 
settled  at  Nanded.  In  1768  ilk/ AD  171 1  an  Udasi 
sadhu,  Sant  Gopal  Das,  popularly  known  as 
Goddar  Faquir,  was  appointed  granthi  at  the 
Harimandar  at  Amritsar  by  Bhai  ManI  Singh, 
sent  to  Amritsar  as  custodian  of  the  shrine  by 
Mata  Sundari.  Gopal  Das  was  later  replaced 
by  another  Udasi,  Bhai  Chahchal  Singh,  a 
pious  and  devoted  Sikh. 

Udasis  recruit  their  followers  from  all 
castes  and  professions.  In  their  religious 
practices  they  differ  from  the  Sikhs,  though 
they  revere  Guru  Nanak  and  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  like  all  other  Sikhs.  In  their  monasteries, 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  the  scripture  that  is  read. 
They  do  not  subscribe  to  the  Sikh  rites.  Their 
ardas  also  varies.  Ringing  of  bells  (ghanti  or 
gharikl),  blowing  instruments  (narsingha  or 
singhi)  form  part  of  their  religious  service. 
They  worship  icons  of  Guru  Nanak  and  Baba 
Sri  Chand.  Their  salutations  are  Vahguru 
(Glory  of.  the  God),  Gajo  ji  Vahguru  (Hail 
aloud  the  glorious  Lord)  or  Alakh  (Hail  the 
Unknowable).  The  Udasis  believe  that  after 
gaining  matra  one  can  attain  param  tattva  (the 
highest  truth)  and  achieve  mukti  (release). 
The  term  matra,  lit.  a  measure  or  quantity, 
stands  in  prosody  and  grammar  for  the  length 
of  time  required  to  pronounce  a  short  vowel. 
But  the  term  has  acquired  an  extended 
meaning  in  the  Udasi  tradition,  signifying  an 
incantation  or  sacred  text.  An  Udasi  matra  is 
the  sacred  formula  addressed  to  the  disciples 
as  counsel  and  advice.  There  are  a 
considerable  number  of  these  matras 
attributed  to  Guru  Nanak,  Baba  Sri  Chand, 
Baba  Gurditta,  Almast  and  Balu  Hasna.  But  the 
matras  attributed  to  Sri  Chand  have  special 
significance  for  the  Udasis  and  are  highly 
cherished  by  them. 

Some  of  the  Udasis  wear  white  while 
others  prefer  gcri'ik  (ochre)  or  red-coloured 


UDAS! 


379 


uddoke 


garments.  Those  belonging  to  the  Nanga  sect 
remain  naked,  wearing  nothing  except  a  brass 
chain  around  their  waist.  Some  wear  matted 
hair  and  apply  ashes  over  their  body.  Some 
wear  cord  worn  around  the  head,  neck  and 
waist.  They  abstain  from  alcohol,  but  not 
infrequently  use  bhang  (hemp),  charas  and 
opium.  They  practise  celibacy. 

Besides  disseminating  the  word  of  Guru 
Nanak,  Udasi  centres  serve  as  seminaries  of 
Sikh  learning.  Chelas,  i.e.  disciples,  gather 
around  the  head  of  the  monastery  who 
instructs  them  in  Sikh  and  old  classical  texts. 
The  heads  of  these  centres  travelled  with  their 
pupils  to  places  of  pilgrimage  and  participated 
in  debate  and  discourse. 

The  Udasi  bungas  or  rest  houses  around 
the  Harimandar  were  among  the  prominent 
centres  of  learning.  Udasi  cloister  at  Amritsar, 
Brahm  Buta  Akhara,  ran  a  Gurmukhi  school 
which  attracted  a  considerable  number  of 
pupils.  Some  Udasi  centres  also  imparted 
training  in  Indian  system  of  medicine  and 
physiology.  One  such  seat  was  the  buhga  of 
Pandit  Sarup  Das  Udasi  who  was  a  great  scholar 
as  well  as  an  authority  on  Charaka  Samhita, 
the  famous  treatise  on  Ayurveda. 

In  the  troubled  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century  when  Sikhs  suffered  severe 
persecution,  the  Udasi  sadhus  took  charge  of 
their  places  of  worship.  Their  control  of  the 
holy  shrines  lasted  until  the  opening  decades 
of  the  twentieth  century  when  Sikhs  through 
an  enactment  of  the  Punjab  Legislative  Council 
had  the  management  cen  tralized  in  the  hands 
of  a  democratically  elected  board.  The  Udasis, 
however,  have  their  own  deras  and  monasteries 
spread  all  over  the  country.  The  most 
important  of  their  centres  in  the  North  are 
Brahm  Buta  Akhara  and  Sahgalanvala  Akhara 
at  Amritsar,  Nirahjania  Akhara  at  Patiala  and 
the  Pahchaiti  Akhara  at  Haridvar. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Randhir  Singh,  Bhai,  Udasi  Sikhan  di  Vithiya. 
Amritsar,  1959 


2.  Nara,  Ishar  Singh,  ItihasBaba  Sri  Chand Ji Sahib 
ale  Udasin  Sampardai.  Amritsar,  1975 

3.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Cuius,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford,  1909 

M.K. 

UDDA,  BHAI,  ajatt  of  Harike  in  present-day 
Amritsar  district  of  the  Punjab,  received 
initiation  at  the  hands  of  Guru  Arjan.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Bhai  Gahgu  and  Bhai  Nau, 
Bhai  Rama  'and  Bhai  Dharma,  who  were  also 
initiated  along  with  him.  The  Guru,  according 
to  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth,  advised  them  to  repeat  the  Name 
Vahiguru  and  love  all  men.  This  was,  he  said, 
the  path  to  freedom  from  the  shackles  of  birth 
and  death.  Bhai  Udda  became  known  as  a 
pious  Sikh.  He  also  trained  himself  as  a  soldier 
and  took  part  in  Guru  Hargobind's  batde  with 
Mughal  troops  at  Amritsar  (1629). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Siiigh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  19 

T.S. 

UDDOKE,  a  village  about  10  km  from  Batala 
(31"-49'N,  75"-12'E),  on  the  boundary 
between  Amritsar  and  Gurdaspur  districts  of 
the  Punjab,  is  sacted  to  Guru  Nanak,  who  stayed 
here  on  his  way  to  Batala,  where  he  got  married 
in  September  1487.  Uddoke  is  in  fact  divided 
into  two  villages,  Uddoke  Khurd  and  Uddoke 
Kalaii,  without  a  distinct  line  to  separate  them. 
The  shrine  dedicated  to  Guru  Nanak  is  in 
Uddoke  Khurd  which  falls  in  Amritsar  district, 
the  other  part  lying  in  the  district  of 
Gurdaspur.  According  to  Sri  Guru  Tirath 
Sahgrahi  by  Tara  Singh  Narotam,  the 
bridegroom  here  performed  the  ceremony  of 
cutting  a  twig  from  a  jand  tree.  The  Gurdwara, 
formerly  called  Kotha  Sahib,  is  now  named 
Gurdwara  Thamm  Sahib  Patshahi  I  ate 


UDK  SINGH 


380 


UDHAM  SINGH 


Damdama  Sahib  Patshahi  VI.  The  latter  part 
of  the  name  was  added  in  the  belief  that  Guru 
Hargobind,  the  Sixth  Guru,  also  stopped  over 
here  when  travelling  to  Batala  with  the 
wedding  party  of  his  son,  Baba  Gurditta.  The 
present  building,  comprising  a  square  sanctum 
within  a  high-ceilinged  hall,  was  constructed 
in  1942.  The  dome  above  the  sanctum  has  a 
brass  pinnacle  and  an  umbrella-shaped  finial. 
Square  shaped  domed  kiosks  rise  above  the 
corners  of  the  hall.  The  Gurdwara  is  maintained 
by  the  local  sarigat  of  the  twin  villages. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sahgrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian. 
Amritsar,  n.d 

M.G.S. 

UDE  SINGH  (d.  1705),  warrior  and  martyr,  was 
the  third  of  the  sons  of  Bhai  Mani  Ram,  a 
Parmar  Rajput  of  'Alipur  in  Multan  district 
(now  in  Pakistan).  Ude  Singh  along  with  four 
of  his  other  brothers  received  the  rites  of  the 
Khalsa  on  the  historic  Baisakhi  day,  30  March 
1699.  He  was  among  the  trusted  25  who 
constituted  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  escort  and 
took  a  leading  part  in  battles  fought  in-  or 
around  Anandpur  after  the  creation  of  the 
Khalsa.  Already  in  1698  he  had  proved  his  skill 
as  a  musketeer  when  he  killed  a  tiger  during 
the  chase.  He  had  daringly  wounded  and 
overcome  Balia  Chand,  who  along  with  another 
hill  chieftain,  'Alam  Chand,  had  surprised  the 
Guru  while  hunting  in  the  valley.  On  the  eve 
of  the  first  battle  of  Anandpur  in  1700,  Ude 
Singh,  after  assisting  in  the  strengthening  of 
defences,  took  over  command  of  the  reserve. 
According  to  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Giir 
Pratiip  Suraj  Granth,  it  was  through  him  that 
Sahibzada  Ajit  Singh,  the  eldest  son  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh,  asked  for  his  father's 
permission  to  take  part  in  the  combat.  The 
Guru  acceded  to  the  request  but  asked  Ude 
Singh  to  accompany  him  with  100  warriors. 


Ude  Singh  fought  valiantly  in  the  battle  that 
ensued  and,  although  wounded  severely 
during  the  first  day's  battle,  he  participated  in 
the  night  attack  launched  against  the  besieger 
and  killed  in  single  combat  the  following  day 
Raja  Kesri  Chand  of  Jasvan.  He  fought  with 
similar  distinction  in  the  battles  of 
Nirmohgarh,  Basoli  and  Kalmot  and  in  the  last 
battle  of  Anandpur  Ude  Singh  took  over 
command  of  the  rearguard  from  Sahibzada 
Ajit  Singh  as  the  besieged  were  marching  out 
after  evacuating  Anandpur  on  the  night  of  5-6 
December  1705.  He  was  killed  fighting 
desperately  against  the  pursuing  host,  vastly 
superior  in  numbers,  at  a  low  mound  called 
Shahi  or  Siahi  Tibbi,  6  km  south  of  Kiratpur. 
A  small  gurdwara.  at  Shahi  Tibbi  now  honours 
his  memory. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10,  ed.  Shamsher 
Singh  Ashok.  Patiala,  1968 

2.  Sukha  Singh,  Gurbilas  Dasvin  Patshahi.  Lahore, 
1912 

3.  Sainapati,  Sri  Gur  Sobha,  ed.  Ganda  Singh. 
Patiala,  1967 

4.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

5.  Seva  Singh,  Shahid  Bilas,  ed.  Giani  Garja  Singh. 
Lndhiana,  1961 

P.S. 

UDHAM  SINGH  (1882-1926),  revolutionary 
and  Ghadr  leader,  was  born  on  15  March  1882 
at  the  village  of  Kasel  in  Amritsar  district.  His 
father's  name  was  Meva  Singh  and  mother's 
Hukam  Kaur.  He  passed  his  early  years  in  his 
village  grazing  cattle  and  working  on  the 
family's  small  farm.  He  had  had  no  formal 
education.  In  1907,  he  left  home  to  seek  his 
fortune  abroad.  He  first  went  to  Penang  and 
then  to  Taping,  in  the  Malay  States,  where  he 
became  a  signaller  in  the  Malay  States  Guides. 
There  he  picked  up  Malay  and  English 
languages,  but  resigned  from  the  Guides  and 
left  for  the  United  States  of  America.  In  the 


UDHAM  SINGH 


381 


UDHAM  SINGH 


States,  he  came  in  contact  with  revolutionaries 
such  as  Bhai  Sohan  Singh  Bhakna,  Bhai  Javala 
Singh  and  Sant  Vasakha  Singh,  who  helped 
him  in  securing  a  job  in  a  lumber  mill  in 
Oregon  State.  Odham  Singh  was  soon  drawn 
into  the  Ghadr  movement.  When  the  Ghadr 
leaders  decided  to  return  to  India  to  raise  an 
armed  revolt  Odham  Singh  was  appointed  one 
of  the  "generals"  for  imparting  military 
training  to  the  volunteers.  On  his  way  back 
home,  he  visited  Canton  and  Penang  to 
purchase  arms.  On  reaching  India  on  board 
the  Tosha  Maru,  he  was  arrested  and  sent  to 
Multan  jail.  He  was  tried  in  what  is  known  as 
the  first  Lahore  conspiracy  case  and  was 
sentenced  to  transportation  for  life.  Odham 
Singh  was  sent  to  the  Andamans  and  later  to 
Coimbatore.  In  1921,  he  escaped  from  jail  and, 
after  many  a  hair-raising  adventure,  reached 
the  Punjab  from  where  he  went  on  to  Kabul. 
In  Kabul,  he  set  up  the  Khalsa  Diwan  and 
sought  the  Afghan  king's  permission  for  Sikhs 
to  assemble  in  religious  congregation  at 
Gurdwara  Chashma  Sahib,  sacred  to  Guru 
Nanak,  about  10  km  from  Jalalabad.  Pie  used 
to  make  visits  to  Amritsar  on  the  Baisakhi 
festival  incognito.  He  remained  in  touch  with 
Akali  leaders  such  as  Teja  Singh  Samundri  and 
Master  Tara  Singh  and  advocated  the 
formation  of  a  secret  society  of  Sikhs  under 
the  auspices  of  the  ShiromanI  Akali  Dal.  On 
20  January  1926,  he  was,  while  returning  to 
Kabul  from  one  of  his  visits  to  Amritsar,  waylaid 
by  two  Padians  and  murdered.  The  Pathans 
were  boycotted  by  their  community  when  they 
heard  stories  of  the  revolutionary  career  of 
Udham  Singh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jasjaswant  Singh,  DeshBhagat Babe. Jalandhar,  1975 

2.  Deol,  Gurdev  Singh,  Ghadar  Parti  ate  Bharat  da 
Qaumi  Andolan.  Amritsar,  1970 

3.  Jagjit  Singh,  Ghadar  Parti  Lahir.  Delhi,  1979 

4.  Sainsara,  Gurcharan  Singh,  Ghadar  Parti  da 
Itihas.  Jalandhar,  1969 

S.SJ. 


UDPIAM  SINGH  (1899-1940),  a  militant 
nationalist,  was  born  Sher  Singh  on  26 
December  1899,  at  Sunam,  in  the  then  princely 
state  of  Patiala.  His  father,  Tahal  Singh,  was  at 
that  time  working  as  a  watchman  on  a  railway 
crossing  in  the  neighbouring  village  of  UpalL 
Sher  Singh  lost  his  parents  before  he  was  seven 
years  and  was  admitted  along  with  his  brother 
Mukta  Singh  to  the  Central  Khalsa  Orphanage 
at  Amritsar  on  24  October  1907.  As  both 
brothers  were  administered  the  Sikh  minatory 
rites  at  the  Orphanage,  they  received  new 
names,  Sher  Singh  becoming  Udham  Singh 
and  Mukta  Singh  Sadhu  Singh.  In  1917, 
Odham  Singh's  brother  also  died,  leaving  him 
alone  in  the  world. 

Odham  Singh  left  the  Orphanage  after 
passing  the  matriculation  examination  in  1918. 
He  was  present  in  the  Jalliahvala  Bagh  on  the 
fateful  Baisakhi  day,  13  April  1919,  when  a 
peaceful  assembly  of  people  was  fired  upon 
by  General  Reginald  Edward  Harry  Dyer,  killing 
over  one  thousand  people.  The  event  which 
Odham  Singh  used  to  recall  with  anger  and 
sorrow,  turned  him  to  the  path  of  revolution. 
Soon  after,  he  left  India  and  went  to  the  United 
States  of  America.  He  felt  thrilled  to  learn 
about  the  militant  acdvides  of  the  Babar  Akalis 
in  the  early  1920's,  and  returned  home.  He 
had  secredy  brought  with  him  some  revolvers 
and  was  arrested  by  the  police  in  Amritsar,  and 
sentenced  to  four  years'  imprisonment  under 
the  Arms  Act.  On  release  in  1931,  he  returned 
to  his  native  Sunam,  but  harassed  by  the  local 
police,  he  once  again  returned  to  Amritsar  and 
opened  a  shop  as  a  signboard  painter,  assuming 
the  name  of  Ram  Muhammad  Singh  Azad. 
This  name,  which  he  was  to  use  later  in 
England,  was  adopted  to  emphasize  the  unity 
of  all  the  religious  communides  in  India  in 
their  struggle  for  political  freedom. 

Odham  Singh  was  deeply  influenced  by 
the  activities  of  Bhagat  Singh  and  his 
revolutionary  group.  In  1932,  when  he  was  on 
a  visit  to  Kashmir,  he  was  found  carrying  Bhagat 
Singh's  portrait.  He  invariably  referred  to  him 


UDHAM  SINGH 


382 


UDHAM  SINGH  NAGOKE 


as  his  guru.  He  loved  to  sing  political  songs, 
and  was  very  fond  of  Ram  Prasad  Bismal,  who 
was  the  leading  poet  of  the  revolutionaries. 
After  staying  for  some  months  in  Kashmir, 
Odham  Singh  left  India.  He  wandered  about 
the  continent  for  some  time,  and  reached 
England  by  the  mid-thirties.  He  was  on  the 
lookout  for  an  opportunity  to  avenge  the 
Jallianvala  Bagh  tragedy.  The  long-waited 
moment  at  last  came  on  13  March  1940.  On 
that  day,  at  4.30  p.m.  in  the  Caxton  Hall, 
London,  where  a  meeting  of  the  East  India 
Association  was  being  held  in  conjunction  with 
the  Royal  Central  Asian  Society,  Odham  Sirigh 
fired  five  to  six  shots  from  his  pistol  at  Sir 
Michael  O'Dwyer,  who  was  governor  of  the 
Punjab  when  the  Amritsar  massacre  had  taken 
place.  O'Dwyer  was  hit  twice  and  fell  to  the 
ground  dead  and  Lord  Zetland,  the  Secretary 
of  State  for  India,  who  was  presiding  over  the 
meeting  was  injured.  Odham  Singh  was 
overpowered  with  a  smoking  revolver.  He  in 
fact  made  no  attempt  to  escape  and  continued 
saying  that  he  had  done  his  duty  by  his  country. 

On  1  April  1940,  Udham  Singh  was 
formally  charged  with  the  murder  of  Sir 
Michael  O'Dwyer.  On  4  June  1940,  he  was 
committed  to  trial,  at  the  Central  Criminal 
Court,  Old  Bailey,  before  Justice  Atkinson,  who 
sentenced  him  to  death.  An  appeal  was  filed 
on  his  behalf  which  was  dismissed  on  15  July 
1940.  On  31  July  1940,  Odham  Singh  was 
hanged  in  Pentonville  Prison  in  London. 

Udham  Singh  was  essentially  a  man  of 
action  and  save  his  statement  before  thejudge 
at  his  trial,  there  was  no  writing  from  his  pen 
available  to  historians.  Recently,  letters  written 
by  him  to  Shiv  Singh  Jauhal  during  his  days  in 
prison  after  the  shooting  of  Sir  Michael 
O'Dwyer  have  been  discovered  and  published. 
These  letters  show  him  as  a  man  of  great 
courage,  will)  a  sense  of  humour.  He  called 
himself  a  guest  of  His  Majesty  King  George, 
and  he  looked  upon  death  as  a  bride  he  was 
going  to  wed.  By  remaining  cheerful  to  the 
last  and  going  joyfully  to  the  gallows,  he 


followed  the  example  of  Bhagat  Singh  who  had 
been  his  beau  ideaJ.  During  the  trial,  Odham 
Singh  had  made  a  request  that  his  ashes  be 
sent  back  to  his  country,  but  this  was  not 
allowed.  In  1975,  however,  the  Government  of 
India,  at  the  instance  of  the  Punjab 
Government,  finally  succeeded  in  bringing  his 
ashes  home.  Lakhs  of  people  gathered  on  the 
occasion  to  pay  homage  to  his  memory 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Grewal,  J.S.  and  Puri,  H.K.,  eds.,  Letters  of 
Udham  Singh.  Amritsar,  1974 

2.  Fauja  Singh,  Eminent  Freedom  Fighters  of 
Punjab.  Patiala,  1972 

3.  Nahar  Singh,  Giani,  Azadi  dian  Lahirah. 
Ludhiana,  1960 

Mn.S.G. 

ODHAM  SINGH  NAGOKE  (1894-1966),  one 
of  the  village  triumvirate  which  grew  in 
importance  and  influence  with  the  years  and 
left  its  decisive  imprint  on  the  modern  period 
of  the  Majha  country.  It  shared  with  two  others 
its  name.  The  trio  were  Jadiedar  Odham  Singh 
Nagoke,  Mohan  Singh  Nagoke  (1896-1969) 
and  Giani  Kartar  Singh  (1902-1974).  All  three 
of  them  originally  belonged  to  the  village  of 
Nagoke.  Giani  Kartar  Singh  had  from  among 
them  migrated  to  the  newly  developed  canal 
colony  of  Lyallpur  and  almost  completely 
identified  himself  with  its  concerns.  Yet,  all 
three  of  them  were  counted  among  the  proud 
products  of  Nagoke. 

The  senior  among  them,  Odham  Singh, 
was  born  in  1894,  the  son  of  Bhai  Bela  Singh 
and  Mai  Atar  Kaur  in  the  fertile  village  of 
Nagoke  in  Amritsar  district.  The  broad- 
chested,  six-footer,  Odham  Singh  Nagoke  was 
born  for  a  career  in  the  army  and  the  army 
indeed  was  his  first  choice.  But  he  stayed  in 
the  army  only  for  a  very  short  time.  Irked  by 
the  strict  army  regimen,  he  took  out  his 
discharge  in  1920. 

Odham  Singh  Nagoke  and  his  friends 
veered  over  to  an  active  role  in  Sikh  affairs. 


UDHAM  SINGH  NAGOKE 


383 


UGANl 


The  Nankana  Sahib  tragedy  of  1921  opened 
many  new  doors  and  many  an  ambitious  youth 
sought  berth  in  the  political  arena.  Udham 
Singh  took  a  special  interest  in  shrine  reform. 
He  participated  in  the  Akali  agitation  for  the 
recovery  of  the  keys  of  the  Goden  Temple 
treasury  taken  away  under  the  orders  of  the 
British  deputy  commissioner  of  Amritsar.  It  was 
counted  a  signal  victory  for  the  Akalis  when 
the  deputy  commissioner's  representative 
turned  up  at  the  Golden  Temple  premises  to 
return  the  bunch  of  keys  ded  in  a  red  piece  of 
cloth.  Udham  Singh  Nagoke  was  sentenced  to 
six  months  in  jail  and  was  among  the  last 
volunteers  to  be  released  in  this  case.  He  also 
joined  the  Guru  ka  Bagh  agitation  and  suffered 
severe  police  atrocity.  During  the  agitation  at 
Jaito,  in  the  twenties  of  the  century,  Udham 
Singh  was  Jathedar  of  the  Akal  Takht  and  was 
scheduled  to  lead  the  first  Shahidljatfia  or  the 
martyrs'  column,  to  the  scene  of  the  agitation. 
But  he  was  arrested  on  the  eve  of  its  departure, 
on  8  February  1924,  and  was  sent  to  jail  for 
two  years  which  period  of  time  he  spent  in 
Central  Jail,  Multan.  On  his  release  in  1926, 
he  was  again  appointed  Jathedar  of  Akal  Takht. 
By  then  the  Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act  had  been 
placed  on  the  statute  book.  In  the  elections 
held  under  this  Act,  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  and  continued  to  be  elected  or  co- 
opted  to  it  till  1954.  During  this  time  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Darbar  Sahib  Committee  from 
1930  to  1933,  and  saw  the  creation  of  the 
monumental  building  Guru  Ram  Das  Nivas,  the 
pilgrims'  inn.  He  was  elected  president  of  the 
Shiromani  Committee  in  1948  and  again  in 
1952. 

In  1929,  Jathedar  Udham  Singh  Nagoke 
spearheaded  Punjab  Peasants'  protest  against 
the  increase,  in  agrarian  taxation  and  was 
imprisoned  for  one  year.  He  participated  in  the 
civil  disobedience  movement  started  by  the 
Indian  National  Congress  and  served  another 
year  in  custody.  In  1935,  he  was  elected 
president  of  the  Shiromani  Akali  Dal.  The 


freedom  campaign  claimed  another  four  years 
of  his  life,  1936-39.  Another  term  in  jail  awaited 
him  in  March  1942  under  the  Defence  of  India 
Rules.  In  the  "Quit  India"  movement  he 
suffered  jail  for  three  years. 

After  his  release  at  the  end  of  the  Second 
World  War,  Jathedar  Nagoke  was  elected  to  the 
Punjab  Legislative  Assembly  in  1946.  In  1952 
he  was  appointed  head  of  the  Bharat  Sevak 
Samaj ,  a  front  organization  of  the  Congress  Party, 
and  was  elected  to  the  Rajya  Sabha  in  1953  as 
a  Congress  nominee  which  position  he  held 
up  to  1960.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Punjab 
Pradesh  Congress  executive  during  this  period. 

In  1960  he  joined  Rajagopalacharya's 
Swatantra  Party  and  headed  its  Punjab  Branch 
in  1960-61.  He  served  a  term  in  jail  in  1960  in 
the  Punjabi  Suba  agitation. 

Udham  Singh  Nagoke  was  a  sure-footed 
politician,  never  resiling  from  the  resolve  he 
had  once  made.  He  was  famous  for  his  ready 
wit  and  repartee  and  for  his  strong  character. 

In  1947,  he  rendered  a  unique  service  to 
the  city  of  the  Golden  Temple  by  keeping  at 
bay  a  whole  angry  mob  bent  on  attack  and 
arson.  He  lost  his  wife  soon  after  his  marriage 
in  the  village  of  Dhilvah,  district  Kapurthala, 
but  he  never  married  again.  In  spite  of  his  very 
stout  physique,  his  health  deteriorated  because 
of  frequent  jail-going  and  he  died  at  the 
Postgraduate  Institute  of  Medical  Sciences  at 
Chandigarh  on  11  January  1966. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Kameti  da  Pahjah  Sala  Itihas. 
Amritsar,  1982 

2.  Pratap  Singh  GianI,  Akali  Lahir  de  Mahan  Neta. 
Amritsar,  1976 

3.  — .  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat  Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar, 
1975 

G.S.Dh. 

UGANI,  a  small  village  10  km  from  Rajpura 
(30°-28'N,  76°-37'E),  in  Patiala  district,  has  its 
twin  shrines  dedicated  to  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 


UGARU,  BHAI 


384 


UJAGAR  SINGH,  BHAI 


and  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Both  are  located  in 
the  same  building,  constructed  by  Maharaja 
Karam  Singh  of  Patiala  (1798-1845).  The 
Gurdwara  comprises  three  small  rooms  in  a 
row.  The  rooms  on  the  sides  have  low  domes 
above  them  and  low  platforms  within.  The  one 
on  the  right  is  dedicated  to  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  ;  the  next  building  is  dedicated  to 
Guru  Gobind  Singh.  The  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
is  seated  in  the  flat-roofed  room  in  the  middle. 
The  Gurdwara  is  managed  by  the  ShiromanI 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee  through  a 
local  committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavan  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

2.  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sahgrahi.  Amritsar,  n.d 

3.  Gurmukh  Singh,    Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

M.G.S 

UGARU,  BHAI,  a  native  of  Dalla,  a  village  in 
present-day  Kapurthala  district  of  the  Punjab, 
was  a  devout  Sikh  of  the  time  of  Guru  Amar 
Das.  He  was  among  diose  who  waited  upon  the 
Guru  when  he  visited  Dalla  and  received 
initiation  at  his  hands. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI. 16 

B.S.D 

UGRASAIN,  BHAI,  a  devoted  Sikh  of  the  time 
of  Guru  Amar  Das.  He  lived  at  the  village  of 
Dalla  in  present-day  Kapurthala  district  of  the 
Punjab,  and  received  instruction  at  the  hands 
of  Guru  Amar  Das  himself. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 


2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa. 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

4.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  16 

B.S.D 

UGVANDA,  BHAI,  an  Arora  resident  of 
Chuniah,  now  in  Lahore  district  of  Pakistan 
Punjab,  received  initiation  at  the  hands  of  Guru 
Arjan.  The  name  of  Bhai  Ugvanda  occurs  in 
Bhai  Gurdas,  Varan,  XI.  23. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

UJAGAR  SINGH,  BHAI  (1902-1921),  one  of 
the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  born  on  10 
June  1902,  the  son  of  Bhai  Jagat  Singh  and  Mai 
Dial  Kaur  of  Chakk  64  Bandala  Nihaloana  in 
Lyallpur  (now  Faisalabad)  district  of  Pakistan. 
He  learnt  Gurmukhi  at  the  village  gurdwara 
and  was  able  fluently  to  recite  passages  from 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  and  stories  of  the  Sikh 
martyrs.  Ujagar  Singh  grew  up  into  a  handsome 
youth,  strong  of  limb  and  fair-complexioned. 
Losing  his  three  wedded  wives  successively,  he 
lost  interest  in  worldly  affairs  and  turned  to 
religious  pursuit  instead.  He  pardcipated  in  the 
liberation  of  Sri  Darbar  Sahib,  Tarn  Taran,  and 
in  that  of  Gurdwara  Bhai  Joga  Singh  at 
Peshawar.  Finally,  he  fell  a  martyr  in  the  firing 
upon  the  pilgrims  to  Gurdwara Janam  Asthan, 
Nankana  Sahib,  who  were  showered  with 
bullets  by  the  opponents  of  reform  as  they 
entered  the  premises  to  offer  their  prayers  on 
the  morning  of  20  Feburary  1921. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G 


UJJAL  SINGH,  SARDAR 


385 


UJJAL  SINGH,  SARDAR 


UJJAL  SINGH,  SARDAR  (1895-1983), 
parliamentarian,  expert  in  finance  and 
governor,  was  the  younger  of  the  two  sons  of 
Sujan  Singh  and  Lakshmi  Devi,  a  family  that 
traced  their  ancestry  back  to  Bhai  Sahgat  Singh, 
one  of  the  Chamkaur  Sahib  martyrs  dying  with 
two  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  elder  sons  in  1705. 
A  tradesman  by  profession,  Sujan  Singh  turned 
to  real  estate.  He  came  by  much  prosperity  this 
way.  In  his  till  then  little  known  village  of 
Hadali,  Ujjal  Singh  was  born  on  27  December 
1895  in  Sindh-Sagar  Doab  of  the  Punjab  (now 
in  Pakistan).  His  education  began  in  the 
conventional  way.  From  the  Gurmukhi  school 
he  went  to  Makatab  madarsk  to  learn  Urdu  and 
Persian.  He  then  went  to  the  Khalsa  Collegiate 
School  at  Amritsar.  He  finished  his  University 
education  at  Government  College  Lahore, 
where  he  received  his  Master's  degree  in 
history.  He  distinguished  himself  as  a  sportsman 
and  excelled  in  hockey.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  college  Hockey  XI.  From  the  University 
he  went  to  the  family's,  farms  and  orchards  in 
Sargodha  district.  Attracted  by  the  opportunities 
offered  by  work  in  the  new  city  of  Delhi,  then 
under  construction,  his  father  and  elder 
brother  moved  to  Delhi.  Ujjal  Singh  remained 
behind  to  manage  the  vast  family  acreage  in 
Multan  district  which  extended  from  one 
railway  station,  Mian  Channu,  to  the  next,  Kot 
Sujan  Singh  named  after  his  father.  He  also 
exhibited  interest  in  Sikh  political  affairs  and 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Punjab  Legislative 
Council  in  1926.  He  retained  the  constituency 
till  after  the  independence  of  India.  Till  1956, 
he  continued  to  be  a  member  without  a  break. 
In  1956  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the 
Finance  Commission.  He  also  became  a 
member  of  the  first  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee.  He  was  Parliamentary 
Secretary  (Home)  in  the  Unionist  ministry  in 
Punjab  from  1937  to  1942,  when'he  resigned 
during  the  Quit  India  movement.  He  was 
nominated  as  a  Sikh  representative  to  the  1st 
and  2nd  Round  Table  Conferences  held  in 
London  to  discuss  constitutional  reforms  for 


India,  and  was  also  a  member  of  the  Viceroy's 
Consultative  Committee  on  Reforms,  but  he 
resigned  in  August  1932  as  a  protest  against 
the  Communal  Award  which  had  been  rejected 
by  the  Sikhs  because  it  had  ignored  their 
interests  as  an  important  minority.  Ujjal  Singh 
was  also  a  member  of  the  Sikh  delegadon  that 
submitted  a  memorandum  to  Sir  Stafford 
Cripps  in  March  1942.  He  was  chosen  by  the 
government  to  be  one  of  the  Indian  delegates 
to  United  Nations'  Conference  on  Food  and 
Agriculture  held  in  Quebec  (Canada)  in  1945. 
In  1946  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Constituent  Assembly  for  preparing  a 
constitution  for  free  India. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  Partition,  1947, 
Ujjal  Singh  had  to  abandon  his  vast  estates  in 
Pakistan  and  cross  over  to  India  as  a  homeless 
refugee.  For  a  time  he  found  shelter  with  his 
elder  brother,  Sir  Sobha  Singh,  in  Delhi  and 
then  bought  a  house  of  his  own  in  Mashobra 
(Shimla).  He  was  re-elected  to  the  newly 
constituted  Legislative  Council  of  East  Punjab 
and  served  as  Minister  of  Industries  and  Civil 
Supplies,  and  again  as  Finance  and  Industries 
Minister  between  1949  and  1956.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Second  Finance  Commission 
set  up  by  Government  of  India  from  June  1956 
to  September  1957,  a  member  of  Punjabi 
University  Commission  set  up  in  1960, 
Governor  of  Punjab  from  1  September  1965 
to  27  June  1966  and  Governor  of  Tamil  Nadu 
from  28  June  1966  to  25  May  1971. 

Sardar  Ujjal  Singh  died  in  his  New  Delhi 
residence  on  15  February  1983. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Klmshwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Princeton,  1966 

2.  Gopal  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikh  People  (1469- 
1978).  Delhi,  1979 

3.  Bajwa,  Harcharan  Singh,  Fifty  Years  of  Punjab 
Politics  (1920-1970).  Chandigarh,  1979 

4.  Harbans  Singh,    The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs. 
Delhi,  1994 

M.G.S. 


UMARSHAH,  KHAI 


386 


'UMDAT  UT-TWAlilKH 


UMAR  SHAH,  BHAI,  a  Sanghajatt  of  village 
Darauli,  now  in  Faridkot  district  of  the  Punjab, 
was  appointed  a  masand  or  local  leader  by 
Guru  Arjan.  He  was  according  to  Bhai  Santokh 
Singh,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth,  among 
those  who  received  Guru  Arjan's  special 
blessing  for  their  dedicated  service  during  the 
digging  of  the  holy  pool  and  the  construction 
of  Harimandar  at  Amritsar.  He  was  also  among 
those  chosen  to  join  the  marriage  party  of 
(Guru)  Hargobind  in  February  1605.  His 
grandson,  Nand  Chand,  was  a  Diwan  or 
minister  as  well  as  a  military  commander  in 
the  time  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  He  took  part 
in  the  battle  of  BhahganI  in  1688. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  Ji  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varan,  XI.  22 

T.S. 

'UMDAT  UT-TWARIKH,  lit.  the  choicest  of 
histories,  by  Sohan  Lai  Suri,  is  a  chronicle,  in 
Persian,  primarily  of  the  reigns  of  Ranjit  Singh 
and  his  successors.  The  original  manuscript, 
in  five  volumes  in  shikastah  hand,  consisted  of 
some  7,000  pages.  A  lithographed  edition  of 
the  work  was  brought  out,  in  1880,  by  the 
author's  descendants,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Paiijab  University  College,  Lahore.  The 
Registrar  of  the  College,  G.W.  Leitner,  had  in 
fact  taken  the  manuscript  with  him  to  the 
International  Congress  of  Orientalists  (1879) 
held  at  Florence  where  it  was  put  on  display  : 
the  manuscript  was  then  returned  to 
Harbhagvan  Das,  the  grandson  of  the  author, 
from  whom  it  had  been  borrowed.  A 
committee  of  scholars  was  thereupon 
appointed  to  examine  the  work  on  whose 
recommendation  it  was  taken  up  for 
publication.  Volumes  III  and  IV  are  also  now 
available  in  English  translation  prepared  by  a 
modern  scholar,  VS.  Suri. 


In  five  volumes,  known  as  daftars,  the 
book  covers  the  period  from  1469,  the  year  of 
Guru  Nanak's  birth,  to  1849,  the  year  when 
the  British  annexed  the  Punjab.  Daftar  I  (pages 
166)  brings  the  story  of  the  evolution  of  the 
Sikh  faith  from  the  time  of  the  Founder,  Guru 
Nanak,  to  the  onslaughts  of  Ahmad  Shah 
Durrani  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  A  four-page  supplement  attached  to 
the  volume  gives  brief  information  about  some 
of  the  prominent  Sikh  courtiers.  Daftar  II 
(pages  408),  deals  with  the  lives  of  Charhat 
Singh,  Mahari  Singh  and  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh.  Daftar  III  (  pages  764),  subdivided  into 
five  parts,  is  a  chronicle  of  the  reign  of 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  from  1831  to  1839, 
ending  with  his  death.  It  records  the  day-to- 
day proceedings  of  the  Sikh  court,  including 
briefly  the  contents  of  letters  received  in  the 
court  from  governors,  princes,  army  generals 
or  reporters  from  different  parts  of  the 
kingdom.  The  first  part  covers  the  year  1831, 
the  second  part  comes  to  1836,  the  third  covers 
mainly  1836,  the  fourth  1838  and  the  fifth  part, 
beginning  with  the  birth  of  Prince  Duleep 
Singh  in  1838,  describes  some  important 
events  of  the  closing  years  of  the  Maharaja's 
life  such  as  his  meetings  with  Lord  Auckland 
at  Amritsar,  Lahore  and  Firozpur  and  the 
tripartite  treaty  with  Shah  Shuja'  and.  the 
British  government,  Daftar  IV  (pages  218)  is 
subdivided  into  three  parts,  with  the  first  part 
(pages  74)  dealing  with  the  reigns  of  Maharajas 
Kharak  Singh,  Nau  Nihal  Singh,  Sher  Singh 
and  Duleep  Singh  and  the  abrogation  of  Sikh 
rule  ;  the  second  part  (pages  56)  is  an  account 
of  the  life  of  Prince  Sher  Singh,  and  the  third 
part  (pages  88)  deals  with  the  reign  of  Sher 
Singh.  Daftar  V  (pages  175),  covering  the 
period  from  January  1845  to  March  1849,  deals 
with  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh  and  the  Anglo- 
Sikh  wars,  ending  in  the  annexation  of  the 
Punjab  to  the  British  dominions. 

Written  in  a  polished  literary  style, 
'Umdat  ut-Twarikh  is  a  very  comprehensive 
and  important  document  on  Sikh  times.  The 


UMRAO  SINGH  MAJlTHIA 


387 


UMRAO  SINGH  MAJlTHIA 


manuscript  copy,  presented  in  1831  to  Captain 
Wade,  the  East  India  Company's  political  agent 
at  Ludhiana,  is  still  preserved  in  the  Asiatic 
Society  Library  at  Calcutta.  It  was  at  Captain 
Wade's  request  that  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  had 
deputed  the  author  to  go  to  Ludhiana  to 
acquaint  him  with  "this  blessed  account." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kirpal  Singh,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

2.  Suri,  V.S.,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Chandigarh, 
1972-74 

B.S. 

UMRAO  SINGH  MAJlTHIA  (1870-1954), 
born  at  Majltha,  a  village  in  Amritsar  district, 
was  the  eldest  son  of  Raja  Surat  Singh  Majithia. 
Umrao  Singh  went  to  school  at  Amritsar  and 
later  joined  the  Aitchison  College,  Lahore.  He 
was  married  to  Narindar  Kumari,  daughter  of 
Gulab  Singh  of  Atari.  Together  they  visited 
England  in  1896.  They  went  again  in  1897  to 
attend  the  Diamond  Jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria. 
As  head  of  the  Majltha  family,  Umrao  Singh 
was  privileged  to  attend  the  Coronation  darbars 
in  1903  and  1910.  But  the  feeling  that  he 
belonged  to  a  subject  race  always  weighed 
heavily  on  his  mind.  Although  he  had  many 
friends  among  the  English,  he  kept  virtually 
aloof  amid  all  social  glitter.  He  began  to  be 
looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  the  British  and, 
in  secret  official  correspondence,  he  was 
termed  'disaffected.' 

Umrao  Singh's  second  wife,  Madame 
Antoinette,  was  a  Hungarian  lady  whom  he  had 
met  in  Lahore  at  the  house  of  Princess  Sofia 
Duleep  Singh.  He  married  her  in  1911.  In  the 
autumn  of  1912,  h  e  went  with  her  to  Budapest. 
While  he  was  still  there,  World  War  I  broke 
out  and  he  found  himself  stranded  in  an 
'enemy'  country.  Owing  pardy  to  his  being  a 
man  of  culture  and  intellect  and  pardy  on 
account  of  his  wife  not  having  abjured  her 
Hungarian  nationality,  he  was  not  interned.  He 
had  his  sympathies  with  the  India-Germany 


group,  then  conspiring  against  the  British.  The 
Germans  aimed  to  use  this  group  to  raise 
troops  to  invade  India  through  the  northwest. 
Raja  Mahendra  Partap  was  chosen  to  head  the 
movement.  An  expedition  under  Von  Hentig, 
equipped  with  a  personal  letter  from  Kaiser 
William  II  to  the  King  of  Afghanistan  and 
letters  from  German  Government  to  various 
ruling  princes  of  India,  was  despatched  in  1915 
along  with  Raja  Mahendra  Partap,  to  travel 
overland  to  Kabul.  Their  plan  was  to  win  over 
Afghanistan  and  march  a  German-Afghan 
army  into  India.  Mahendra  Partap  was  in  touch 
with  Umrao  Singh  who  was  related  to  him 
through  the  Atari  family.  In  the  autumn  of 
1915,  the  fortunes  of  the  war  hung  in  the 
balance  evenly.  From  Baghdad  Mahendra 
Partap  wrote  a  letter  to  Umrao  Singh  which 
made  him  feel  as  if  his  friend  had  begun  to 
waver. 

Umrao  Singh  wrote  to  him  a  long  letter 
to  lift  his  morale.  The  letter,  unfortunately,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  British.  The  Germans 
had  a  liaison  office  at  Shlraz.  In  tb  t  winter  of 
1916-17,  the  German  party  had  to  escape 
precipitately  leaving  behind  all  their  baggage. 
Among  the  papers  then  seized  by  the  British 
was  Umrao  Singh's  letter.  Complicity  of  Umrao 
Singh  in  anti-British  activities  could  no  longer 
be  in  doubt.  Steps  were  initiated  in  India  to 
confiscate  all  his  estates.  Umrao  Singh  returned 
to  India  in  1921,  after  the  general  amnesty  had 
been  granted  by  the  King  for  political  offences 
during  the  war. 

Umrao  Singh  eschewed  pontics  for  the 
rest  of  his  life.  From  1929  to  1934,  he  lived  in 
Paris  for  the  education  of  his  two  daughers, 
Amrita  and  Indira.  It  was  during  this  period 
that  Amrita  Sher-gil  got  the  training  in  art  that 
was  to  make  her  a  world  famous  painter.  The 
family  finally  returned  to  India  in  1934. 
Umrao  Singh  had  his  estate  in  Gorakhpur,  in 
Uttar  Pradesh,  and  had  built  a  house  in 
Summer  Hill,  Shimla,  where  he  spent  most  of 
his  time  amidst  his  vast  collection  of  books. 
The  death  of  their  daughter  Amrita  in  1941 


UNA 


388 


UNITY  CONFERENCE 


was  a  tremendous  shock.  His  wife,  Antoinette, 
passed  away  in  1948.  Umrao  Singh  died  in 
Delhi  on  17  December  1954. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  N.  Iqbal  Singh,  Amrita  Sher-gil  :  A  Biography. 
Delhi,  1984 

2.  Khandalavala,  Karl,  Amrita.  Sher-gil.  Bombay,  1944 

3.  Griffin  Lepel,  and  C.F.  Massy,    Chiefs  and 
Families  of  Note  in  the  Punjab.  Lahore,  1940 

R.R.J. 

UNA,  a  district  town  in  Himachal  Pradesh  on 
Naiigal-Amb  road,  is  sacred  to  Guru 
Hargobind  in  whose  memory  a  small  domed 
room  stands  in  a  walled  compound  southeast 
of  the  town  on  the  main  road.  It  is  under  the 
control  of  the  descendants  of Baba  Sahib  Singh 
Bedi  (1765-1834),  who  once  ruled  over  Una. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kahn  Singh,  Gurushaoad  Ratanakar  Mahan 
Kosh.  Patiala,  1983 

Gn.S. 

UNITY  CONFERENCE,  convened  on  3 
November  1932  at  Allahabad  by  a  small  group 
of  Hindu  and  Muslim  leaders  led  by  Pandit 
Madan  Mohan  Malviya  and  Maulana  Shaukat 
'All,  to  which  were  invited  delegates 
representing  a  broad  spectrum  of  Indian 
religious  communities,  interest  groups,  and 
political  organizations,  aimed  at  drafting 
agreements  concerning  Indian  constitutional 
advance  and  polititcal  representation  in 
provincial  and  central*  legislatures.  The 
conveners  of  the  conference  had  hoped  to 
demonstrate  India's  readiness  for  self- 
government  by  successfully  resolving 
competing  communal  demands  for  separate 
political  representation  and  by  producing  an 
agreement  to  substitute  for  the  terms  of  the 
Communal  Award  announced  by  the  British 
on  17  August  1932.  Although  previous  efforts 
at  developing  a  communal  settlement  had 
failed,  the  conveners  drew  encouragement 


from  events  in  the  wake  of  the  Award.  First, 
the  terms  of  the  Award  generated  widespread 
protest  among  groups  which  claimed  that  their 
interests  had  not  been  adequately  or  fairly 
represented.  Second,  Mahatma  Gandhi's 
initiative  had  secured  Hindu  agreement  in  the 
Poona  Pact  on  formulae  for  reservation  of  seats 
for  depressed  classes  in  place  of  the  separate 
electorates  as  provided  in  the  Award  which  the 
British  had  accepted. 

Pandit  Malviya  toured  the  Punjab 
conferring  with  Sikh  and  Hindu  leaders  and 
soliciting  their  participation.  The  conference 
opened  in  Allahabad  on  3  November  with  121 
elected  and  invited  delegates. 

Classified  by  religious  community,  there 
were  63  Hindus,  39  Muslims,  11  Sikhs  and  8 
Indian  Christians  in  attendance.  A  unity 
committee  was  appointed  on  the  first  day  to 
study  and  resolve  critical  issues  while  the  full 
conference  stood  adjourned.  Despite  attrition 
suffered  during  its  fortnight  of  deliberations, 
the  committee  on  17  November  produced  an 
agreement  for  ratification  by  groups 
represented  by  conference  delegates.  The 
agreement  proposal  included  a  basic  proviso 
that  all  of  its  conditions  be  considered  for 
adoption  without  revision.  Pandit  Malviya 
instructed  conference  delegates  to  work  for 
ratification  of  the  agreement  by  their  respective 
organizations  and  to  reconvene  by  the  middle 
of  December  in  order  to  adopt  it. 

The  unity  agreement  contained  a  number 
of  significant  features.  It  fixed  weightages  for 
Muslims  for  a  period  of  ten  years  at  the  level 
which  had  obtained  prior  to  the  Communal 
Award.  It  proposed  specific  formulae  for 
communal  representation  in  the  provincial 
legislatures.  In  general  they  provided  relatively 
greater  representation  than  did  the  Award  for 
minority  groups  by  reducing  representation 
for  majority  Hindus  and  for  Europeans.  The 
agreement  also  included  safeguard  clauses  for 
the  protection  of  religious  practices  in  order 
to  assure  the  minority  groups  their  right  to 
challenge  legislative  hills  which  might  be 


UNITY  CONFERENCE 


389 


UNITY  CONFERENCE 


injurious  to  the  traditions  of  their  community. 
These  compromises  were  designed  to  secure 
support  of  the  minorities  for  two  fundamental 
features  of  the  agreement,  the  demand  for 
establishment  of  a  national  central  government 
within  a  short  period  of  time  and  the 
replacement  of  separate  communal  electorates 
by  a  system  of  joint  electorates  with  reservation 
of  seats  for  various  communities. 

The  response  to  the  terms  of  the 
agreement  varied  widely.  The  Sikh  participants 
advocated  support  of  the  agreement,  claiming 
that  it  satisfied  the  major  demands  of  the 
community  in  the  following  provisions  dealing 
with  Punjab  :  (1)  at  least  one  Sikh  minister  ; 
(2)  a  procedure  to  appeal  against  legislative  or 
administrative  action  if  considered 
discriminatory  towards  Sikhs,  and  mandatory 
resignation  of  the  ministry  if  it  should  refuse 
to  abide  by  a  final  judicial  opinion  on  the 
matter  ;  (3)  the  reservation  of  20  per  cent  of 
seats  for  Sikhs  in  the  legislature  ;  and  (4^  Sikh 
representation  on  the  Punjab  Public  Service 
Commission.  The  agreement  was  also  in 
accord  with  the  Sikh  demands  in  regard  to 
the  central  government,  guaranteeing  four 
and  a  half  per  cent  representation  in  the 
legislature,  a  Sikh  Cabinet  member  for  the  first 
ten  years  and  a  Sikh  member  on  the  Public 
Service  Commission.  Assured  of  these 
safeguards,  the  Sikhs  agreed  to  the  reservation 
of  51  per  cent  seats  for  Muslims  in  the  Punjab 
legislature,  including  those  elected  from 
special  constituencies.  However,  Sikhs  in  the 
United  Provinces  and  in  Bengal  appealed  to 
their  brethren  to  support  their  further  claims 
for  special  minority  representation  in  those 
provinces.  Hence  the  Sikh  delegates  framed 
amendments  for  meeting  this  demand  for 
consideration  of  the  conference  in 
December. 

A  number  of  Muslim  organizations,  on 
the  other  hand,  criticized  the  agreement  as 
totally  untenable.  On  20  November  the  All- 
India  Muslim  League  convened  a  joint 
conference  of  the  council  of  the  League  and 


the  working  committee  of  the  All-India 
Muslim  Conference  and  the  Jamiat  ul-Ulema 
i-Hind  (Kanpur)  to  consider  the  agreement. 
This  conference  rejected  joint  electorates, 
demanded  specific  percentage  for  Muslim 
representation  in  the  provinces  and 
condemned  the  unity  agreement  as  one  which 
placed  Muslims  in  a  position  substantially 
worse  than  that  offered  by  the  Award.  The 
opposition  of  these  groups  prompted  a  second 
All-Parties  Muslim  Conference  in  Lucknow  on 
15-16  December  which  reconsidered  the  entire 
unity  agreement  and  drafted  amendment 
proposals. 

The  working  committee  of  the  Unity 
Conference  reconvened  in  December 
abandoned  its  insistence  that  the  entire 
agreement  be  maintained  without  any 
revision.  To  consider  the  various  proposed 
amendments,  it  nominated  a  sub-committee 
composed  of  six  Sikhs,  six  Muslims,  seven 
Hindus  and  four  Christians  to  resolve  the 
differences.  The  sub-committee  completed  its 
report,  widi  the  exception  of  a  solution  of  the 
problem  of  communal  representation  in 
Bengal,  and  submitted  it  to  the  whole 
conference  on  24  December.  The  delegates 
approved  the  agreement  in  principle,  but  they 
did  not  officially  adjourn  pending  setdements 
of  disputes  concerning  representation  in 
Bengal  and  Assam. 

It  was  not  found  possible  to  evolve  a 
formula  for  communal  representation  in 
Bengal  acceptable  to  all  the  parties  and  thus  a 
final  unity  agreement  could  not  be  reached. 
Proponents  of  the  original  conference  made 
sporadic  attempts  during  1933  to  bring  the 
delegates  together  once  again,  but  without 
success.  Although  the  conference  appeared  to 
fail  on  a  minor  point,  early  statements  from 
Muslim  leaders  made  it  seem  likely  that  they 
would  not  have  agreed  to  an  alternative  to  the 
Communal  Award  in  any  case.  In  addition, 
neither  Europeans  nor  Anglo-Indians  were 
represented  at  the  conference  even  though 
their  position  would  have  been  affected  by  an 


UNITY  CONFERENCE 


390 


UNTOUCHABILTTY 


agreement  which  would  replace  the  Award. 
Finally,  the  unity  agreement  linked  electoral 
arrangements  in  the  provinces  with  provisions 
for  constitutional  advance  in  the  central 
government,  thereby  going  beyond  the  scope 
of  the  Communal  Award. 

The  participation  of  the  Sikhs  in  the  unity 
conference  produced  two  major  results  for  the 
Panth.  First,  the   community  and  its  claims 
gained  a  great  deal  of  publicity  throughout 
India.  In  1928,  Sikh  leaders  had  been  unable 
to  enlist  the  support  of  other  nationalists  and 
had  walked  out  of  All-Parties  Conference  which 
subsequently  endorsed  the  Nehru  Report.  In 
1932,  following  the  despair  which  came  from 
finding  that  the  Communal  Award  failed  to 
embody  provisions  favourable  to  Punjab  Sikhs, 
leaders  of  the  community  were  courted  by 
Pandit  Malviya  and  others  who  acknowledged 
that  Sikh  support  would  be  vital  to  aqy 
alternative  agreement.  In  the  wake  of  the 
Award,  Sikhs  clearly  formulated  their  position. 
Delegates  to  the  unity  conference,  among 
whom  were  Sundar  Singh  Majithia,  Giani 
Kartar  Singh,  Giani  Shear  Singh,  Ujjal  Singh, 
Jodh  Singh  and  Teja  Singh,  worked  effectively 
to  incorporate  appropriate  provisions  for 
representation  and  safeguards  into  the 
agreement.  In  the  unity  agreement,  the  Sikhs 
gained  recognition  of  most  of  their  claims. 
Second,  the  events  leading  up  to  and  including 
the  conference  helped  to  strengthen  a  sense 
of  Sikh-  communal  solidarity  extending  well 
beyond  the  borders  of  the  Punjab.  Sikh 
minorities  in  Bengal,  Sindh,  and  the  United 
Provinces,   learning  of  the  successful 
negotiations  concluded  by  Sikhs'  delegates  at 
the  conference,  felt  encouraged  and  directly 
^appealed  to  those  delegates  representing  the 
Chief  Khalsa  Diwan  to  support  their  claims, 
loo.  In  sum,  success  in  the  Unity  Conference 
Srnd  the  development  of  interprovincial 
solidarity  coupled  with  failure  by  the  British 
to  admit  Sikh  claims  in  the  provisions  of  the 
Communal  Award  significantly  strengthened 
Sikh  nationalist  aspirations. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sarhadi,  Ajit  Singh,  Punjabi  Suba.  Delhi,  1970 

2.  Khushwant  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  II. 
Princeton,  1966 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

4.  Gopal  Singh,  A  History  of  the  Sikh  People  (1 469- 
1&8).  Delhi,  1979 

5.  Gurmit  Singh,  History  of  Sikh  Struggles.  Delhi, 
1989-92 

6.  Tuteja,  K.L.,  Sikh  Politics.  Kurukshetra,  1984 

7.  Gulati,K.C,  Alca/is  Past  and  Ptesent.  Delhi,  1974 

G.R.T. 

UNTOUCHABILITY,  a  feature  of  the  caste 
system  prevalent  in  Hindu  society  since  time 
immemorial,  reduces  certain  classes  and  castes 
to  a  very  low  level  in  the  social  scale.  The  caste 
system,  the  origins  of  which  can  be  traced  to 
the  Purusa  Sukta,  hymn  90,  of  the  tenth  book 
of  the  Rgveda,  had,  by  the  time  of  the  Epics, 
become  an  inalienable  part  of  the  Varnasrama 
Dharma  of  the  Aryans.  While  Buddhism 
disapproved  of  caste  distinctions,  the  Bhagavad 
gita  (IV.  13)  confers  divine  sanction  on  the 
caste  system.  Again,  Bhagavad-gita  implies  the 
distribution  of  human  beings  into  castes  in 
accordance  with  their  guna  or  qualities  and 
karma  or  actions.  The  lowest  caste,  the  &udras, 
were  permanently  relegated  to  the  lowest 
position,  their  divinely  ordained  dharma  or 
duty  being  to  serve  the  dvijas  or  twice-born  as 
the  three  upper  classes,  Brahmans,  Ksatriyas 
and  Vaisyas,  were  collectively  designated.  Even 
among  the  Sudras  there  were  two  different 
categories :  the  untouchables  whose  very  touch 
or  even  proximity  supposedly  caused  pollution 
td  the  upper-caste  Hindus,  and  others  who, 
though  looked  down  upon  and  depressed, 
were  yet  tolerated  and  not  considered 
untouchables.  The  latter  comprised  craftsmen 
and  menials  such  as  carpenters,  barbers,  water- 
carriers  and  cooks,  while  the  former  sometimes 
referred  to  as  pancham,  the  fifth  caste, 
included  scavengers,  cobblers,  skinners  of 
dead  animals  and  others  who  extracted 


UNTOUCHABILITY 


391 


UNTOUCHABILITY 


alcoholic  spirits  and  were  given  the  despicable 
name  of  chandals.  The  untouchables  were 
compelled  to  live  in  utter  poverty  and  sub- 
human conditions  in  separate  insanitary 
colonies  or  wards  on  the  outskirts  of  villages 
or  outside  the  city  walls. 

There  is  no  place  for  untouchability  in 
Sikhism.  Both  the  precept  and  practice  of  the 
Gurus  condemned  it  along  with  the  rest  of  the 
caste-system.  "All  ideas  of  contamination  of 
pollution  by  touch  are  superstition,"  said  Guru 
Nanak.  He  decried  the  hypocrisy  of  the 
Brahman  who  would  not  hesitate  to  eat  the 
flesh  of  a  goat  killed  to  the  accompaniment  of 
a  Muslim's  formula  but  would  consider  the 
entry  of  another  person  in  their  cooking 
square  as  contaminating  (GG,  472).  Elsewhere 
he  says  :  "Evil  thinking,  hard-heartedness, 
slander,  anger-these  be  the  real  untouchables. 
How  may  one's  cooking  square  be  unpolluted 
with  these  four  seated  along  side"  (GG,  91). 
Towards  the  so-called  low-caste  untouchables, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Gurus  looked  with 
compassion  and  preached  the  ennobling 
remedy  of  devotional  worship  of  God.  Guru 
Nanak  said,  "Nanak  is  on  the  side  of  the  lowest 
of  the  low-castes,  and  doth  not  envy  the 
company  of  those  highly  placed.  Thy 
benevolent  glance,  O  Lord,  falleth  where  the 
lowly  are  cherished"  (GG,  15).  Guru  Aijan,  who 
without  discrimination  included  the  hymns  of 
saints  coming  from  the  so-called  low-castes  in 
the  Sikh  Scripture,  in  his  homage  to  the 
outcaste  devotees  of  God,  expressed  himself 
thus  :  "One  of  a  despised  caste,  unknown, 
unrecognized,  through  devotion  shall  be 
honoured  in  all  four  directions...  Such  a  one 
whose  very  touch  is  (now)  avoided,  shall  have 
his  feet  scrubbed  and  washed  by  the  whole 
creation"  (GG,  :-*«(>). 

Hindu  orthodoxy  and  practice  of 
untouchability  had  never  been  strong  in  the  Punjab, 
which  being  a  frontier  state  was  more  open  to  the 
social  egalitarianism  of  Islam.  Yet  in  order  to  give  a 
concrete  shape  to  die  rejection  of  untouchability, 
the  Gurus  established  the  twin  institutions  of  sangat 


(fellowship)  and  pangat  (commensality)  which 
allow  no  difference  between  man  and  man  on  the 
grounds  of  caste,  creed,  colour,  sex  or  social  status. 
When  Guru  Gobind  Singh  created  the  Khalsa 
through  the  rites  sanctified  by  ceremonies  of  the 
sword,  he  introduced  the  practice  of  making  all 
novitiates  during  the  initiation  to  sip  amrit  and  eat 
karah  prasad  from  the  same  bowl.  The  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the 
subsequent  Sikh  rule  gave  rise  to  a  semi-Sikh  priestly 
class  which  took  over  control  of  Sikh  theology  and 
liturgy  and  brought  back  several  non-Sikh  rituals 
and  practices  including  caste  distinction  and  even, 
to  some  extent,  untouchability.  The  Singh  Sabha 
movement  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century  strove,  with  considerable  success,  to  restore 
the  old  purity  of  religious  thought  and  practice.  A 
severe  blow  to  untouchability  was,  however,  dealt 
on  12  October  1920  when  members  of  the  Khalsa 
Baradari,  an  organization  of  the  so-called  low-caste 
Sikhs,  supported  by  progressive  and  reformist 
elements,  entered  the  Harimandarat  Amritsar  and 
their  offerings  and  ardas  were  accepted  and  shared 
by  those  present 

There  are  other  factors  too  which  have 
helped  to  loosen  the  stranglehold  of 
untouchability  even  on  Hindu  society. 

The  afflorescence  of  Bhakti  movement 
and  the  sant  tradition  from  the  fourteenth 
century  onwards  had  already  thrown  up  a 
galaxy  of  holy  men  belonging  to  the  low  and 
untouchable  castes. 

One  of  them,  Kabir,  had  bluntly 
challenged  the  Brahman  to  prove  his  claim  to 
superiority  over  Sudras  simply  on  the  grounds 
of  birth.  "There  is  no  caste  or  clan  in  the 
womb,"  says  Kabir,  "all  creation  is  from  the 
Divine  seed.  Tell  me  Pandit !  Since  when  have 
you  become  a  Brahman.  If  you  claim  to  be  a 
Brahman  by  birth  from  a  Brahman  woman, 
why  didn't  you  clibose  a  different  path  to  come 
into  the  world  ?  How  are  you  Brahman  and 
we  Sudras  ?  Do  you  have  milk  in  your  veins 
against  blood  in  ours  ?  He  alone  is  called  a 
Brahman  among  us  who  meditates  upon 
Brahman,  the  Supreme  Being"  (GG,  324). 


LLP.  SIKH  PRATlNIDHI  BOARD 


392 


URi 


Spread  of  liberal  education  and  general 
awareness,  rise  of  liberal  religious  movements 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  modern  means  of 
travel  (trams,  trains,  buses  where  inter-caste 
bodily  contact  or  proximity  is  unavoidable),  and 
the  introduction  of  democracy  and  universal 
adult  suffrage  equating  the  lowest  with  the 
highest  in  voting  strength  are  some  of  the  other 
factors  that  militated  against  the  practice  of 
untouchability.  Under  the  Constitution  of  India 
the  practice  of  untouchability  is  legally 
abolished.  Article  1 7  in  Part  III,  "Fundamental 
Rights,"  of  the  Constitution  of  India  reads  : 
"Untouchability  is  abolished  and  its  practice 
in  any  form  is  forbidden.  The  enforcement  of 
any  disability  arising  out  of  'untouchability' 
shall  be  an  offence  punishable  in  accordance 
with  law." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Jagjit  Singh,  The  Sikh  Revolution.  Delhi,  1981 

3.  Marenco,  Ethne  K.,  The  Transformation  of  Sikh 
Society.  Portland,  Oregon,  1974 

4.  Teja  Singh,  Sikhism  :  Its  Ideals  and  Institutions. 
Bombay,  1937 

5.  Talib,  Gurbachan  Singh,  Impact  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  on  Indian  Society.  Chandigarh,  19G6 

G.S.T. 

U.P.  SIKH  PRATlNIDHI  BOARD,  formed  on 
1 9  July  1 947  at  Lucknow,  is,  as  the  name  indicates, 
a  representative  body  of  the  Sikhs  of  the  Indian 
state  of  Uttar  Pradesh.  The  Board  came  into 
being  in  consequence  of  a  ban  imposed,  in 
1946,  by  the  government  of  the  state  known  as 
the  United  Provinces  of  Agra  and  Oudh  in 
British  times,  on  the  possession  and  carrying 
by  Sikhs  of  kirpan  or  sword,  one  of  the  five 
symbols  of  the  Khalsa.  A  meeting  of  the 
representatives  of  Singh  Sabhas  of  the  province 
called  at  Lucknow  in  January  1947  to  protest 


against  the  ban  led  to  the  constitution  of  a 
common  platform  which  went  by  the  name  of 
the  U.P.  Sikh  Pratinidhi  Board.  Bhai  Amar 
Singh  Khalsa  was  elected  president  and  Ajmer 
Singh  secretary.  The  aims  of  the  Board 
included  protection  of  the  rights  and  interests 
of  the  Sikhs,  dissemination  of  the  Sikh  thought 
and  culture  and  establishment  of  institutions 
for  popularizing  Punjabi  language  and 
literature.  The  Board  has.one  hundred  odd 
Singh  Sabhas  and  other  Sikh  societies  and 
organizations  affiliated  to  it.  The  general 
committee  of  the  Board,  comprising  representa- 
tives of  the  constituent  institutions,  elects  the 
president  every  third  year.  The  Board  functions 
from  a  modest  two-storeyed  building  on  the 
Gurdwara  Road  at  Lucknow.  It  has  its  own  printing 
press  and  publishes  in  Punjabi  a  weekly  paper 
called  the  U.P.  Sikh  Gazette  started  in  1948. 
Besides  its  annual  conferences,  the  activities 
of  the  Board  vary  from  running  educational 
institutions  to  setting  up  prachar  (missionary) 
camps  for  the  Sikh  youth. 

Gbh.S. 

URI,  an  old  town  54  km  southwest  of  Baramula 
(34"-13'N,  74"-23'E)  at  the  western  end  of  the 
Kashmir  valley,  was  visited  by  Guru  Hargobind 
( 1 595-1 644)  on  his  way  from  Baramula  to  Naluchhi 
(now  in  Pakistan-occupied  territory).  Gurdwara 
Patshahi  Chhevih  Param  Pillan  commemorating 
the  visit  is  situated  6  km  east  of  Uri  and  marks  the 
site  where,  according  to  local  tradition,  the  Guru 
held  a  discourse  with  some  Muslim  holy  men.  A 
small  Gurdwara  built  by  Sardar  Hari  Singh  Nalva, 
the  celebrated  general  of  Sikh  times,  was 
reconstructed  in  1983.  The  present  building  is  a 
rectangular  hall,  with  die  sanctum  at  the  far  end. 
The  Gurdwara  is  managed  by  the  Jammu  and 
Kashmir  Gurdwara  Board  through  its  district 
committee  at  Baramula. 

Gn.S. 


V 


VACHAN  GOBIND  LOKA  KE  (  Sayings  of  the 
Saintly  People)  is  a  didactic  work  in  Punjabi 
prose  by  Bhai  Addan  Shah,  a  Sevapanthi  saint. 
Completed  in  1904  Bk/AD  1847  and  written  in 
the  hand  of  one  Khivan  Singh,  the  work 
comprises  147  folios  with  9+9  lines  on  each 
folio  and  252  sakhis  or  anecdotes,  each  with  a 
lesson.  The  work  remains  unpublished,  and  the 
only  known  copy  of  the  manuscript  is 
preserved  under  MS.  99  in  the  Pahjab 
University  Library,  Chandigarh.  Although 
Sevapanthis  are  counted  a  sect  among  the 
Sikhs,  they  depart  in  certain  respects  from  the 
Sikh  way  of  life  :  a  Sevapanthi  saint,  for 
instance,  lives  the  life  of  a  recluse  renouncing 
all  worldly  attachments  and  remains  celibate. 
Consequently,  the  work  is  an  amalgam  of  Sikh 
and  Sevapanthi  teachings.  Humility,  service, 
generosity,  detachment  and  contentment  are 
the  common  virtues  recommended.  Yet, 
contrary  to  Sikh  principle,  there  is  an  emphasis 
on  celibacy.  The  work  contains  sakhis  from  the 
lives  of  several  of  the  bhaktas  such  as  Sadhna 
(83),  Sukhdev  (88),  and  Darshan  (214) 
rehearsing  moral  precepts  and  values. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Gurrnukh  Singh,  Sevapanthian  di  Punjabi  Sahk 
nun  Den.  Patiala,  1986 

D.S. 

VADAHANS  KI  VAR,  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib,  is  by  Guru  Ram  Das.  He  has  composed 
the  largest  number  of  Vans,  eight  out  of  the 
twenty-two  included  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 
The  poetic  stanza  used  is  the  usual  pauri.  There 
are  21  pauris  in  all,  interspersed  with  slokas 
by  Guru  Nanak  (3)  and  Guru  Amar  Das  (40). 


The  slokas  epitomize  the  various  aspects  of  the 
theme  elaborated  in  the  pauris  that  follow. 
Each  paun  consists  of  five  verses,  but  the  slokas 
vary  in  length,  from  two  lines  to  ten  lines  each. 
This  Var  is  included  in  the  musical  measure 
Vadahaiis  and  Guru  Arjan,  in  the  course  of  the 
compilation  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  added 
the  direction  that  it  is  to  be  sung  to  the  tune  of 
the  popular  folk  ballad  of  Lalla  and  Bahlima. 
The  parallel  between  the  two  Vars  extends  nor 
merely  to  their  musical  and  poetic  style,  but 
also  to  their  content.  Whereas  Lalla  and 
Bahlima's  Var  celebrates  heroic  virtues, 
Vadahaiis  ki  Var  emphasizes  spiritual  values, 
and  yet  these  are  revealed  in  the  latter  to  be 
complementary  as  they  are  generally  in  the 
Sikh  tradition. 

The  characters  in  Lalla  and  Bahlima's  Var 
assume  symbolic  significance  in  light  of  the 
argument  developed  in  Vadahaiis  ki  Var. 
Bahlima  helps  Lalla  in  time  of  distress.  When 
Lalla  defaults  in  his  obligations,  Bahlima 
brings  him  round  to  the  realization  of  his  duty/ 
shortcoming  even  by  using  force.  The  use  of 
force  isjustified  in  the  service  of  righteousness. 

The  conflict  in  Vadahaiis  ki  Var  is  between 
haiis  (swan)  and  bag  or  bagala  (duckling),  a 
real  saint  and  an  impostor,  a  Guru-oriented 
person  and  a  self-oriented  one.  In  other  words, 
the  conflict  here  is  between  good  and  evil.  The 
theme  is  treated  in  a  contrapuntal  manner- 
point  counterpoint-building  up  to  a 
crescendo,  in  which  all  doubts  are  removed, 
knowledge  dawns  and  tensions  are  resolved  in 
a  harmony  of  bliss.  Some  of  the  opposites 
employed  to  work  out  the  theme  are  swan/ 
duckling,  noble/ignoble,  joy/sorrow,  the 
honest  teacher/the  impostor,  nectar/ poison, 


VADAHANSKIVAR 


394 


VADALI  GURU 


life/death,  comfort/ discomfort,  contented/ 
worried,  pure/impure,  heaven/hell, 
knowledge/ignorance,  truly  devoted/ 
pretender,  cool/fiery,  merit/demerit,  the 
connoisseur/obtuse,  truth/falsehood,  male/ 
female,  delicious/ tasteless,  friend/foe,  etc. 

The  oneness,  uniqueness  and 
omnipresence  of  God,  the  significance  of  the 
Guru,  the  ideal  of  peace  and  liberation,  and 
an  all-embracing  love  of  mankind  are  the 
values  emphasized  in  Vadahans  kl  Var.  Each 
individual  works  out  his  own  release,  but  he  is 
reminded  again  and  again  that  this  is  achieved 
by  God's  grace  alone. 

The  Var  has  a  well  designed  structure. 
The  slokas  that  precede  each  pauri present  the 
theme  in  its  dual  aspect.  They  are  in  the  form 
of  a  proposition.  The  pauri  that  follows 
resolves  the  conflict.  For  instance,  the  Var 
opens  with  the  slokas  by  Guru  Amar  Das  in 
which  are  introduced  the  opposite  symbols  of 
swan  and  duckling.  But  in  the  pauri  that 
follows,  Guru  Ram  Das  alludes  to  God 
Almighty  Who  is  the  Sole  Doer,  the  Sole  Giver 
and  the  All-Pervading  Power,  to  whom 
everyone  looks  up  to. 

In  the  succeeding  slokas  and  pauris  it  is 
made  clear  that  those  who  follow  the  dictates 
of  their  man  (baser  self)  get  entangled,  in 
worldly  temptations.  Their  lives  are  full  of 
suffering  and  those  who  take  refuge  in  the 
Word  of  Guru,  they  attain  peace  and  happiness. 
The  rituals  and  outward  show  of  saindiness  are 
of  no  avail.  Only  the  Guru's  sabad  (Word)  can 
save  one. 

The  Var  ends  with  a  serene  note  of  hope, 
faith  and  confidence.  God  alone  is  the  creator 
and  destroyer.  He  pervades  everywhere.  None 
else  can  save  or  destroy  us.  Let  us,  therefore,  leave 
everything  to  Him  and  get  rid  of  all  worries. 

The  language  of  the  Var  is  old  Punjabi, 
with  very  litde  mixture  of  Sadh-Bakha.  This  is 
in  keeping  with  the  accepted  style  of  a  Var 
which  should  be  in  the  spoken  tongue  of  the 
masses.  The  figures  of  speech  used  are  within 
easy  comprehension  of  the  common  man. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1964 

2.  Sahib  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpan. 
Jalandhar,  1962-64 

3.  Bishan  Singh,  Giani,  Bai  Varan  SatiL  Amritsar, 
n.d 

S.S.U. 

VADALl  GURU,  village  7  km  west  of  Amritsar 
(31"-38'N,  74°-53'E),  is  sacred  to  Guru  Arjan 
and  Guru  Hargobind.  The  former,  according 
to  Gurbilas  Chhevin  Patshahi,  stayed  here  for 
about  three  years  during  1594-97,  and  the 
latter  was  born  here  on  19  June  1595.  There 
are  three  historical  gurdwaras  in  Vadali  Guru. 

GURDWARAJANAMASTHAN  PATSHAHI  CHHEVlN,  also 

known  as  Atari  Sahib,  marks  the  house  where 
Guru  Arjan  lived  and  where  Guru  Hargobind 
was  born.  The  present  building  constructed 
by  Baba  Kharak  Singh  Sevavale  during  the 
1960's,  comprises  a  high-ceilinged  hall,  with  a 
square  sanctum  at  one  end  and  a  gallery  at  mid- 
height  on  three  sides.  A  room  in  the  basement 
called  Bhora  Sahib  is  believed  to  be  the  site  of 
the  room  wherein  Guru  Hargobind  was  born. 
Above  the  sanctum  are  four  other  storeys 
topped  by  a  lotus  dome  with  a  tall  gold-plated 
pinnacle. 

GURDWARA  MANJI  SAHIB,  200  metres  south  of 
Atari  Sahib,  marks  the  spot  where  Guru  Arjan 
used  to  sit  supervising  the  work  of  Bhai  Sahari, 
a  Sikh  tilling  land  the  produce  of  which  went  to 
die  Gum  ka  Lahgar.  An  irrigation  well  got  dug 
by  Guru  Arjan,  though  no  longer  in  use,  still 
exists.  The  present  building,  a  square  domed 
room  in  the  middle  of  a  brick-paved  terrace, 
was  constructed  in  1980's  by  the  descendants 
of  Bhai  Sahari,  who  manage  the  Gurdwara. 

GURDWARA  DAMDAMA  SAHIB,  300  metres  south 
of  the  village,  is  dedicated  to  Guru  Hargobind, 
who,  according  to  Gurbilas  Chhevin  Patshahi, 
once  visited  Vadali  at  the  suggestion  of  Bhai 
Bhana,  and  during  the  chase  killed  a  wild  boar 


VADBHAG  SINGH,  SODHl 


395 


VADDA  GHALLUGHARA 


at  the  spot  now  marked  by  this  shrine. 

Gurdwara  Janam  Asthan  and  Damdama 
Sahib  are  affiliated  to  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  and  are  managed  by 
the  same  local  committee  as  administers 
Gurdwara  Chheharta  Sahib,  one  kilometre  to 
the  northwest  of  Vadali. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduariaii.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

Gn.S. 

VADBHAG  SINGH,  SODHI  (1716-61),  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Guru  Hargobind  (1595-1644) 
through  the  latter's  son,  Baba  Gurditta,  and 
grandson,  Dhlr  Mall,  was  born  the  son  of  Sodhi 
Ram  Singh  on  13  August  1716  at  Kartarpur,  in 
present-day  Jalandhar  district  of  the  Punjab. 
Vadbhag  Singh  became  chief  of  Kartarpur 
owned  by  the  family  as  a  freehold  grant  since 
1598,  after  the  death  of  his  father  in  1737. 
Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  during  his  fourth 
invasion  of  India  in  1756-57  annexed  Punjab 
to  his  empire  and  appointed  his  young  son, 
Taimur,  governor  of  Lahore,  with  his  trusted 
general  Jahan  Khan  as  his  deputy  and  de  facto 
administrator.  In  April-May  1757,  two  Afghan 
troopers  travelling  from  Sirhind  to  Lahore  were 
murdered  near  Kartarpur.  jahan  Khan  had 
Sodhi  Vadbhag  Singh,  the  chief  of  the  area, 
arrested,  and  tortured  him  mercilessly.  The 
latter's  followers  rescued  him  during  the  night 
and  took  him  to  a  distant  village,  Main,  in  the 
hills  that  now  form  part  of  Una  district  of 
Himachal  Pradesh.  The  Afghans,  chagrined  at 
the  escape  of  the  prisoner,  pillaged  Kartarpur 
and  the  neighbouring  country  and,  helped  by 
Nasir  'All  Jalandhar,  burnt  down  the  Sikh 
temple  along  with  the  sacred  relic,  Thamm 
Sahib,  the  Holy  .Prop,  and  desecrated  the  holy 
tank.  When  Sikhs,  consolidated  into  the  Dal 


Khalsa  under  the  overall  command  of  Sardar 
Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia,  heard  of  the  outrage, 
they  conjointly  with  Adina  Beg  Khan,  the 
ousted  faujdar  of  Jalandhar  Doab,  attacked 
Jalandhar  in  December  1757  to  avenge  the 
spoliation  of  Kartarpur.  A  20,000-strong 
Afghan  army  sent  by  Jahan  Khan  from  Lahore 
was  routed  near  Mahilpur  and  its  artillery  and 
baggage  train  were  captured.  A  few  months 
later,  the  Sikhs,  aided  by  a  strong  Maratha 
army,  drove  the  Afghans  out  of  the  Punjab. 
Sodhi  Vadbhag  Singh,  however,  did  not  return 
to  Kartarput  and  continued  to  reside  in  Main 
where  he  died  on  31  December  1761  and  where 
a  shrine  called  Deri  Vadbhag  Singh  now  stands 
in  his  honour,  attracting  visitors  and  pilgrims 
all  the  year  round.  The  Dera  is  in  popular 
belief  connected  with  exorcism  of  evil  spirits. 
Many  go  there  to  be  so  treated. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhahgu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1978-82 

4.  Ganda  Singh,  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani.  Bombay,  1959 

H.R.G. 

VADDA  GHALLUGHARA,  lit.  major  holocaust 
or  carnage,  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from 
another  similar  disaster,  Chhota  (minor) 
Ghallughara  that  took  place  in  1746,  is  how  a 
one-day  battle  between  the  Dal  Khalsa  and 
Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  fought  on  5  February 
1 762  with  a  heavy  toll  of  life  is  remembered  in 
Sikh  history.  As  Ahmad  Shah  was  returning 
home  after  his  historic  victory  over  the 
Marathasin  the  third  battle  of  Panipat  in  1761, 
the  Sikhs  had  harassed  him  all  the  way  from 
the  Sutlej  right  up  to  the  Indus.  Returning  to 
the  Central  Punjab,  they  ravaged  the  country 
all  around,  annihilated  the  Afghan  force  in 
Char  Mahal,  drove  away  the  faujdar  of 
Jalandhar,  plundered  Sirhind  and  Malerkotla, 


VADDA  GHALLUGHARA 


396 


VADDA  GHALLUGHARA 


defeated  a  force,  12,000-strong,  sent  by  Ahmad 
Shah  from  Afghanistan  to  punish  them  and 
another  led  personally  by  the  Afghan  governor 
of  Lahore,  and  even  captured  Lahore,  all 
within  a  short  period,  June-September  1761. 
At  a  general  assembly  (Sarbatt  Khalsa)  of  the 
Dal  at  Amritsar  convened  on  the  occasion  of 
Divali,  27  October  1761,  it  was  resolved  to 
punish  the  agents,  informers  and  collaborators 
of  the  Afghans,  beginning  with  'Aqil  Das  of 
Jandiala,  head  of  the  heretical  Nirahjania  sect 
and  an  inveterate  enemy  of  the  Sikhs.  'Aqil  Das 
despatched  messengers  post-haste  to  Ahmad 
Shah  Durrani,  who  had  in  fact  already  entered 
India  at  the  head  of  a  large  army.  Meanwhile, 
the  Sikhs  had  besieged  Jandiala,  18  km  east  of 
Amritsar.  'Aqil  Das'  messengers  met  the  Shah 
at  Rohtas.  The  latter  advanced  at  quick  pace 
but  before  he  reached  Jandiala,  the  Sikhs  had 
lifted  the  siege  and  retired  beyond  the  Sutlej 
with  the  object  of  sending  their  families  to  the 
safety  of  the  wastelands  of  Malva  before 
confronting  the  invader.  Ahmad  Shah,  on  the 
other  hand,  determined  to  teach  the  Sikhs  a 
lesson,  sent  messages  to  Zain  Khan,  faujdarof 
Sirhind,  and  Bhlkhan  Khan,  chief  of 
Malerkoda,  directing  them  immediately  to 
check  the  Sikhs'  advance,  while  he  himself 
taking  a  light  cavalry  force  set  out  at  once  and, 
covering  a  distance  of  200  km  including  two 
river-crossings  in  fewer  than  forty-eight  hours, 
caught  up  with  the  Sikhs  who  were  encamped 
at  Kup-Rahira,  12  km  north  of  Malerkoda,  at 
dawn  on  the  5th  of  February  1762.  The  Dal 
Khalsa,  comprising  all  of  the  eleven  misls  and 
representatives  of  the  Sikh  chiefs  of  Malva,  was 
taken  by  surprise.  The  attacks  of  Zain  Khan 
and  Bhikhan  Khan  were  easily  repulsed,  but 
the  main  body  of  Ahmad  Shah,  much  larger 
and  better  equipped,  soon  overtook  them. 
Having  to  protect  the  slow-moving  vahir  or 
baggage  train  including  women,  children,  old 
men  and  other  non-combatants,  the  Sikhs 
could  not  resort  to  their  usual  hit-and-run 
tactics,  and  a  stationary  battle  against  such 
superior  numbers  was  inadvisable.  Sardarjassa 


Singh  Ahluvalia,  the  commander-in-chief  of 
the  Dal,  therefore,  turning  down  a  suggestion 
by  Sardar  Charhat  Singh  Sukkarchakkia  to 
form  a  solid  square  of  four  misls  to  face  the 
enemy  with  two  misls  each  protecting  either 
flank  of  the  vahir  and  balance  in  reserve, 
decided  that  all  the  misls  combining  to  form  a 
single  force  should  make  a  cordon  round  the 
vahir  and  start  moving  towards  Barnala,  40 
km  to  the  southwest,  with  the  agents  of  the 
Malva  chiefs  acting  as  guides.  Thus  "fighting 
while  moving  and  moving  while  fighting,"  says 
Ratan  Singh  Bhahgu,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash, 
on  the  authority  of  his  father  and  an  uncle  who 
had  taken  part  in  this  batde,  "they  kept  the 
vahlr  marching,  covering  it  as  a  hen  covers  its 
chickens  under  its  wings."  On  several  occasions, 
the  Shah's  troops  broke  the  cordon  and 
butchered  the  helpless  non-combatants,  but 
every  time  the  Sikh  warriors  re-formed  and 
pushed  back  the  attackers.  By  early  afternoon 
they  reached  a  big  pond,  die  first  they  had 
come  across  since  the  morning.  The  fighting 
stopped  automadcally  as  the  two  forces  fell  pell- 
mell,  man  and  animal,  upon  the  water  to  quench 
their  thirst  and  relax  their  tired  limbs.  The 
batde  was  not  resumed.  The  Sikhs  marched  off 
towards  Barnala  and  Ahmad  Shah  thought  it 
prudent  not  to  pursue  them  in  the  little-known 
semi-desert  with  an  army  that  had  had  no  rest 
during  the  past  two  days,  and  had  suffered 
considerable  loss  of  life  in  the  day-long  battle. 

Estimates  of  the  Sikhs'  loss  of  life  vary 
from  20,000  to  50,000.  The  more  credible 
figures  are  those  of  Miskin,  a  contemporary 
Muslim  chronicler,  25,000,  and  Ratan  Singh 
Bhangu,  30,000.  This  could  have  been  a 
crippling  blow  to  the  Sikhs,  but  such  was  the 
state  of  their  morale  that,  to  quote  the  Prachin 
Panth  Prakash  again,  as  the  Sikhs  gathered  in 
the  evening  that  day,  a  Nihang  stood  up  and 
proclaimed  aloud"...  the  fake  has  been  shed. 
The  true  Khalsa  remains  intact."  The  Sikhs  rose 
again  within  three  months  to  attack  Zain  Khan 
of  Sirhind,  who  bought  peace  by  paying  them 
Rs  50,000  in  May,  and  they  were  ravaging  the 


VADDAGHAR 


397 


VAHIGURO 


neghbourhood  of  Lahore  during  July-August 
1 762,  Ahmad  Shah,  who  was  still  in  the  Punjab, 
watching  helplessly  the  devastation  of  the 
Jalandhar  Doab  at  their  hands. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bharigu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani.  Panth  Prakash.  Delhi,  1880 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia. 
Patiala,  1969 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 
1983 

5.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  IV. 
Delhi,  1982 

6.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

7.  Bhagat  Singh,  Sikh  Polity  in  the  Eighteenth  and 
Nineteenth  Centuries.  Delhi,  1978 

S.S.B. 

VADDA  GHAR,  village  19  km  southwest  of 
Moga  (30"-48'N,  75"-10'E)  in  the  Punjab,  is 
sacred  to  Guru  Hargobind,  who  arrived  here 
from  Daraull  in  1634  staying  here  for  five  days 
before  setting  out  on  an  extensive  journey 
across  the  Malva  region.  A  memorial  platform 
was  later  constructed  on  the  site  where  he  had 
encamped.  The  present  Gurdwara  Mahjl  Sahib 
Chhevih  Patshahi,  raised  in  1921,  is  a  modest- 
sized  hall  with  the  sanctum  in  the  middle  where 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  seated.  In  the 
compound  in  front  of  the  hall,  "is  the  Guru  ka 
Langar.  The  sarovar  is  close  by,  to  the  south  of 
the  main  building.  The  Gurdwara  is  managed 
by  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  through  a  local  committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam.Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankahl,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twaiikh  Guiduariaii. 
Amritsar,  n.d 

M.G.S. 


VADHAVA  SINGH,  BHAI  (d.  1924),  son  of 
BhaiJhanda  Singh,  Gilljatt,  and  Mai  Dhafam 
Kaur  of  village  Oharik.  He  was  the  only  son  of 
his  parents.  Lie  never  married.  He  was  illiterate, 
and  had  strong  religious  inclinadons.  At  the 
age  of  40,  he  took  the  vows  of  the  Khalsa  at 
the  hands  of  Sant  Giani  Sundar  Singh 
Bhindrahvale.  He  joined,  the  shahldl  jatha 
(band  of  volunteers  vowed  to  do-or-die)  of 
Akali  volunteers  marching  to  Jaito.  Reaching 
Jaito  on  the  morning  of  21  February  1924,  the 
jatha  was  subjected  to  rifle  and  machinegun 
fire.  A  bullet  hit  Vadhava  Singh  in  the  chest 
and  he  died  almost  instantaneously.  His  dead 
body  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  Nabha  state 
police  and  disposed  of  in  a  mass  cremadon  of 
the  vicdms  of  the  massacre. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  Gurdwara  Sudhar  arthat 
Akali  Lahir.  Amritsar,  1975 

2.  Josh,  Sohah  Singh,  Akali  Morchian  da  Itihas. 
Delhi,  1972 

G.S.G. 

VAHIGURU,  also  spelt  and  pronounced 
Vahguru,  is  the  distinctive  name  of  the 
Supreme  Being  in  the  Sikh  dispensadon,  like 
Yahweh  in  Judaism  and  Allah  in  Islam.  In  Sikh 
Scripture,  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  the  term 
does  not  figure  in  the  compositions  of  the 
Gurus,  though  it  occurs  therein,  both  as 
Vahiguru  and  Vahguru,  in  the  hymns  of  Bhatt 
Gayand,  the  bard  contemporary  with  Guru 
Arjan,  Nanak  V  (1553-1606),  and  also  in  the 
Varan  of  Bhai  Gurdas.  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
Nanak  X  (1666-1708),  used  Vahiguru  in  the 
invocatory  formula  (Ik  Onkar  Sri  Vahiguru  ji 
ki  Fateh,  besides  the  traditional  Ik  Ohkar 
Sarigur  Prasadi)  at  the  beginning  of  some  of 
his  compositions  as  well  as  in  the  Sikh 
salutation  (Vahiguru  ji  ka  Khalsa  Vahiguru  ji 
ki  Fateh  varied  as  Sri  Vahiguru  ji  ki  Fateh). 
Bhai  Gurdas  at  one  place  in  his  Varan  (1.49) 
construes  vahiguni'as  an  acrosdc  using  the  first 
consonants  of  the  names  of  four  divine 


VAHIGURU 


398 


VAHIGURU 


incarnations  of  the  Hindu  tradition  appearing 
in  four  successive  eons.  Some  classical  Sikh 
scholars,  such  as  Bhai  Mani  Singh,  Bhai 
Santokh  Singh  and  Pandit  Tara  Singh 
Narotam,  taking  this  poetic  interpretation 
seriously,  have  traced  the  origin  of  the  term  in 
ancient  mythology.  Modern  scholars,  however, 
affirm  that  the  name  Vahiguru  is  owed 
originally  to  the  Gurus,  most  likely  to  the 
founder  of  the  faith,  Guru  Nanak,  himself. 
According  to  this  view,  Vahiguru  is  a 
compound  of  two  words,  one  from  Persian  and 
the  other  from  Sanskrit,  joined  in  a  symbiotic 
relationship  to  define  the  indefinable, 
indescribable  Ultimate  Reality.  Vah  in  Persian 
is  an  interjection  of  wonder  and  admiration, 
and  guru  (Sanskrit  guru  :  heavy,  weighty,  great, 
venerable  ;  a  spiritual  parent  or  preceptor)  has 
been  frequently  used  by  Guru  Nanak  and  his 
successors  for  satiguru  (True  Guru)  or  God. 
Bhai  Santokh  Siiigh,  in  Sri  Gur  Nanak  Prakash 
(pp.  1249-51),  reporting  Guru  Nanak's 
testament  to  the  Sikhs  has  thus  explicated 
Vahiguru  :  Vah  is  wonder  at  the  Divine  might ; 
gu  is  spiritual  darkness  while  ru  is  illumination 
brought  to  eliminate  this  darkness. 
Cumulatively,  the  name  implies  wonder  at  the 
Divine  Light  eliminating  spiritual  darkness.  It 
might  also  imply,  "Hail  the  Lord  whose  name 
eliminates  spiritual  darkness."  Earlier,  Bhai 
Mani  Singh,  Sikhan  di  Bbagat  Mala,  gave  a 
similar  explication,  also  on  the  authority  of 
Guru  Nanak.  Considering  the  two  constituents 
of  Vahiguru  (vahi  +  guru)  implying  the  state 
of  wondrous  ecstasy  and  offering  of  homage 
to  the  Lord,  the  first  one  was  brought  distinctly 
and  prominently  into  the  devotional  system 
by  Guru  Nanak,  who  has  made  use  of  this 
interjection,  as  in  Majh  ki  Var  (stanza  24),  and 
Suhi  ki  Var,  sloka  to  pauri  10. 

Apart  from  the  use  of  this  interjection, 
the  attitude  of  wonder  and  total  submission  at 
the  sight  of  Divine  Greatness  is  prominently 
visible  in  Guru  Nanak  as  evidenced  for 
example  in  the  hymn  in  Dhanasari  :  "gagan 
ma.'  tha7u  raw  chandu  dipak  bane  tarika 


mandal  janak  mod  (GG,  663) ;  in  measure  Suhi: 
"kaun  laraji  kavanu  tula  tera  kavanu  saraphu 
bulava"  (GG,  730)  ;  and  in  Japu  :  "kete  pavan 
pani  vaisantar  kete  kan  mahes,  kete  barame 
gharati  ghariahi  rup  rang  ke  ves"  (GG,7).  In  Asa 
ki  Var  (GG,  462-75)  the  opening  sloka  to  paun"  3 
is  woven  round  vismkd-  vismadu  nad  vismadu 
ved,  wondrous  is  the  sound,  wondrous  the 
wisdom.  Wonder  and  ecstasy  are  expressed  at 
the  cosmic  order  and  its  mystery  full  of 
contradictions,  yet  all  comprehended  in  the 
Divinely-appointed  system.  This  sloka 
concludes  with  :  "Ever  present  to  our  gaze  is 
wonder.  At  the  sight  of  this  mystery  are  we 
wonderstruck.  Only  by  supreme  good  fortune 
is  it  unravelled."  In  the  opening  sloka  to 
paruri  4-  bhai  vichi  pavan  u  vahai  sadvau,  in 
(the  Lord's)  fear  bloweth  the  wind  with  its 
myriad  breezes-is  expressed  wonder  at  the 
cosmic  "fear"  under  which  the  universe 
operates  in  obedience  to  the  Divine  Law,  the 
Lord  alone  being  exempt  from  such  fear. 

In  Japu,  besides  other  themes,  one  that 
stands  out  prominent  is  wonder  at  the  cosmic 
order,  its  infinitude  and  the  mystery  of  its  moral 
elan.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  theme  of  Japu 
may  be  said  to  be  what  occurs  in  the  course  of 
stanza  4  :  vadiai  vicharu  (contemplation  of 
Divine  infinity).  In  stanza  16,  for  example,  is 
the  expression  of  wonder  at  the  limidessness 
of  space.  Stanzas  17-19,  each  beginning  with 
asankh  (infinite),  are  uttered  in  the  same 
mood. 

In  stanza  22-  pataJa  pataJ  lakh  agasa  agas, 
countless  the  worlds  beneath,  coundess  the 
worlds  above-is  a  vision  of  the  limidessness  of 
the  universe.  So  are  stanzas  24,25,26,27,32,34, 
35  and  36.  It  is  in  response  to  this  overwhelming 
vision  of  Guru  Nanak  that  the  unique  Name 
of  the  Supreme  Being,  Vahiguru,  originated. 
No  other  name  could  have  been  adequate  to 
express  what  in  his  vision  he  found  lying  at 
the  heartof  the  cosmos,  compelling  a  response 
in  the  human  self  attuned  to  devotion  and 
ecstasy. 

Guru  Amar  Das  has  also  employed  the 


VAHIGURU 


399 


VAHIGURU 


term  in  Gujariki  Var  (GG,  514-16)  and  in  Astpadis 
in  Malar  (GG,  1277).  In  the  former,  it  is  calculated 
that  the  interjection  vahu-vahu  (Hail,  hail  the 
Lord)  is  used  as  many  as  96  times.  The 
interjection  vahu  (hail;  wondrous  is  the  Lord) 
occurs  in  Guru  Ram  Das  in  conjunction  with 
Satiguru  (compounded  from  Guru  )  in  sloka 
2  in  Sloka  Varan  te  Vadhik  (GG,  1421).  In  Guru 
Arjan  by  whose  dme  the  formulation  Vahiguru 
appears  to  have  become  current  and  acquired 
distincdveness  as  the  Name  Divine,  the  phrase 
'Gur  Vahu'  Figures  in  Asa  measure  (GG,  376). 
This  is  only  as  inverted  form  of  Vahiguru  and 
has  the  same  force  and  significance.  Kavi 
Santokh  Singh  in  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth 
(p.  5686)  uses  the  two  terms  as  synonymous  : 
"simrahu  vahiguru  guru  vain,  or  contemplate 
ye  Vahiguru,  the  Lord  all  hail." 

The  earliest  use  of  Vahiguru,  in  this  form, 
is  traceable  to  Varan  by  Bhai  Gurdas  and  to 
Gayand's  hymns  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  In 
both  it  may  be  said  to  have  occurred 
contemporaneously,  for  while  no  date  can  be 
assigned  to  Bhai  Gurdas'  Varan,  the  work  may 
be  assumed  to  have  appeared  soon  after  the 
compilation  of  the  Scripture  in  1604,  being  so 
much  alive  with  its  spirit  and  phraseology. 
Gayand  in  the  course  of  his  lines  encomiastic 
of  Guru  Ram  Das  (GG,  1403)  made  use  of 
Vahiguru  as  the  supreme  Name  Divine  in 
recognidon  of  the  primacy  and  appeal  it  had 
by  then  come  to  acquire  in  the  Sikh  tradition. 
In  this  Savaiyya  numbered  1 1 ,  the  term  occurs 
twice  as  Vah  Guru.  Earlier  in  that  numbered  6, 
it  is  repeated  thrice  as  Vahiguru  in  die  opening 
line,  expressing  fervour  of  devotion.  So  also 
in  the  concluding  line  of  Savaiyya  7.  In  Savaiyya 
12,  Vahu  Vahu  (  Wonder,  personifying  the 
Lord)  signifies  the  Supreme  marvel, 
embracing  the  infinitude  of. the  universe.  In 
Savaiyya  11-5,  this  name  is  used  twice  once  as 
Vahiguru  in  the  opening  line  and  Vah  Guru 
in  the  last  line.  In  the  concluding  line  of 
Savaiyya  8,  Vahiguru  is  used  thrice,  concluding 
with  the  interjection  Vahi  (Hail). 

Some  relevant  lines  from  Bhai  Gurdas, 


Varan,  may  also  be  reproduced  here  :  vahiguru 
guru  sabadu  lai  piram  piala  chupi  chabola, 
putting  faith  in  Vahiguru,  the  Master's 
teaching,  the  seeker  drains  in  peace  and 
tranquility  the  cup  of  devotion  (IV  .17)  ; 
"paunu  guru  gursabadu  hai  vahiguru  gur 
sabadu  sunaia,  paun-guru  is  the  Master's  word 
wherethrough  he  imparted  the  holy  name 
Vahiguru  (VI.5)  ;  vahiguru  salahna  guru 
sabadu  alae,  to  laud  the  Lord  let  me  give 
utterance  to  the  Master's  Word  (IX.  13)  ; 
satiguru  purakh  daial  hoi  vahiguru  sachu 
mantra  sunaia,  the  holy  Master  in  his  grace 
imparted  to  the  seeker  the  sacred  incantation 
Vahiguru  (XI. 3)  ;  nirankaru  akasu  kari  joti 
sarup  anup  dikhaia,  bed  kateb  agochara 
vahiguru  gursabadu  sunaia,  the  Formless  Lord 
manifesting  Himself  granted  sight  of  His 
unique  effulgent  self  and  imparted  to  the 
seeker  the  Word  Vahiguru,  that  is  beyond  the 
ken  of  Vedas  and  the  Muslim  Scriptures"  (XII. 
17) ;  vahiguru  gurmantra  haijapi  haumai  khoi, 
Vahiguru  is  the  Master's  incantation.  By 
repeating  it  egoism  is  cast  out  (XIII. 2)  ; 
dharamsal  kartarpuru  sadh  sahgati 
sachkhandu  vasaia,  vahiguru  gursabadu  sunaia, 
Guru  Nanak  in  the  temple  at  Kartarpur 
established  the  Realm  Eternal  as  the  holy 
congregation,  and  imparted  to  it  the  Divine 
Word  Vahiguru  (XXIV.  1)  ;  sad  namu  karta 
purakhu  vahiguru  vichi  ridai  samae,  let  the 
seeker  lodge  in  his  heart  the  holy  Name,  the 
Creator  immanent,  Vahiguru"  (XL. 22).  In 
these  verses,  Vahiguru  signifies  the  supreme 
Name  Divine,  to  which  devotion  may  be 
offered.  It  is  tranrendent  and  annular  of  sin 
and  evil,  thus  combining  in  itself  the 
'attributed'  and  the  'unattributed'  aspects  in 
consonance  with  the  Sikh  doctrine  voiced  in 
the  Scripture.  The  main  point  is  that  by  Guru 
Arjan's  time  and  after,  this  name  over  all  others 
was  established  as  the  object  of  devotion.  The 
term  received  the  Final  seal  in  the  time  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh. 

Vahiguru  is  for  Sikhs  the  gurmantra 
(invocatory  formula  received  bom  the  Guru) 


VAHIGURU  JI  KA  KHALSA  VAHIGURU  JI  K.I  FATKH    400     VAHIGURU  JI  KA  KHALSA  VAHIGURU  Jl  K.I  FATEH 


or  nam  for  repetition  (silently  or  aloud,  with 
or  without  a  rosary)  and  meditation  upon  the 
Supreme  Reality.  Bhai  Gurdas  in  his  Varan 
refers  to  it  variously  as  japu  mantra  (invocation 
for  repetition),  guru  sabadu  (the  Guru's 
Word),  sachu  mantra  (true  mantra)  and 
gurmantra.  It  is  also  called  nam  (the  Name), 
and  is  sometimes  compounded  as  "Satinam- 
Vahiguru"  to  be  chanted  aloud  in 
congregations.  Namjapna  (repeated  utterance 
of  God's  Name,  i.e.  Vahiguru)  is  one  of  the 
three  cardinal  moral  principles  of  Sikhism,  the 
other  two  being  kirat  karni  or  honest  labour 
and  vand  chhakna  or  sharing  one's  victuals  with 
the  needy.  Since  the  manifestation  of  the 
Khalsa  by  Guru  Gobind  Singh  in  1699, 
Vahiguru  has  been  part  of  the  Sikh  salutation  : 
Vahiguru  ji  ka  Khalsa,  Vahiguru  ji  ki  Fateh 
(Hail  the  Khalsa  who  belongs  to  the  Lord  God  ! 
Hail  the  Lord  God  to  whom  belongs  the 
victory!!).  It  has  since  also  been  the  gurmantra 
imparted  formally  at  initiation  to  the  novitiate 
by  the  leader  of  the  Pahj  Piare  administering 
the  rites. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadartb  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1959 

2.  Gurdas,  Bhai,  Varaii.  Amritsar,  1962 

3.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bbagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

4.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

5.  Sher  Singh,  Philosophy  of  Sikhism.  Lahore,  1944 

G.S.T. 

VAHIGURU  JI  KA  KHALSA  VAHIGURU  JI 
KJ  FATEH,  form  of  Sikh  salutation,  was  made 
current  among  the  Sikhs  by  command  of  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  at  the  time  of  the  manifestation 
of  the  Khalsa  in  1699.  The  salutation  used  in 
the  days  of  Guru  Nanak  was  Sati  Kartar  (Hail 
the  Creator,  the  Eternal).  This  is  how  he, 
according  to  the  Puritan  Janam  Sakhl,  his 
oldest  biography,  greeted  those  he  met.  Some 
accounts  of  his  life,  such  as  that  by  Hariji, 
mention  other  similar  forms  of  greeting,  one 


among  those  being  Raja  Ram  Sati  (Hail  the 
Holy  Creator  !)  In  the  hukamnamas  or  letters 
sent  to  sarigats  by  the  Gurus  prior  to  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  time,  the  opening  greeting 
used  to  be  :  Guru  Sati  (Hail  the  Eternal  Lord  !) 
which  is  only  an  inverted  form  of  Satiguru. 
Other  forms  of  salutation  such  as  Ram  Sati 
(Hail  God  the  Eternal  !)  and  respectful 
salutations  like  Pairiii-Pauna  ( I  fall  at  thy  feet) 
were  also  current  among  the  generality  of 
Sikhs.  Namaskar  ( I  bow  to  thee)  was  in  use  in 
greeting  the  holy,  or  offering  worship  to  God. 
Such  greetings  are  specifically  mentioned  or 
hinted  at  in  the  older  writings. 

With  the  development  of  the  Sikh  creed 
in  the  time  of  Guru  Nanak's  successors  and 
the  propagation  of  a  new  tradition  basing  itself 
on  a  monotheism  whose  roots,  however,  were 
Indian,  as  against  the  prevalent  polytheism, 
pantheism  and,  at  the  higher  levels, 
henotheism,  a  new  terminology  came  into 
existence  which  distinguished  the  Sikh  faith 
from  the  numerous  creeds  prevalent  at  the 
time.  Names  like  Ik  Orikar,  Oahkar,  Parbrahm 
were  favoured  above  others  for  the  Godhead  : 
Hari,  Narayana  and  Rama  acquired  greater 
currency  compared  to  other  names  drawn 
from  mythology.  But  the  particular  names  of 
God  which  constituted  a  kind  of  differentia  of 
Sikh  society  were  Nirarikar  (Formless),  Kartar 
(Creator),  Sachcha  Patshah  (True  or  Eternal 
King),  Satiguru  and  Vahiguru.  Guru  is  Lord, 
Master,  and  Vahiguru  is  expressive  of. wonder 
or  ecstasy  at  Divine  infinitude  or  glory,  with 
the  implied  sense  of  name.  Vahiguru  has 
become  the  most  characteristic  name  for  God 
in  the  Sikh  creed,  lika  Allah  in  Islam.  It  occurs 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  (Savaiyyas,  Mahala 
IV  by  Bhatt  Gayand,  page  1402)  repeated 
ecstatically  as  a  mantra.  In  the  compositions 
of  Guru  Aijan  (GG,  376),  it  is  used  in  the  inverted 
form  as  Gur  Vahu.  Bhai  Gurdas  in  his  Varan 
has  used  it  as  being  synonymous  with  the 
Absolute,  the  Creator  in  a  number  of  places 
(I.  49,  IV.  17,  VL5,  IX.  13,  XI.  3  &  8,  XII.  17, 
XIII.  2,  XXIV.  1.  XL.  22).  This  prolific  tise  by 


VAHIGURU  JI  KA  KHALSA  VAHIGURU  JI  KI  FATEH    401    VAHIGURU  Jl  KA  KHALSA  VAHIGURU  JI  Kl  FATEH 


one  whose  philosophical  exposition  of  Sikh 
metaphysics  and  mysticism  is  the  earliest  on 
record,  indicates  that  by  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan 
(the  Savaiyyas  referred  to  above  were  also 
composed  by  poets  (Bhatts)  attending  on 
him) .  Vahiguru  as  the  Sikh  name  for  God  was 
well  established  and  had  acquired  the 
overtones  which  have  since  been  associated 
with  it  as  expression  of  the  Sikh  monotheistic 
affirmation  of  faith. 

Because  of  this  close  and  inalienable 
association,  Guru  Gobind  Singh  at  the  time  of 
introducing  the  new  form  of  initiation  to  die 
faith,  with  adjuration  to  the  initiates  to 
maintain  a  stern  moral  discipline  and  to 
cultivate  qualities  of  crusaders  and  martyrs  for 
the  faith,  administered  the  new  faith  in  terms 
of  the  name  of  God  which  was  held  in  the 
highest  reverence  in  the  tradition  handed 
down  to  him.  The  new  form  of  salutation, 
which  annulled  all  the  previous  ones  till  dien 
prevalent  in  Sikh  society,  was  enunciation  as 
Vahiguru  ji  ka  Khalsa  Vahiguru  ji  ki  Fateh-  the 
Khalsa  is  die  Lord's  own  :  to  die  Lord  is  the 
Victory*  This  two-fold  affirmation  was,  in  die 
first  place,  expression  of  a  special  relationship 
between  God  and  diose  who  dedicated  their 
entire  life  to  His  service.  Second,  it  was  die 
expression  of  that  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph 
of  the  forces  of  Goodness  which  despite  all 
apparent  setbacks,  d  ials  and  travail,  is  the  just 
and  essential  end  of  the  fight  between  good 
and  evil  in  the  world.  This  faith  has  been 
asserted  over  and  over  again  by  Guru  Nanak 
and  his  spiritual  successors.  After  being 
administered  amrit  (water  stirred  with  a  two- 
edged  dagger,  sanctified  by  recitation  of  the 
Guru's  word  and  thus  transmuted  into  the  elixir 
of  immortality) ,  each  initiate  was  adjured  to 
raise  the  affirmation,  Vahiguru  ji  ka  Khalsa 
Vahiguru  ji  ki  Fateh  !  This  was  duly  repeated, 
and  the  tradition  continues  till  this  day.  Apart 
from  being  used  as  the  affirmation  of  faith,  this 
formula  is  also  the  ordiodox,  approved  Sikh 
form  of  salutation. 

Two   terms   in   this   formula  need 


elucidation.  Khalsa  is  an  Arabic  word, 
meaning,  literally,  'pure'  and  used  in  the 
administration  terminology  of  the  Muslim 
State  system  in  India  for  the  lands  or  fiefs 
direcdy  held  by  the  sovereign  and  not  farmed 
out  to  landlords  on  certain  conditions  of 
military  service  and  of  making  over  to  the  State 
a  share  of  the  produce.  In  the  term  khalsa,  both 
these  meanings  are  discerned.  In  one  of  Guru 
Hargobind's  Hukamnamas  and  in  one  of  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur's  khalsa  is  used  for  the  Guru's 
devotees,  with  the  implication  particularly  as 
'the  Guru's  Own!  '  As  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
adopted  the  term  and  gave  it  centrality  in  the 
enunciation  of  the  creed,  the  idea  of  purity 
perhaps  came  to  acquire  primacy.  When  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  sent  a  set  of  youths  to  Varanasi 
to  study  Sanskrit,  they  were  given  the 
appellation  Nirmala  which  is  the  Sanskrit- 
based  parallel  to  the  Arabic  khalsa.  Nirmalas 
are  now  a  Sikh  sect,  who  have  maintained 
traditions  of  high  scholarship.  Khalsa  occurs 
also  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  (GG,  654)  where 
itis  used  in  the  sense  of 'pure',  'emancipated.' 
This  term  appealed  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh  as 
being  truly  expressive  of  the  vision  of  a  noble, 
heroic  race  of  men  that  he  was  creating. 

Fateh,  fatah  in  Arabic,  literally  means 
opening  or  forcing  the  portal  of  a  besieged  fort 
implying  victory.  It  has  been  used  in  the  Qura  'n 
in  the  sense  of  victory,  and  one  of  the 
attributive  names  of  God  in  the  Muslim 
tradition  is  Fattah  ( lit.  Opener,  i.e.  Vanquisher 
over  all  evil  forces) .  While  jai,jaikar  have  been 
used  in  the  Sikh  nadition  for  victory  and  are 
used  thus  even  in  the  Dasam  Granth,  jai  was 
droped  from  the  new  Sikh  tradition,  though 
for  shouts  of  victory  the  term  jaikara  has 
become  firmly  established.  Fateh  was  adopted 
as  the  current  popular  term  for  triumph  or 
victory  and  made  part  of  the  Sikh  affirmation 
and  salutation.  Fateh  as  fatih  occurs  once  in 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  "phahe  kite  mite  gavan 
fatih  bhai  mani  jit-  the  noose  of  Yama  hath 
been  cleft,  transmigration  hath  ceased  and, 
with  the  conquest  of  die  self,  true  victory  hath 


VAHIGURU  SHABDARTH  TIKA 


402 


VAIRAC 


been  achieved"  (GG,  258).  The  implied  meaning 
here  is  of  a  moral  victory.  Jit,  a  word  from 
Indian  tradition,  like  jaiJcara  has  got 
established  also  in  Sikh  tradition,  and  in  the 
invocation  Panth  ki  Jit  (Vctory  of  the  Panth)  is 
repeated  in  the  Sikh  collective  prayer  daily. 
Fateh  nonetheless  remains  the  prime  Sikh  term 
for  victory,  and  has  been  repeated  again  and 
again  in  Sikh  history,  down  from  the  Persian 
couplet  put  on  Sikh  coins  (Deg-o-Tegh-o- 
Fateh-e-nusrat  bedarang,  yaft'az  Nanak  Guru 
Gobind  Singh)  to  the  common  daily  parlance 
of  the  Sikh  people,  wherein  every  success  is 
designated  as  fateh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sikh  Rahit  Maryada.  Amritsar,  n.d 

2.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  ed.,  Rahitname.  Amritsar, 
1989 

3.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Guru  Khalsa  de  Nisan 
re  Hukamname.  Amritsar,  1967 

4.  Randhlr  Singh,  ed.,  Prem  Sumarag  Granlh. 
Jalandhar,  1965 

G.S.T. 

VAHIGURU  SHABDARTH  TIKA  (Vahiguru= 
Sikh  term  for  God  ;  &abdarth=sabda  or 
word+arth  or  meaning) ,  by  Pandit  Tara  Singh 
Narotam,  is"a.  small  tract  which  traces  the  origin 
of  the  word  Vahigurii,  its  meanings  and  its 
usage  in  Sikh  scriptures.  The  tract  has  been 
published  as  part  of  the  author's  Guiniat 
Nirnaya  Sagar.  Its  opening  part  deals  with  the 
importance  of  the  term  vahigurii  in  the  Sikh 
tradition  and  then  proceeds  on  to  trace  its 
origin  giving  seventeen  different  forms  of  die 
word.  First  of  all,  he  quotes  the  views  of  Bhai 
Gurdas  according  to  whom  vahigurii  is  a 
combination  of  the  initials  of  Vasudeva,  Hari, 
Gobind  and  Ram-all  four  being  different 
names  of  the  Supreme  Lord.  Then  Tara  Singh 
discusses  all  those  forms  and  meanings  of  die 
term,  which  had  come  into  use  by  his  time.  To 
interpret  the  term,  he  follows  two  methods  : 
one  is  to  break  the  word  into  maximum 
possible  parts  and  then  to  interpret  each  part, 


and  the  second  is  to  expound  its  meaning  and 
usage  in  the  context  of  grammar.  The  tract 
concludes  with  Tara  Singh's  view  that  God  is, 
in  all  the  traditions  followed  by  theists,  One  ; 
only  the  names  differ.  He  argues  that  Durga 
in  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  verses  is  not  the 
goddess,  but  the  Supreme  Being  who  is  the 
creator  of  Durga  the  goddess  and  the  gods  such 
as  Siva  and  Visnu. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Tara  Singh  Narotam,  Gurmat  Nirnaya  Sagar. 
Rawalpindi,  n.d 

D.S. 

VAIRAG,  usually  bairag  or  sometimes  virag  in 
Punjabi,  is  derived  from  Sanskrit  vairagya 
meaning  "change  or  loss  of  colour,  growing 
pale  ;  disgust,  aversion,  distaste  for  or  loathing 
of  ;  freedom  from  all  worldly  desire, 
indifference  to  worldly  objects  or  to  life  ; 
asceticism,"  or  analysed  as  vi  (prefix  denoting 
disunion,  separation,  division)+rag  (act  of 
colouring  or  dyeing,  colour,  hue,  tint,  dye 
especially  red  colour,  redness  ;  any  feeling  or 
passion  especially  love,  affection  or  sympathy 
for  ;  vehement  desire  of,  interest,  joy,  delight 
in ;  musical  note,  harmony,  melody  ;  loveliness, 
beauty) .  Simply  stated,  vairaghas  been  defined 
as  a  mental  state  or  attitude  implying 
"detachment  from  and  indifference  to  all 
things  diat  stimulate  desire,  arouse  the  passion 
and  strengthen  any  of  the  other  virtues  or 
vices."  Thus  defined  vairaga  may  be  desirable 
or  otherwise  depending  on  what  its  practitioner 
desires  or  disapproves.  However,  the  term  is 
more  often  than  not  employed  to  connote 
freedom  from  all  worldly  desires  and 
indifference  to  worldly  objects  and  to  life  itself. 
It  is  thus  considered  as  synonymous  with 
renunciation  and  asceticism. 

Asceticism,  which  is  the  consequence  of 
vairag,  is  a  value  acknowledged  in  many 
advanced  religions  including  Christianity  and 
Islam.  In  traditional  Indian  religions  it  is  at  the 
core,  and  has  given  rise  to  numerous  sects  of 


VAIRAG 


403 


VAIROKE 


anchorites  and  hermits.  All  these  indulge  in 
ritual  practices  of  their  respective  order.  One 
of  the  sects  of  Vaisnav  anchorites  is  named 
Bairag!  (Skt.  Vairagin).  Sannyasis  (Skt. 
sannyasin),  torn  from  worldly  affairs,  seek 
liberation  by  renunciation,  meditation  or 
repeated  chanting  of  certain  mantras  aloud  or 
sotto  voce. 

Sikhism  introduced  significant  changes  in 
the  traditional  concept  of  vairag.  For  the  Guru 
the  world  and  worldly  life  were  not  to  be 
despised  because  they  were  the  manifested  part 
of  the  Ultimate  Reality.  God  created  earth  as 
dharamsal,  i.e.  premises  for.  right  action  (GG. 
7)  and  human  birth  is  a  rare  chance  for  God- 
realization  (gg,  12).  Disinterested  participation 
and  not  renunciation  is  therefore  the  right 
path.  Vairag  must  be  differentiated  from  tyag 
(renunciation)  and  sannyas  (liionaslicism). 
Mere  abandonment  of  property  means 
nothing  so  long  as  the  mind  remains  chained 
to  desire.  Vairag  implies  freedom  from  desire 
other  than  a  craving  for  nearness  to  God. 

In  Punjabi  speech  virag  (vairag)  is  also 
used  for  yearning,  love-sickness  or  sadness 
caused  toy  separation.  Bairag  in  this  sense  is  also 
used  by  the  Gurus  in  their  hymns  to  express 
deep  longing  for  God.  Guru  Ram  Das,  Nanak 
IV,  says,  "Come,  meet  me  O1  God  :  I  have  been 
separated  lor  long  ;  my  mind  is  full  of  bairag, 
my  eyes  moist  with  love,"  (GG.  449).  Guru  Arjan 
also  sang,  main'  bairag  bliaia  darsanu  dekhanai 
ka  chau-  "my  mind  craves,  anxious  to  have  a 
glimpse"  (GG.  50).  Vairag  in  Sikhism  thus 
connotes  not  renunciation  and  escapism,  but 
living  a  life  of  rightful  activity  with  a  longing 
to  win  God's  pleasure.  Says  Guru  Nanak, 
"Countless  bairagis  talk  of  bairag,  but  bairagi 
is  he  whom  the  lord  likes"  (GG.  634). 

According  to  Guru  Ram  Das,  "True 
bairagis  are  those  fortunate  ones  who,  living 
in  their  houses  with  their  families  in  a  trance 
of  equipoise,  imbued  in  Lord's  name  and 
concentrating  on  Sabda,  the  Guru's  Word, 
serve  the  True  Lord"  (GG,  1246) :  To  quote  Guru 
Nanak  again,  "a  householder,  bairagi -at  heart, 


who  dyed  in  trudi  and  God's  fear  sips  the 
nectar  of  true  knowledge,  feels  no  other 
hunger"  (GG,  21). 

Three  things  are  necessary  for  the 
cultivation  of  true  vairag-Guru,  faith  and  God's 
grace.  As  Kabir  says  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib, 
"One  does  not  have  detachment  (vairag) 
without  the  true  Guru  even  if  one  wishes  and 
craves  for  it"  (GG,  1104).  For  the  Sikh  Gurus' 
Word  (gurbani)  is  the  true  Guru  who  shows 
him  the  right  path.  Unwavering  faith  in  the 
Guru  is,  however,  necessary.  Doubt  (dubidha) 
being  antithesis  of  faith  is  a  great  hinderance 
to  true  vairag,  as  says  Guru  Nanak,  "so  long  as 
.  there  is  even  an  iota  of  dubidha,  detachment 
(vairag)  cannot  be  attained"  (GG,  634).  But 
ultimately,  everything  depends  on  God's  will 
and  pleasure,  that  is  nadar,  a  basic  concept  in 
Sikhism.  Neither  Guru  nor  gian  (true 
knowledge)  nor  vairag  is  found  without  God's 
grace.  As  already  said,  "coundess  talk  of  vairag, 
but  vairagi  is  he  whom  He  wills  so  to  be"  (GG,  634). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jodh  Singh,  Bhai,  Guimati  Nirnaya.  Patiala,  1990 

2.  Sher  Singh,  The  Philosophy  of  Sikhism.  Lahore, 
1944 

P.S.Sf. 

VAIROKE,  village  3  km  west  of  Lopoke,  in 
Amritsar  district  of  the  Punjab,  claims  a 
historical  shrine  sacred  to  Guru  Nanak  (1469- 
1539),  who  once  visited  it  during  his  travels 
through  these  parts.  According  to  local 
tradition,  the  Guru,  sitting  here  on  a  dead  ber 
tree  trunk  discoursed  widi  a  Muslim  faqh;  Shah 
Bakhtiar,  whose  tomb  now  stands  on  the 
eastern  outskirts  of  the  village.  Gurdwara  Babe 
di  Ber  Sahib  ,  or  simply  Ber  Sahib,  marking  the 
site  still  has  two  ber  trees  which  are  believed 
to  have  sprouted  from  the  log  on  which  Guru 
Nanak  had  sat.  The  present  building,  a  square 
room  with  die  sanctum  in  the  middle,  was 
constructed  in  1920.  Above  the  sanctum  are 
two  storeys  of  square  rooms  topped  by  a  lotus 
dome  with  a  gilded  pinnacle.  Divans, 


VAK 


404 


VAK 


accompanied  by  Guru  ka  Langar,  mark  the 
observance  of  every  full-moon  day. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  Travels  of  Guru  Nanak. 
Chandigarh,  1969 

2.  Gurmukh  Singh,    Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

Gn.S. 

VAK,  from  Sanskrit  vaka  (sounding,  speaking ;  a 
text,  recitation  or  formula)  or  vakya  (speech, 
saying,  statement,  declaration,  a  sentence  or 
period) ,  has  a  special  connotation  in  the  Sikh 
system.  In  Sikh  terminology,  Vak  means  the 
command  or  lesson  read  from  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  Vak  laina  or  hukam  laina 
(obtaining  or  receiving  the  Guru's  word  or 
command)  is  for  the  Sikhs  tantamount  to 
having  a  darshan  or  audience  of  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib,  ever-present  Guru  for  them.  It 
is  an  act  of  seeking  the  counsel  or  instruction 
of  the  Guru  who  'speaks'  through  the  vak  or 
hymn  recited  aloud.  Customarily,  vak  or 
hukam  is  recited  in  sarigatby  an  officiant  after 
the  installation  or  opening  of  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  in  the  morning  and  every  time  after 
ardas  or  supplicatory  prayer  is  said  at  the  end 
of  the  service.  Vak  or  hukam  may  be  read 
individually  by  the  seeker  from  the  Holy  Book 
in  the  gurdwaraor  in  his  own  home  or  he  may 
request  the  granthi  (officiant)  or  any  one  else 
present  to  read  it  out  for  him. 

The  Sikh  Rahit  Maryada  or  the  code 
governing  Sikh  belief  and  practice  published 
by  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee,  statutorily  elected  religious  body 
representative  of  the  entire  Sikh  community, 
lays  down  the  following  procedure  under  the 
head  hukam  laina  : 

(a)  To  bow  before  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib, 
respectfully  to  attend  the  sahgat  which 
truly  represents  the  Guru,  and  to  recite 
or  listen  to  vak  amounts  to  having  the 
darshan  or  sight  of  the  True  Guru.  To 
have  a  sight  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  by 


uncovering  it  and  then  not  to  read  the 
vak  is  manmator  self-willed  transgression. 

(b)  During  the  congregation,  only  one  thing 
should  take  place  at  a  time-kirtan, 
discourse  or  scripture-reading. 

(c)  During  the  congregation,  only  a  Sikh 
(man  or  woman)  is  entitled  to  sit  in 
attendance  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib. 

(d)  While  any  one,  Sikh  or  non-Sikh,  may 
read  the  Scripture  for  himself,  only  a  Sikh 
should  read  it  aloud  for  the  sari gat. 

(e)  For  obtaining  vak,  the  hymn  at  the  top  of 
the  left  hand  page  of  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
opened  at  random  should  be  read  out 
from  the  beginning.  If  the  beginning  is 
at  the  preceding  page,  the  leaf  may  be 
turned.  A  complete  hymn  should  be  read 
ending  with  the  line  where  usually  the 
name  Nanak  appears. 

(f)  Hukam  should  also  be  picked  from  the 
holy  book  at  the  end  to  mark  the  close  of 
the  ceremony. 

Vak  thus  recited  in  slow  rhythm  and  with 
correct  intonation  makes  .impact  on  the 
listeners.  It  is  taken  to  be  the  Guru's  command 
for  the  day.  Historically,  there  have  been 
instances  when  theological  or  even  mundane 
disputes  have  been  settied  by  having  recourse 
to  vak.  For  example,  on  12  October  1920,  when 
the  priests  of  the  Harimandar  refused  to  accept 
the  sacrament  (karah  prasad)  brought  by  a 
group  of  the  so-called  low-castes,  it  was  agreed 
to  obtain  the  Guru's  verdict  The  priests  agreed. 
As  the  custom  goes,  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
was  opened  at  random  and  the  words  read 
impromptu  went  unambiguously  in  favour  of 
the  reformers.  This  was  accepted  without 
argument  and  without  question.  Such  reliance 
on  vak  arises  from  the  belief  of  the  devotees 
that  the  bani  of  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is 
revelation  enjoying  Divine  sanction. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sikh  Rahit  Maryada.  Amritsar,  n.d 

2.  Cole,  W.  Owen,  The  Guru  is  Sikhism.  London,  1982 

P.S.S. 


VALLA 


405 


VANJARA  SIKHS 


VALLA,  village  7  km  east  of  Amritsar  (31°- 
38'N,  74°-53'E)  along  the  Amritsar-Sri 
Hargobindpiir  road,  is  sacred  to  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur,  who  visited  here  in  November  1664. 
According  to  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur 
Pratap  Suraj  Granth,  the  Guru  had  come  on  a 
visit  to  the  Harimandar,  Amritsar,  but  the 
masands  or  ministrants  shut  the  doors  against 
him.  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  sat  outside  the 
Harimandar  for  some  time  and  departed 
saying,  "The  masands  of  Amritsar  are  burning 
with  the  fire  of  ambition,"  and  came  to  Valla 
where  he  sat  under  a  pipal  tree,  outside  the 
village.  The  village  sangat  led  by  a  devout  old 
lady,  Mai  Harlan,  came  to  offer  obeisance.  At 
their  request  the  Guru  repaired  to  Mai 
Harlan's  house  inside  the  village.  The  sangat 
of  Amritsar  on  learning  how  the  Guru  had 
been  treated  by  the  masands  felt  distressed.  A 
group  of  ladies  came  on  its  behalf  to  Valla  to 
atone  for  what  the  masands  had  done.  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  blessed  them  saying,  "Maiari 
rabb  rajaian  (Upon  women  may  rest  God's 
favour)."  There  are  two  gurdwaras 
commemorating  the  Guru's  visit. 

GURDWARA  VALLA  SAHIB,  on  the  western 
outskirts  of  the  village,  marks  die  spot  where 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  had  first  alighted. 

gurdwara  kotha  sahib,  inside  the  village, 
represents  the  house  (kotha  in  Punjabi)  of  Mai 
Hariah  where  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  had  stayed. 
The  present  building,  raised  after  1905  to 
replace  the  old  one  badly  damaged  in  an 
earthquake,  comprises  a  hall  with  a  square 
sanctum  in  the  middle  of  it.  There  is  a  domed 
room  above  die  sanctum.  A  small  8-metre 
square  sarovar  is  to  the  left  and  residential 
accommodation  to  the  right  of  the  central 
building  as  one  enters.  Guru  ka  Langar  is  at 
the  back.  The  Gurdwara  is  managed  by  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
dirough  a  local  committee.  A  largely  attended 
fair  is  held  on  the  full-moon  day  of  the  month 
of  Magh  (January-February) . 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narotam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  TwanTdi  Gurduariari.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

4.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadar  :  YStra  Asthan, 
Paramparavari  te  JSd  Churn.  Patiala,  1976 

5.  Harbans  Singh,  Gun*  Tegh  Bahadur.  Delhi,  1994 

Gn.S. 

VANDAR,  named  after  the  Jatt  clan  who 
inhabits  it,  is  a  village  22  km  southeast  of  Kot 
Kapura  (30°-35'N,  74°-49'E)  in  Moga  district 
of  the  Punjab.  It  has  a  historical  gurdwara 
dedicated  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  who  made  a 
brief  halt  here  on  his  way  from  Dina  to  Kot 
Kapura.  The  shrine,  called  Gurdwara  Sahib 
Patshahi  X,  is  situated  inside  a  walled 
compound  entered  through  a  gateway.  The  old 
shrine,  a  small  domed  room,  is  still  preserved, 
but  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  seated  in  a 
separate  flat-roofed  hall  where  daily  services 
take  place.  The  Gurdwara,  endowed  with  15 
acres  of  land,  is  managed  by  a  local  committee 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee.  A  largely-attended 
annual  fair  is  held  annually  on  the  occasion  of 
Baisaklii. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Narotam,  lara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

3.  Gian  Singh  ,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduariari.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

4.  Hai  Dans  Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Chandigarh, 
1966 

M.G.S. 

VANJARA  SIKHS  or  Banjaras,  akin  to  Labana 
Sikhs  of  the  Punjab,  are  found  scattered 
throughout  Central  and  South  India  as  well  as 
in  Uttar  Pradesh  and  Rajasthan.  Although 


VANJARA  SIKHS 


406 


VAR 


vanjara,  from  Sanskrit  vanij  (a  merchant, 
trader),  is  now  used  as  a  generic  term  for 
peddlers  in  the  Punjab,  the  Vanjaras  during 
the  medieval  times  formed  a  class  of  travelling 
traders  and  carriers  of  merchandise  in  Central 
India,  the  Deccan  and  Rajpiitana  (now 
Rajasthan).  Organized  in  tandas  or  caravans, 
each  headed  by  a  naik  or  leader,  they  trekked 
between  the  Western  ports  and  the  trade 
centres  of  the  interior.  As  the  story  of  Makkhan 
Shah,  a  Labana  Sikh  of  Mota  Tanda  village  in 
Kashmir,  suggests,  they  were  sufficiendy  armed 
for  self-defence,  and  some  of  them  were 
engaged  also  in  maritime  trade.  Modern 
progress  in  rail  and  road  communications 
destroyed  their  vocation  reducing  them  to  the 
status  of  peddlers  selling  bangles  and  trinkets. 

Vanjaras  came  into  the  Sikh  fold  quite 
early  during  the  time  of  the  Gurus.  Guru 
Nanak  and  other  Gurus  whose  compositions 
form  part  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  have  often 
used  the  term  vanjara  as  referring  to  man  who 
has  come  into  this  world  with  capital  advanced 
by  the  sahu,  the  financer,  i.e.  God.  They  call 
him  vanjaria  mitra  (  O,  my  merchant  friend  !) 
and  exhort  him  to  put  his  borrowed  capital  to 
good  use  and  earn  merit.  Some  of  the 
prominent  Vanjara  names  in  Sikh  history  are 
those  of  Makkhan  Shah  who  identified  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur  at  Bakala  in  1664  as  the  true 
successor  to  Guru  Har  Krishan,  Nanak  VIII, 
Lakkhi  Shah  who  cremated  at  great  personal 
risk  the  headless  body  of  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
at  Delhi  in  1675,  and  Mani  Ram,  son  of  Naik 
Mai  Das,  whose  five  sons,  Ude  Singh,  Bachittar 
Singh  and  others  took  the  Khalsa  pah  u/ in  1699 
and  laid  down  their  lives  fighting  for  Guru 
Gobind  Singh. 

Vanjaras  of  Central  and  South  India  are, 
generally  speaking,  no  longer  Sikhs  in  external 
form,  but  most  of  them  own  the  Gurus  and 
the  Sikh  tenets.  They  visit  gurdwaras  and  arc- 
especially  attached  to  Sri  Takht  Sachkhand 
Abchalnagar  Hazur  Sahib,  at  Nanded.  They  eat 
jhatka,  meat  of  animal  killed  in  the  Sikh  style 
with  one  blow,  and  hail  other  Sikhs  with 


'Vahiguruji  ki  Fateh'.  At  marriage  the  couple 
takes  four  circumambulations  round  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  Many  of  them  pay  dasvandh  or 
one-tenth  of  their  income  at  Sri  Hazur  Sahib. 
Measures  are  now  in  progress  under  the 
supervision  of  Gurdwara  Board  of  Takht 
Sachkhand  to  integrate  them  more  closely  with 
the  Sikh  faith  by  spreading  general  and 
religious  education  among  them,  setting  up 
gurdwaras  in  their  villages  and  administering 
to  them  amrit  or  the  Khalsa  initiation. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1959 

2.  Rose,  H.A.,  ed.,  A  Glossary  of  the  Tribes  and 
Castes  of  the  Punjab  and  North-West  Frontier 
Province.  Lahore,  1911-19 

N.S.A. 

VAR,  a  verse  form  in  Punjabi  popular  in 
folklore  as  well  as  in  refined  poetry.  In  the  old 
bardic  tradition  of  the  Punjab,  var  meant  the 
poem  itself  with  its  typical  theme  as  also  the 
form  in  which  it  was  cast.  The  earliest  vars  were 
ballads  of  batdes  and  dynastic  feuds,  of  issues 
of  honour  fought  at  the  point  of  the  sword  and 
of  romantic  love.  The  Gurus  employed  this 
form  for  spiritual  themes.  The  var  in  Punjabi 
has  since  acquired  a  predominantly  Sikh 
character,  though  the  content  subsequently 
changed  from  spiritual  to  heroic.  The  vans  of 
Sikh  martyrs  and  heroes  enjoyjnuch  vogue  and 
are  sung  with  fervour  at  Sikh  gatherings. 

The  secular  vars  were  sung  by  the  bards 
before  village  audiences,  panegyrizing  the 
gallantry  of  folk  heroes  and  warriors.  Vars  were 
also  sung  to  the  warriors  before  they  marched 
into  the  field  of  battle.  A  common  practice  was 
for  the  family  bard  to  sing  vars  standing  at  the 
portal  of  a  tribal  or  local  chief,  recounting  the 
brave  deeds  of  his  ancestors.  Most  chiefs 
maintained  hereditary  bards  whose  one 
function  was  to  compose  and  sing  verse 
concerning  die  history  of  the  family. 

Sikh  scripture,  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib, 
contains  twenty-two  vars  dealing  with  spiritual 


VAR 


407 


VAR  AMAR  SltiGH  Kl 


and  ethical  themes.  They  sing  praises  of  the 
Lord  Almighty  and  adjure  man  to  endeavour 
to  live  a  life  of  love  and  devotion.  Of  the  vars 
in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  three  are  by  Guru 
Nanak,  four  by  Guru  Amar  Das,  eight  by  Guru 
Ram  Das  and  six  by  Guru  Aijan.  One  var  is  by 
the  bards,  Satta  and  Balvand,  attached  to  the 
Gurus.  Guru  Gobind  Singh  composed  a  var 
depicting  the  battles  of  goddess  Chandi  against 
the  demons.  This  mythological  story  was 
chosen  by  him  to  infuse  among  the  Sikhs 
martial  ardour.  The  var  is  called  Var  Sri 
Bhagautiji  Ki,  popularly  known  as  Chandi  di 
Var,  and  is  included  in  the  Dasarn  Granth.  Next 
to  scriptural  vars  is  a  collection  of  forty  vars  by 
Bhai  Gurdas,  a  Sikh  much  revered  in  Sikh  piety. 
His  vars  occupy  a  place  of  honour  in  the 
religious  literature  of  the  Sikhs.  A  var 
commonly  cited  is  attributed  to  another  Sikh 
poet  with  the  same  name  (Bhai  Gurdas  II,  or 
Bhai  Gurdas  Singh) . 

The  Gurus  from  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan 
onwards  had  Bhatts  and  bards  in  attendance 
on  them.  After  Satta  and  Balvand,  whose  var 
was  given  scriptural  status  by  Guru  Arjan,  we 
come  across  bards  Abdullah  and  Natth  Mall 
who  sang  vars  in  the  time  of  Guru  Hargobind. 
They  are  believed  to  have  written  72  vars, 
though  only  a  few  fragments  of  these  are  still 
extant.  Guru  Gobind  Singh  had  living  with  him 
a  large  number  of  poets  and  bards,  prominent 
among  them  being  Mir  Mushki  and  Mir 
Chhabila  who  recited  vars  at  the  afternoon 
divans.  They  are  said  to  have  composed  eight 
vars  on  die  battles  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
which  were  in  popular  circulation,  especially 
during  Sikh  times,  but  none  of  which  is  now 
available.  Short  vars  also  called  pauri's  written 
by  Bhatts,  mainly  about  Bhai  Man!  Singh,  the 
martyr,  and  some  members  of  his  family,  have 
come  down  to  modern  day. 

In  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  wccome  across 
tide  of  nine  vars  which  must  have  been  popular 
in  different  regions.  These  are  mentioned- 
indirectly-by  Guru  Arjan  while  adding 
directions  with  regard  to  the  style  in  which 


some  of  the  scriptural  vars  are  to  be  sung.  The 
vars  mentioned  as  models  in  this  behalf  are  : 
Var  Malak  Murid  tatha  Chandrahara  Sohia,  Rai 
Kamaldi  Maujdi  ki  Var,  Tunde  Asraje  ki  Var, 
SikandarBirahim  ki  Var,  Lalla  Bahilima  ki  Var, 
Var  Jodhe  Virai  Purbani  Ki,  Var  Rai  Mahime 
Hasne  Ki,  Rane  Kailas  ate  Maldeo  ki  Var,  and 
Muse  ki  Var.  One  stanza  each  of  these  vars  was 
quoted  as  a  specimen  by  Pandit  Tara  Singh 
Narotam  (1822-91)  in  his  Gurmat  Nirnaya 
Sagar.  The  same  stanzas  have  been  quoted  by 
some  later  writers  as  well,  but  fuller  versions 
of  none  of  these  vars  are  known  to  exist. 

Structurally,  a  var  consists  of  a  number  of 
stanzas,  called  pauris.  The  number  of  pauris 
as  well  as  oflines  to  a  pauri  varies  from  var  to 
var,  though  the  lines  in  a  pauri  must  have  a 
common  rhyme.  The  pauri  has  also  been 
identified  with  a  kind  of  poetic  metre  :  Bhai 
Kahn  Singh  of  Nabha  gives  30  different 
specimens  of  paup  chhand,  varying  in  scale 
from  20  to  32  matras  or  prosodic  syllables.  The 
word  'pauri'  has  also  been  used  as  another 
name  for  a  var. 

The  vars  in  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  with 
the  exception  of  Basantkf  Var  and  Ramkaliki 
Var  by  Satta  and  Balvand,  have  slokas  added  to 
their  pauris  by  Guru  Arjan  at  the  time  of  the 
compilation  of  the  Scripture.  These  slokas, 
which  precede  the  pauris,  vary  in  number  and 
sometimes  also  in  authorship. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  &abadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Am ri tsar,  1959 

2.  Ashok,  S.S.,  Prach/n  Varan  te  Jarigname. 
Amritsar,  1983 

D.S. 

VAR  AMAR  SINGH  KI  is  a  versified  account 
of  a  battle  fought  in  AD  1774  between  Raja 
Amar  Singh,  the  ruler  of  Patiala  and  the 
neighbouring  Bhatti  Rajput  chiefs. 

The  writer  is  Kavi  (poet)  Kesho  Das,  a 
Brahman  bard  at  the  court  of  the  Raja  of 
Patiala.  He  was  a  resident  of  the  state  of 
Bikaner,  and  had  served  its  ruler  Raja  Gaj 


VAR  AMAR  SINGH  KI 


408 


VAR  AMRITSAR  KI 


Singh  before  he  came  to  Patiala. 

The  Bhattis  were  Rajputs  by  origin,  and 
had  embraced  Islam  forsaking  the  faith  of  their 
forefathers.  Now  they  were  staunch  opponents 
of  the  Hindus  and  Hinduism.  They  were 
haughty  and  tyrannical  towards  the  people. 
Their  treatment  of  their  Hindu  subjects  was 
far  from  mild.  They  insulted  and  humiliated 
them  in  many  ways.  After  the  deadi  of  Raja 
Ala  Singh  of  Patiala  in  1 765,  these  Bhatti  chiefs 
were  further  emboldened  and  they  then 
Started  plundering  the  villages  of  Patiala  state. 
In  their  abjectness,  the  subjects  of  the  Bhatti 
rulers  called  on  Raja  Amar  Singh  who  was 
camping  at  Dhode  fort  (Ei'iavanigarh).  His 
mother  Rani  Hukmah  felt  much  distressed  to 
hear  their  tales  of  woe.  Poet  Kesho  Das  is 
profuse  in  praise  of  Rani  Hukmah,  though  he 
seems  to  be  confused  about  her  relationship 
with  Raja  Amar  Sihgh-his  statement  implies 
that  she  was  his  rarij.  The  poet  compares  her 
to.  great  women  of  mythology  and  legend,  such 
asisachi,  queen  of  Indra ;  Kausalya,  the  mother 
of  Rama,  and  Sita,  his  wife  ;  and  Draupadi  die 
wife  of  Arjun.  Hukmah  was  a  woman  of 
determination  and  was  well  versed  in  the 
strategy  of  war.  She  counselled  her  son  to 
march  against  the  Bhattis  forthwith.  Raja  Amar 
Singh  said  his  ardas  and  marched  with  his 
troops  towards  the  village  of  Munak,  where 
his  main  force  from  the  capital  joined  him. 

The  Bhattis,  on  hearing  of  the  invasion 
of  Amar  Singh,  assembled  their  armies  at 
Bighar.  A  fierce  battle  took  place.  The  Bhattis 
suffered  heavy  losses  and  retreated  to  the 
fortress  of  DhulkoL  The  Patiala  force  stormed 
the  fortress,  but  did  not  succeed  in  capturing 
it.  Kesho  Das  narrates  a  miracle  here.  The  Raja 
had  vowed  to  subdue  the  Bhattis  before  sunset. 
Seeing  how  time  was  running  out,  he  made  a 
prayer  to  the  Lord  Almighty.  According  to 
Kesho  Das,  the  prayer  was  heard  and  the  sun 
came  to  a  standstill  allowing  him  more  time 
to  force  the  issue*  Another  assault  was  made 
and  the  fortress  fell.  The  Bhattis  accepted 
defeat.  The    fort  of  Fatehabad  was  also 


surrendered  to  Raja  Amar  Singh. 

It  is  probable  that  the  poem  was 
composed  by  the  poet  just  after  the  campaign 
in  1775  or  1776.  The  verse  is  eloquent  and 
vigorous.  The  language  used  is  Braj,  with  some 
admixture  of  Punjabi  and  Rajasthani.  Kesho 
Das  is  an  experienced  poet,  who  has  command 
of  Irodian  prosody.  He  has  successfully 
employed  a  large  number  of  metres  ;  dohra, 
chhapay  and  kabit  having  the  highest 
frequency.  The  ballad  has  in  all  52  stanzas  of 
varying  length.  Extracts  from  this  Var  have 
since  been  published  in  the  collection  entided 
Prachin  Jangname,  edited  by  Shamsher  Singh 
Ashok  and  published  by  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Prachin  Jangname. 
Arnritsar,  1950 

S.SA. 

VAR  AMRITSAR  KI,  also  known  as  Var 
Singhan  Ki,  by  Darshan  Bhagat,  a  disciple  of 
Bhai  Kanhaiya  is  an  eye-witness  account  of  the 
battle  fought  in  Arnritsar  between  a  force  sent 
by  the  Mughal  satrap  of  Lahore  and  the  Sikhs 
on  the  Baisakhi  day  (29  March)  of  1709.  A 
manuscript  of  the  poem  was  held  under  No. 
2735  in  the  Sikh  Reference  Library,  Arnritsar, 
until  the  library  perished  in  1984.  A  published 
version  in  the  anthology  titled  Paryabj  Varan 
(Kalam  Mandir,  Patiala)  is,  however,  available. 

As  a  result  of  the  conciliatory  policy  of 
Emperor  Bahadur  Shah,  the  lands  attached  to 
the  Golden  Temple,  Arnritsar,  which  had  been 
earlier  confiscated  were  restored  and  Sikhs 
were  appointed  by  Mata  Sundari,  widow  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh,  to  administer  the  jagirat 
Arnritsar.  On  a  complaint  made  by  a  local 
banker  Chuhar  Mall,  Aslam  Khan,  the  deputy 
Governor  of  Lahore,  sent  Har  Sahai,  the 
revenue  officer  of  Path,  against  the  Sikhs.  Har 
Sahai  was  killed  in  the  skirmish  as  was 
Chaudhari  Deva  of  Naushahra  Pannuah,  also 
deputed  by  Aslam  Khan.  The  Var  panegyrized 


VARANASI 


409 


VARANASI 


the  bravery  and  skill  displayed  by  the  Sikhs  in 
this  batde.  It  concludes  widi  the  remark  that 
Aslam  Khan  was  rebuked  by  Emperor  Bahadur 
Shah  for  having  taken  the  sword  against  the 
House  of  Nanak. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Padam,  Piara  Singh,  ed.,  Panjabi  Varan.  Patiala, 
1980 

P.S.P. 

VARANASI  (25°-20'N,  82°-58E),  the  holiest 
place  of  Hindu  pilgrimage,  has  since  ancient 
times,  been  one  of  the  most  important  centres 
of  Sanskrit  learning.  Guru  Gobind  Singh  sent 
five  of  his  Sikhs  to  Varanasi  to  study  Sanskrit, 
and  following  them  several  centres  for  the 
study  of  Sanskrit  and  theology  were  established 
by  Nirmala  Sikhs.  Thus  there  are  many  places 
of  historical  importance  for  the  Sikhs  in  this 
holy  city. 

GURDWARA  BAR  I   SANGAT   SRI   GURU  TEGH 

BAHADUR,  NICHI  BAGH.  Probably  since  the  visit 
of  Guru  Nanak  but  certainly  since  die  time  of 
Bhai  Gurdas,  a  Sikh  sahgat  had  been  in 
existence  in  Varanasi.  When  Guru  Tegh 
Bahadur  came  here  in  1666,  he  was  received 
by  the  sarigatled  by  Bhaijavehari  Mall,  the  local 
Sikh  minister.  The  Guru  was  put  up  in  the 
house  of  Bhai  Kalyan  Mall,  die  site  of  the 
present  Gurdwara  Bari  Saiigat  where  he  is  said 
to  have  stayed  for  several  months.  Bhai 
Gurbakhsh,  the  masand  at  Jaunpur,  came  with 
his  sahgat  to  offer  obeisance.  Bhai  Gurbakhsh, 
a  practised  musician,  pleased  the  Guru  with  his 
melodious  kirtan  and  gave  Eihai  Gurbakhsh  a 
mrdarig  ( a  drum)  as  a  mark  of  his  appreciation 
and  blessing. 

When  he  was  not  preaching  or  meeting 
his  devotees  and  visitors,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur 
meditated  in  a  room  still  kept  apart  as  his  Tap 
Asthan.  Once,  it  is  said,  Bhai  Kalyan  Mall  came 
to  the  Guru's  Tap  Asthan  early  in  the  morning 
and  invited  him  to  a  dip  in  the  holy  Gahga, 
that  being  an  auspicious  day  of  the  month.  The 


Guru,  as  the  tradition  goes,  asked  him  to  lift  a 
stone  lying  near  by.  Immediately,  a  spring  of 
river  water  gushed  forth.  The  spring  is  still 
preserved  in  the  form  of  a  narrow  well,  called 
Baoli  Gahga  Pargat,  inside  the  main  hall  Of  the 
Gurdwara,  and  its  water  is  used  for  drinking. 
People  believe  in  its  curative  properties.  In  the 
Gurdwara  are  preserved  two  cloaks  (cholas) 
and  a  pair  of  shoes  belonging  to  the  Guru-  The 
shoes  have  since  decayed  with  only  the  soles 
left. 

Guru  Gobind  Singh  also  visited  this 
shrine  in  1670  when  as  a  child  he  was  being 
escorted  from  Patna  to  the  Punjab.  A  pair  of 
his  shoes  is  also  preserved  here  as  a  relic.  The 
Bari  Sahgat  at  Varanasi  remained  an  important 
Sikh  centre.  Seventeen  hukamnamas  of  Guru 
Tegh  Bahadur,  Guru  Gobind  Singh  and  Mata 
Sahib  Devan  addressed  to  the  Sahgat  are 
preserved  in  the  Gurdwara. 

SHRI CHETAN  MATH,  located  in  Bishveshvargahj, 
popularly  known  as  Bisesarganj,  is  another  site 
of  historical  importance.  This  is  the  place 
where  the  five  Sikhs  sent  by  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  to  study  Sanskrit  had  stayed  and  which 
became  in  due  course  a  centre  of  the  Nirmala 
Sikhs.  The  centre  now  functions  as  Shri  Guru 
Nanak  Nirmal  Sanskrit  Vidyalaya,  affiliated  to 
the  Sanskrit  University.  The  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  is  installed  in  a  portion  of  the  building 
and  is  studied  by  those  interested,  but  such 
study  does  not  form  a  part  of  the  school 
curriculum.  Most  of  the  scholars  hail  from  Nepal. 

GURDWARA  CHHOTi  SANGAT,  commemorates  an 
old  Sikh  sahgat  in  Varanasi  visited  both  by 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  and  Guru  Gobind  Singh. 
The  building  is  privately  owned  and  is  crowded 
by  families  to  whom  die  different  rooms  are 
let  out  on  hire.  A  room  on  the  first  floor  is  set 
apart  for  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  with  a 
Nirmala  sadhu  as  the  custodian.  Among  the 
several  large-sized  old  paintings  in  glowing 
colours  and  heavy  frames  depicting  scenes 
from  Hindu  mythology  is  a  portrait  of  Guru 


VARANASI 


410 


VARANASI 


Nanak  with  Bala  sitting  on  one  side  of  him 
and  Mardana  on  die  other.  Bala  is  shown 
beardless  with  a  high  peaked  cap,  but  Mardana 
is  dressed  like  a  Mughal  prince  with  a  plumed 
turban,  though  he  is  not  without  his  rebeck. 
The  Gurdwara  possesses  an  old  hand-written 
copy  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  transcribed  in 
Phagun  1833  Bk/  February  1777. 

gurdwara  GURU  bagh.  commemorates  the  visit 
of  Guru  Nanak  to  Varanasi  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  occasion  was  the 
Sivaratri  of  1563  Bk,  which  fell  in  February 
1507.  Guru  Nanak's  apparel  which  was  neither 
of  a  householder  nor  of  a  hermit  attracted 
notice.  One  of  die  leading  Pandits,  Chatur  Das, 
came  and  began  to  question  him,  "What  faidi 
do  you  profess  ?  You  carry  no  Saligram,  the 
devotee's  stone,  nor  do  you  wear  the  necklace 
of  Tulsi,  the  holy  basil.  You  have  no  rosary  and 
no  mark  of  white  clay  upon  your  forehead. 
What  devotion  you  have  attached  yourself  to  ?" 
Guru  Nanak  asked  Mardana  to  play  the  rebeck 
and  recited  the  hymn  :  "Let  God's  Name  be 
the  Saligram  thou  adorest  and  good  deeds  the 
basil-wreath  round  thy  neck.  Seek  divine  grace 
and  let  diis  be  thy  raft's  anchor.  Why  waste  thy 
time  watering  barren  land  and  plastering  walls 
built  on  sand  ?  Let  good  deeds  be  die  string  of 
vessels  to  draw  water  from  the  well  and  yoke 
thy  mind  to  the  wheel.  Distil  the  nectar  and 
irrigate  with  it  die  land.  Then  wilt  thou  be 
owned  by  the  Gardener."  Chatur  Das  was 
proud  of  his  learning  and  invited  the  Guru  to 
stay  in  Varanasi  and  master  the  various 
branches  of  knowledge.  Guru  Nanak  said  that 
for  him  only  one  word  was  of  real  account  and 
that  was  die  God's  Name.  He  reckoned  him 
truly  learned  who  remembered  Him  and 
engaged  himself  in  die  service  of  odiers. 

The  bagh  (garden)  where  this  colloquy 
took  place  is  no  longer  in  existence.  However, 
Gurdwara  Guru  Bagh  marks  the  site.  The 
construction  of  the  present  building  was 
inaugurated  on  23  November  1969,  on  the 
occasion  of  the   500th  anniversary  of  Guru 


Nanak's  birth.  The  vast  rectangular  divan  hall 
has  an  elegant  litde  porch  at  the  entrance  and 
a  5-metre  wide  gallery  at  mid-height  on  three 
sides.  There  are  14  small  rooms  for  use  as  office 
and  residence  for  staff  and  pilgrims.  One  of 
these  rooms  in  the  building  houses  a  library 
named  after  Guru  Nanak.  In  an  adjacent 
campus  is  a  girls  college  called  Guru  Nanak 
Khalsa  Balika  Inter  College,  Guru  Bagh.  The 
management  of  the  Gurdwara  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  local  committee. 

sangat  MIR  ghat  is  situated  near  Vishalakshi 
Temple  on  the  bank  of  the  Ganga.  The  spot  is 
sacred  to  both  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  and  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  The  building  consists  of  a  hall 
with  several  small  rooms  attached  and  a 
triangular  stone-paved  compound  in  front 
overlooking  die  river.  At  present  it  is  used  by 
Udiisf,  students  whose  main  school,  Udasin 
Sanskrit  Vidyalaya,  is  located  at  some  distance 
from  this  site.  The  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  seated 
in  the  hall  on  the  raised  platform. 

nirmal  sangat  lahori  tola,  since  redesignated 
Nirmal  Sanskrit  Vidyalaya,  Nirmal  Sangat, 
Lahori  Tola,  located  in  the  interior  of  the  city 
near  the  famous  Vishveshwarnath  Temple,  is 
another  old  sangat  established  and 
maintained  by  Sikhs  of  the  Nirmala  sect.  The 
building  of  the  Nirmal  Sangat  was  originally 
a  mandir  acquired  by  the  Nirmala  Sikhs  in 
1887  circa.  The  Guru  Granth  Sahib  is  seated 
on  the  first  floor.  The  institution  is  affiliated 
to  the  Sampurananand  Sanskrit 
Vishvavidyalaya.  The  present  mahantis  Gurdip 
Singh  Kesari,  a  prominent  Nirmala  scholar  of 
Punjabi  origin. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Narolam,  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Annitsar.  1923 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,     Twarikh  Gurduarian. 
Ainrilsar,  n.d 


VARAN  BHAI  GURDAS 


411 


VARAN  BHAl  GURDAS 


4.  Fauja  Singh,  Guru  Teg  Bahadur  :  Yatra  Asthan, 
Paramparavari  te  Yad  Chinh.  Patiala,  1976 

5.  Harbans  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur.  Delhi,  1993 

M.G.S. 

VARAN  BHAl  GURDAS  is  the  tide  given  to 
the  collection  of  forty  vars  or  "ballads"  written 
in 'Punjabi  by  Bhai  Gurdas  (d.  1636)  much 
honoured  in  Sikh  piety  and  learning.  These 
forty  vars  comprise  913  pauris  or  stanzas,  with 
a  total  of  6,444  lines.  There  is  no  internal  or 
external  evidence  available  to  determine  the 
exact  time  of  the  composition  of  these  vars, 
but  it  can  be  assumed  that  vars  (Nos. 
3,11,13,24,26,38,39)  which  have  references  to 
Guru  Hargobind  who  came  into  spiritual 
inheritance  in  1606  after  the  death  of  Guru 
Arjan,  his  predecessor,  might  have  been 
composed  sometime  after  that  year,  and  the 
others  implicitiy  prior  to  that  date.  The  Var  36 
on  the  Minas  was  probably  written  before  the 
compilation  of  the  Sikh  Scripture  in  1603-04. 
The  var,  in  Punjabi  folk  tradition  dealt  with 
the  themes  of  martial  valour  and  chivalry,  but 
this  poetic  form  underwent  a  complete 
transformation  in  the  hands  of  Guru  Nanak 
(1469-1539),  whose  vars  had  a  spiritual 
"meaning,  with  the  battleground  shifting  to  the 
human  psyche.  They  depicted  the  fight 
between  the  forces  of  good  and  evil  symbolized 
in  the  persons  of  gurmukh  and  manmukh, 
respectively.  The  vars  of  Bhai  Gurdas  are  also 
spiritual  rather  than  heroic  in  theme.  They 
were  written  for  separate  audiences  and  that 
is  why  they  lack  a  consistently  pervasive 
thematic  burden  amongst  or  within  them. 
However,  comprehensive  study  of  them  all  can 
help  us  build  a  fairly  authentic  biography  of 
Guru  Nanak  and  the  milieu  he  inherited  and 
he  and  five  of  his  successors  lived  in.  They 
provide  us.  with  information  about  the 
prominent  Sikhs  of  those  days  and,  more 
important  than  anything  else,  they  enunciate 
almost  every  Sikh  concept  as  it  appears  in  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  and  constitute  the  core  of 
Sikh  moral  code.  On  the  whole,  these  vars  form 


a  critique  and  interpret  moral  principles  in  a 
simple  idiom  through  familiar  images  and 
homely  instance  and  give  us  an  insight  into 
the  meaning  and  teaching  of  the  Sikh  faith  in 
its  earlier  years. 

The  first  var,  which  is  the  longest  with 
forty-nine  stanzas,  is  a  work  of  historical 
importance.  It  begins  with  an  invocatory  canto, 
followed  by  a  description  of  the  creation  of  the 
world,  six  systems  of  Indian  philosophy  and  the 
four  yugas  or  time-cycles.  The  following  six 
stanzas  (17-22)  refer  to  the  serious  crisis  in  the 
moral  state  of  man,  and  the  world  is  shown  as 
debased  owing  to  the  accretion  of  papa  (evil, 
sin).  For  Bhai  Gurdas  the  elements 
contributing  to,  and  to  some  extent 
consequent  upon,  this  papa  are  the  intolerance 
practised  by  men  of  various  faiths  and  their 
indifference  to  and  disregard  of  the  Divine 
(17).  Elsewhere  also  Bhai  Gurdas  refers  to  the 
conflict  between  the  Hindu  and  the  Muslim, 
each  vying  with  the  other  for  superiority,  basing 
his  claim  on  the  profundity  of  their  respective 
scriptures  rather  than  on  rightful  practices. 
While  making  this  criticism,  Bhai  Gurdas  was 
envisioning  die  rale  of  Sikhs  as  the  needle  that 
sews  together  the  fabric  of  religious  life  torn 
asunder  by  Hindu  and  Muslim  scissors  (33.4) . 
Pauris  23-44  mention  the  main  events  in  the 
life  of  Guru  Nanak.  The  following  four  stanzas 
(45-48)  eulogize  the  successors  of  Guru  Nanak 
till  Guru  Hargobind.  In  the  last  stanza  (49)  the 
term  vahiguru  has  been  explained  in  the 
Puranic  context.  This  Var  has  also  been 
paraphrased,  in  considerable  detail,  by  Bhai 
Mam  Singh  and  is  known  as  Gian  Ratnavali. 
The  tenth  var  (23  stanzas)  comprises  the  life- 
sketches  of  23  Hindu  bhaktas,  and  the  eleventh 
(31  stanzas)  contains  the  list  of  prominent 
Sikhs  of  the  first  six  Gurus.  The  28th  Var 
addresses  in  the  main  the  question  as  to  what 
constitutes  the  true  Sikh  way  of  life,  and  the 
36th  is  about  the  Minas. 

Bhai  Gurdas  has  taken  up  for  detailed 
analysis  in  these  vars  Sikh  concepts  of  God, 
Guru,  gurmukh,  manmukh,  sahgat,  seva. 


VARAN  BHAI  GURDAS 


412 


VAR  BHERE  KI PATSHAHI 10 


gurmantra,  and  others.  God  is  omnipotent  and 
all-pervasive.  He  is  not  only  the  creator  of  this 
universe,  but  He  also  permeates  through  His 
creation.  The  ultimate  aim  of  human  life  is  to 
realize  God  which  can  be  done  only  through 
the  help  of  the  Guru.  Bhai  Gurdas  proclaims 
that  all  the  Gurus  were  one  in  spirit  though 
different  in  body.  God  dwells  in  man's  own 
heart  and  to  realize  Him  man  need  not  wander 
in  forests  or  mountains.  The  life  of  the 
householder  was  to  be  preferred  to  that  of  the 
ascetic.  Since  Bhai  Gurdas  is  more  concerned 
with  life  in  this  world,  there  is  little  in  his  vars 
of  the  rapturous  bliss  of  the  beyond  ;  instead 
he  recalls  the  disciple  to  the  need  of 
assiduously  cultivating  an  abiding  sense  of 
moral  obligation  and  duties.  Such  an 
understanding  of  the  world  was  afforded  Sikhs 
by  Guru  Nanak,  who  had,  in  epigrammatic 
manner,  declaimed  on  the  absolute  reality  of 
moral  categories.  Bhai  Gurdas  posits  sidq  or 
constancy  in  spiritual  faith  and  sabr  or 
contentment  while  still  engaged  in  worldly 
activity  as  the  supreme  virtues  required  of  true 
Sikh  (22.16).  The  term  used  for  a  true  "iikh  is 
gurmukh,  his  opposite  being  manmukh  ;  sidq 
and  sabr  are  nourished  in  sadh  sarigat  or 
company  of  the  holy,  not  through  ecstatic  or 
mysti?  experience  but  through  living  togciuer 
in  a  spirit  of  faith,  humility  and  service.  Bhai 
Gurdas  is  of  the  view  that  human  existence  is 
fortunately  acquired  and  is  a  chance  to  find 
liberation.  He  describes  the  path  of  a  Sikh  as 
thin  as  a  hair,  as  sharp  as  a  dagger's  edge  (9.2) . 
It  is  a  difficult ,  yet  a  straight  path.  The  whole 
of  var  28  is  devoted  to  this  theme.  Steadfastness 
and  fidelity  are  the  other  virtues  Bhai  Gurdas 
recommends  for  a  Sikh  who  is  enjoined  upon 
to  have  one  wife  and  respect  other  females  as 
sisters  and  daughters  (6.8).  He  is  not  to  covet 
another's  wealth.  Ill-gotten  wealth  should  be 
like  pork  to  the  Muslim  and  beef  to  the  Hindu 
(29.11).  He  stands  firm  in  his  belief  and  is  of 
undivided  mind,  with  no  dubiety  which  is 
considered  a  moral  lapse  for  which 
responsibility  lies  solely  on  the  individual.  He 


holds  diat  in  satyuga  a  moral  lapse  invoked  the 
accountability  of  every  being,  in  tretayuga  of 
every  person  in  the  village,  in  dvaparyuga  of 
all  kinsfolk,  and  in  kaliyuga  of  the  single  person 
who  is  the  agent  of  the  immoral  act  12.16). 

These  vars,  which  are  accepted  as  part  of 
approved  Sikh  canon,  reiterate  or  explain  in 
simple  idiom  what  was  contained  in  the  Sikh 
Scripture.  In  fact,  the  vars  were  designated  by 
Guru  Arjan  as  the  key  to  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  However,  the  technique  of  Bhai  Gurdas 
is  not  to  take  words  from  the  sacred  text  and 
expound  their  meanings,  but  to  pick  up  ideas 
and  concepts  and  interpret  them  in  simple  and 
easily  intelligible  language.  This  technique  of 
annotation  was  followed  later  on  by  Bhai  Mam 
Singh  and  then  flowered  into  what  we  today 
call  the    iani  school  of  hermeneutics. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Hans,  S.S.,  "Bhai  Gurdas"  in  Proceedings  of 
Panjab  History  Conference  (Twelfth  Session). 
Patiala,  1969 

2.  Jodh  Singh,  tr.,  Varan  Bhai  Gurdas.  Patiala, 
1998 

3VJaggi,  Ratan  Singh,  Bhai  Gurdas,  Jivani  te 
Rachna.  Patiala,  1974 

4.  Varan  Bhai  Gurdas,  Shabad  Anukramanika 

ate  Kosh.  Patiala,  1966 

5.  Jagat  Singh,  Varan  Bhai  Gurdas  Ji.  Amritsar,  n.d 

D.S. 

VAR  BHERE  KI  PATSHAHI  10  is  an 
anonymous  poem  in  Punjabi  describing  the 
battle  of  Anandpur,  Guru  Gobind  Singh's 
engagement  with  the  pursuing  host  after  he 
had  evacuated  Anandpur,  and  finally  the  battle 
of  Chamkaur.  The  view  has  been  expressed 
that  this  Var  is  the  original  version  of  another 
poem  entided  Bhera  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Ka 
or  Bhera  Patshahi  Dasvin  Da.  Both  these  vars 
deal  with  the  same  events,  have  a  similarity  of 
style  and  have  lines,  even  stanzas,  which  are 
common  to  both.  Yet  a  closer  examination 
reveals  that  these  are  two  different 
compositions  and  one  of  the  poets  has 


VAR  HAQIQAT  RAI 


413 


VAR  HAQIQAT  RAI 


evidently  borrowed  extensively  from  the  work 
of  the  other. 

The  Var  is  strictly  conventional  in  its 
structure  and  mode  of  narration.  It  opens  with 
the  praise  of  the  Timeless  One  and  with  the 
invocation  to  Goddess  Sarasavati.  Then  follows 
the  traditional  description  of  Kal,  the 
mythological  spirit  of  evil,  who  is  bloodthirsty 
and  approaches  Guru  Gobind  Singh  with  the 
request  to  quench  her  thirst  by  waging  a  war. 
At  the  same  time  Narad,  the  legendary  rsi, 
famous  for  causing  strife  and  conflict,  goes  to 
the  hill  rajas.  Kal  and  Narad  instigate  the  rajas 
to  attack  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  Then  begins  the 
description  of  the  batdes  in  a  rapid  m  anner. 
Details  are  scanty  and  some  of  the  important 
actions  or  episodes  are  barely  alluded  to.  Yet 
the  poet  seems  to  be  an  eye-witness  and  at 
places  the  battle-scenes  are  forcefully  evoked. 

This  is  one  of  the  earliest  compositions 
concerning  the  batdes  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh. 
It  consists  of  24  pauris  (stanzas)  with  three  to 
eight  lines  in  each  pauri.  The  last  line  of  some 
of  the  pauris  is  of  half  length,  which  again  is  a 
peculiarity  of  the  traditional  var.  The  language 
is  old  Punjabi  ;  archaic  vocabulary  abounds. 
At  places  Lahndi  idiom  is  conspicuous,  which 
indicates  that  the  poet  may  have  been  from 
southern  or  south-western  Punjab. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Varan  Guru  Gobind  Singh 
Ji  I<ian.  Patiala,  1967 

P.S.P. 

VAR  HAQIQAT  RAI,  by  Aggra  or  Aggar  Singh, 
is  a  versified  account  of  the  life  and  martyrdom 
of  Haqiqat  Rai.  No  biographical  details  are 
available  about  Aggra,  except  that  he  was  a 
contemporary  of  Haqiqat  Rai  and  that  he  came 
of  a  Sethi  Khatri  family.  Haqiqat  Rai  was  the 
son  of  Bagh  Mall  and  the  grandson,  on  the 
mother's  side,  of  Bhai  Kanhaiya,  a  devout  Sikh 
of  die  time  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  The  Var 
was  completed  in  1841  Bk/AD  1784,  and  it 
comprises  212  stanzas.  Each  stanza  is  preceded 


by  a  dohirk  or  couplet  and  a  chhand  or  lyric. 
Beginning  with  an  invocation  to  Ganesa,  a 
Hindu  god,  the  goddess  Durga  and  the 
Supreme  Lord,  the  creator  of  all  gods  and 
goddesses,  the  poet  panegyrizes  Guru  Nanak 
and  other  Gurus  who  made  mankind 
remember  God  and  who  saved  the  janeu 
(sacred  thread),  the  religious  symbol  of  the 
Hindus  (5).  According  to  Aggra,  Haqiqat  Rai 
was  born. on  Kartik  vadi  2/October  (7),  but 
he  does  not  mention  the  year  :  he  ,  however 
puts  Haqiqat  Rai's  age  at  the  time  of  his 
martyrdom  in  1791  Bk/AD  1734  at  12  years 
which  brings  the  year  of  his  birth  to  1 779  Bk/ 
AD  1722. 

Haqiqat  Rai  started  his  informal 
education  with  a  Mullah  at  the  age  of  seven 
(20),  and  was  betrothed  at  eight  (25)  and 
married  when  ten  (26).  His  formal  schooling 
began  at  the  age  of  1 2  when  he  was  sent  to  a 
mosque  (51).  It  was  here  that  some  Muslim 
students  in  the  mosque  spoke  ill  of  the  goddess 
Bhavani  which  provoked  Haqiqat  Rai  into  a 
polemic  with  his  fellow  students.  He  was 
charged  with  having  slandered  Prophet 
Muhammad  (58)  and  taken  prisoner  to  the 
court  of  Nawab  Zakariya  Khan  at  Lahore.  The 
Nawab  felt  like  pardoning  the  innocent  child 
(121),  but  the  gad/  threatened  to  take  up  the 
matter  with  the  Delhi  court.  Thereupon  the 
Nawab  tried  to  lure  Haqiqat  into  Islam,  failing 
which  he  was  threatened  with  death  (136). 
Haqiqat  Rai  turned  down  the  temptations 
offered  by  die  Nawab  and  the  requests  of  his 
mother  to  give  up  his  faith  to  save  his  life.  He 
was  tortured  and  finally  executed  (196).  He 
was  cremated  at  Lahore  on  the  banks  of  the 
River  Ravi. 

Aggra's  Var  is  very  signifi-cant  from 
historical  and  sociological  viewpoints.  It  is 
perhaps  the  only  contemporary  work  relating 
to  Haqiqat  Rai  in  any  language.  It  describes, 
in  fair  detail,  the  ceremonies  and  rituals 
observed  in  the  eighteenth-century  Punjab  at 
the  time  of  birth  and  marriage.  The  language 
is  simple  Punjabi,  with  no  literary  pretensions. 


VAR  UARI  SINGH  Kl 


414 


VAR  MAJHKJ 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Guru  Panth  Prakash. 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Panjabi  Varan.  Patiala,  1980 

3.  Nijjar,  Bakhshish  Singh,  Var  Haqiqat  Rai.  Patiala, 
1975 

4.  Lakshman  Singh,  Bhagat,  Sikh  Martyrs.  Madias, 
1928 

D.S. 

VAR  HARI SINGH KI,  by  Sahal  Singh,  included 
in  the  anthology  entitled  Prachin  Varan  te 
Jangname,  edited  by  Shamsher  Singh  Ashok 
and  published  by  the  Shiromaru  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee,  Amritsar,  in  1947.  He 
describes  Hari  Singh  Nalva's  expedition  against 
the  Afghans  who  had  invaded  Peshawar  from 
across  the  Khaibar  Pass  and  his  final  batde  in 
defence  of  the  Fort  of  Jamrud.  This  printed 
version  is  based,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
the  editor,  on  an  incomplete  manuscript  in  the 
personal  collection  of  Shivdev  Singh  of  Nabha. 
No  other  copy  of  the  manuscript  has  so  far 
been  discovered.  The  work  does  not  conform 
to  the  traditional  form  of  var,  the  narrative 
being  in  the  style  of  a  siharG  and  the  metre 
used  is  baint.  The  poem  begins  with  an 
invocation  to  the  goddess  Bhavani  :  the  poet's 
faith  in  the  goddess  is  also  supported  by  the 
fact  that  he  makes  his  hero,  Hari  Singh  Nalva, 
offer  prayers  to  her  to  uphold  his  honour  in 
the  battlefield.  This  is  followed  by  verses 
contrasting  the  daring  of  Hari  Sfhgh,  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh's  celebrated  general,  with  the 
cowardice  of  his  chamberlain,  Khushal  Singh. 
The  latter  is  shown  as  dreading  to  lead  the 
military  expedition  to  Peshawar  whereas  the 
former  is  presented  as  seeking  it  voluntarily 
The  narrative  begins  with  Hari  Singh's 
departure  from  Batala  and  referring  to  the 
minor  skirmishes  on  the  way,  it  moves  on  to 
his  conquest  of  Peshawar.  His  final  combat  in 
the  Fort  of  Jamrud  where  he  fell  fighting 
against  the  Afghans  is  depicted  in  all  its  graphic 
detail.  Since  a  few  of  the  last  pages  are  missing, 
the  work  comes  to  an  end  with  the  Sikh  army 


chasing  the  fleeing  enemy  forces.  The  Var 
celebrates  in  sonorous  verse  the  brave  exploits 
of  its  hero,  Hari  Singh  Nalva*  It  extols  his 
valour  and  munificence,  and  his  qualities  as  a 
man  and  as  soldier.  Hari  Singh  has  been 
portrayed  as  a  man  who  is  pious  and 
philandiropic  by  nature  and  who  has  deep  faith 
in  Sikh  tenets. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Panjabi  Varan.  Patiala,  1980 

2.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Prachin  Varan  te 
Jangname.  Amritsar,  1947 

Atj.  S. 

VAR  MAJH  KI,  by  Guru  Nanak  occurs  in  the 
musical  measure  Majh,  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  The  word  majh,  in  Punjabi,  means  in 
the  middle  or  midway,  and  the  raga  which  goes 
by  this  name  was  a  folk  tune  of  Majha,  the 
central  country  of  the  Punjab,  which  attained 
literary  form  at  the  hands  of  Guru  Nanak.  This 
raga  is  meant  to  be  sung  is  the  evening.  At  the 
head  of  the  Var  is  recorded  the  direction  by 
Guru  Arjan  ,  Nanak  V,  as  the  tune  to  which  it 
should  most  appropriately  be  sung,  i.e.  the 
tune  of  a  well-known  ballad  about  a  batde 
between  the  two  chiefs  of  Emperor  Akbar, 
namely  Malak  Murid  and  Chandrahara.  The 
pauiis,  or  stanzas,  in  this  Var  are  preceded  by 
slokas  or  couplets,  which  were  not  part  of  it 
originally  but  were  added  by  Guru  Arjan  at  the 
time  of  die  compilation  of  the  Holy  Book  with 
a  view  to  supplementing  the  theme  presented 
in  the  pauris.  The  Var  comprises  a  total  of 
twenty-seven  pauris  of  eight  lines  each. 

Of  a  total  of  63  slokas  which  vary  in  length 
as  well  as  in  authorship,  46  are  by  Guru  Nanak, 
12  by  Guru  Ahgad,  three  by  Guru  Amar  Das 
and  two  by  Guru  Ram  Das.  Each  pauri  is 
preceded  by  two  slokas  except  the  first  and  the 
seventh  which  are  preceded  by  three  slokas 
each  and  the  ninth  and  thirteenth  which  are 
preceded  by  four  and  seven  slokas,  respectively. 

Aldiough  the  Var  is  cast  in  the  mould  of 
a  ballad,  it  is  not  a  ballad  in  theme  but,  in 


VARMAJHKI 


415 


VARMAJHKI 


common  with  other  vars  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib,  a  devotional  and  spiritual  composition. 
Praise  of  the  ideal  Guru,  the  perfect  preceptor, 
to  whom  our  implicit  obedience  is  due  and 
without  whom  "all  is;  pitch  darkness"  marks  the 
beginning  of  the  Var.  The  Guru,  who  is  called 
the  "lamp  of  the  three  worlds"  is  the  only 
means  to  achieve  absorption  with  God  without 
which  human  life  is  a  poor  and  sorry  thing. 
Attachment  and  illusion  which  hinder  man's 
march  towards  his  ultimate  end  can  be 
sundered  not  by  the  performance  of  prescribed 
rituals,  but  by  our  earnest  acceptance  of  the 
Guru's  instruction.  The  true  spiritual  guide, 
i.e.  the  Guru,  who  is  called  a  great  holly  river 
in  comparison  with  the  hypocrite  setting 
himself  up  as  such  being  no  more  than  a  fil  thy 
pond.  A  Guru-oriented  person  liberates 
himself  and  brings  liberation  to  others. 

This  material  world  has  been  called  "a 
mountain  of  smoke."  Man  is  enthralled  by 
various  worldly  temptations.  This  attachment 
to  maya  makes  man  forget  God,  who  has  not 
only  created  it  but  also  permeates  it.  Passages 
rich  in  poetic  imagery  and  having  a  classical 
finish  of  form  recount  the  pleasures  of  life 
which  ensnare  man.  Neither  pleasure  nor 
suffering  which  is  likely  to  embitter  man'°fl  imd 
must  make  him.  deflect  from  the  path  of 
devotion  to  God,  who  is  all-pervasive  and 
omnipotent.  He  is  the  only  ever-lasting  reality 
while  all  else  vanishes  (8).  He  is  infallible  and 
none  can  deceive  him-karta  api  abhulu  hat  na 
bhulai  kisai  da  bhulaia  (16).  Neither  the  study 
of  scriptures  (Vedas)  nor  empty  rituals  can  help 
man  realize  God.  Performance  of  such  rituals 
without  having  overcome  one's  ego  is  called 
"folly  and  unsoundness  of  mind."  It  is  only 
through  meditation  on  the  holy  word  (.sabda) 
that  the  highest  objective  of  life  can  be 
achieved-sacha  sabadu  vicfyari  sachi  samania 
(13).  A  synthesis  is  commended  between 
devotion  and  a  working  life  of  full  social  and 
moral  responsibility  (5) .  Justice  and  equality 
must  be  the  guiding  principles.  Says  Guru 
Nanak  in  one  of  the  slokas,  "If  blood  stains 


the  cloth,  that  dress  becomes  soiled,  how  may 
then  the  practice  of  such  as  suck  the  blood  of 
others  be  reckoned  pure  ?"  He  asks  both 
Hindus  and  Muslims  to  cultivate  tolerance  as 
"the  two  paths  are  indeed  one  ;  one  thinking 
otherwise  must  fall  into  hell-fire"  (9)  . 

Apart  from  the  condemnation  of 
hypocrisy,  orthodox  rituals  and  caste  pride,  the 
Var  rejects  occult  and  miraculous  powers  as 
futile  and  unspiritual.  It  also  discounts  the 
feelings  of  avarice  and  ambition.  "In  the  body 
burns  the  fire  of  desire  which  can  be  assuaged 
only  through  the  holy  Word."  The  Var  decries 
manmukhs,  self-willed,  unregenerate  ones  as 
persons  who  are  full  of  ego  and  who  render 
not  gratitude  to  God  for  His  blessings.  They 
are  bitter  like  the  bitter  fruit  and  poisonous 
like  dhittura,  nim  and  such  others.  They  are  as 
far  away  from  His  grace  as  akk  (another  one 
of  the  latter  variety)  is  from  sandalwood. 

Little  good  can  come  to  man  unless  he 
sheds  ego,  constantly  meditates  on  His  Name 
and  earns,  through  devotion,  the  Divine  grace. 
All  else  is  fruitless  ritual.  The  spiritual  value  of 
the  early  morning  meditation  is  stressed.  In 
highly  poetic  terms,  the  Guru  calls  them  true 
lords  among  men  who,  in  the  early  hour  of 
dawn,  meditate  on  God  with  minds 
concentrated.  Such  devotees  of  God  are  His 
loving  spouses  happily  lodged  in  their  Lord's 
Mansion  (22) . 

The  texture  of  life  comprises  both  joy  and 
sorrow.  To  seek  a  life  all  of  joy  is  to  forget  the 
Divine  Will.  In  fact,  joy  and  sorrow  have  been 
designated  as  the  vestures  which  man  must 
wear  by  turns.  The  blessing  of  Divine  grace  can 
alone  annul  the  sorrow  and  haunting  fears  of 
life. 

The  Var  closes  with  an  ecstatic  delineation 
of  the  Divine  bard,  expressive  of  deep  fervour 
of  devotion.  "The  Bard  was  called  by  the  Master 
into  His  mansion.  He  lauded  Him  and  was 
honoured  with  a  robe.  God's  eternal  Name  was 
his  food  on  which  satiated  he  found  His  bliss" 
(27). 

The  pauris  of  the  Var  are,  for  the  most 


VAR  MALAR  Kl  MAHALLA  I 


416 


VAR  MALAR  Kl  MAHALLA  I 


part,  in  praise  of  God  who  is  described  in  all 
his  grandeur  and  transcendental  marvel, 
whereas  the  slokas  are  full  of  ethical  content, 
scrutinizing  human  character  from  various 
angles.  The  Var  which  embodies  a  deep 
spiritual  experience  and  the  ultimate  ethical 
vision  does  not  form  part  of  the  daily  Sikh 
service,  but  its  affirmations  are  in  no  way  less 
celebrated  and  oft-quoted.  Close  inter- 
relationship of  various  passages  composed  by 
the  Gurus  shows  the  one  an  integrated  mind 
behind  the  work.  Passage  after  passage  unfolds 
the  nuances  of  the  theme,  summoning  a 
coherent  vision  of  holy,  but  active,  life 
proceeding  from  the  insight  of  Guru  Nanak 
and  his  spiritual  successors. 

The  language  of  the  pauris  is  literary 
Punjabi,  but  not  so  of  the  slokas  most  of  which 
are  in  Sadh  Bhakha,  a  few  in  a  form  of  Prakrit 
and  in  Persian  mixed  with  Indian  vocabulary, 
following  the  Punjabi  grammatical  pattern. 
The  reason  for  this  variation  of  language  and 
style  between  the  pauris  and  the  slokas  is  that 
the  latter  were  composed  at  different  times  and 
were  addressed  to  audiences  in  different 
locales. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Bishan  Singh,  Giani,  Bai  Varan  Satik.  Ainritsar,  n.d. 

2.  Sahib  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpaii. 
Jalandhar,  1962-64 

3  Kohli,  Surmdar  Singh,  A  Critical  Study  (if  Adi 
Granth.  Delhi,  1961 

Kn.S. 

VAR  MALAR  Kl  MAHALLA  I,  composition  of 
the  first  Guru  (i.e.  Guru  Nanak),  is  one  of  the 
twenty-two  vars  appearing  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib  under  different  ragas.  A  var  is  a  folk 
poem  of  war  and  chivalry,  celebrating  a  hero 
and  his  gallantry.  In  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
this  form  is  adapted  to  spiritual  ends  and  to 
bring  to  man's  attention  the  eternal  truths  of 
life.  Var  Malar  Ki  is  cast  in  the  malar  raga  or 
musical  measure  (hence  the  title).  Malar  or 
Malhar  is  associated  with  the  rains  and  is  best 


sung  in  the  rainy  season.  At  the  head  of  the 
composition  is  recorded  the  direction  regarding 
the  the  tune  in  which  it  is  to  be  sung-in  the 
tune  of  Rana  Kailas  and  Maldeo.  It  ends  with 
the  word  sudliu  which  attests  the  fact  that  the 
text  has  been  checked  and  found  to  be  correct. 

As  the  title  declares,  this  is  a  poem  of  the 
rainy  season.  Images  of  the  rainy  season 
abound.  Flashes  of  lightning  stab  the  darkness 
of  the  clouds.  Bablha  (the  bird  diat  revels  best 
in  the  rains)  breaks  out  into  song  at  the  sight 
of  the  clouds.  The  rain  signifies  God's  plenty. 
It  will  fill  the  granaries  of  the  people.  It  will 
clothe  die  earth  in  lush  greenery.  The  language 
of  the  poem  is  Sant  Bhasha  or  eastern  Punjabi. 
As  is  common  with  the  vocabulary  of  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib,  words  into  it  come  from  all 
sources.  Besides  words  of  Sanskrit  origin,  the 
Guru  Granth  Sahib  freely  accepts  words  from 
Arabic  and  Persian.  In  this  poem  we  have 
Arabic  words  such  as  hiAruat  and  miiqaddam 
and  Persian  words  such  as  bisiar  and  kamtrin. 

The  poem  comprises  twenty-eight  pauris 
or  stanzas  and  fifty-eight  slokas.  All  the  pauris 
except  the  twenty-seventh  are  of  the 
composition  of  Guru  Nanak ;  five  of  the  slokas 
are  by  Guru  Ahgad,  twenty-seven  by  Guru 
Amar  Das  and  two  by  Guru  Arjan.  Each  pauri 
has  two  slokas  preceding  it  except  the  twenty- 
first  which  is  preceded  by  four  slokas.  Pauri 27 
is  from  the  pen  of  Guru  Arjan.  The  var  is 
believed  to  be  the  first  one  written  by  Guru 
Nanak  and  die  date  of  composition  is  reckoned 
to  be  the  year  of  the  sack  of  Eminabad  by 
Babar,  i.e.  ad  1521. 

The  var  can  be  broadly  divided  into  four 
parts.  The  first  part  (pauris  1-7)  proclaims  that 
God  alone  is  the  creator  of  this  universe. 
Everything  happens  by  His  Will.  In  this  arena 
of  the  world,  die  gurmukb  (i.e.  he  whose  face 
is  turned  towards  the  Guru,  the  Guru- 
conscious)  and  the  manmukh  (guided  by  his 
own  self,  die  self-willed)  are  wrestling  widi  each 
other  (4) ;  die  former  will  come  out  victorious, 
for  He  is  on  the  side  of  diose  who  are  truthful, 
who  have  conquered  their  ego  and  who  live  a 


VAR  PATSHAHI  DASVIN  KI 


417 


VAR  PATSHAHI  DASVIN  KI 


life  of  detachment  like  the  lotus  flower 
sprouting  in  the  mud.  The  second  part  (pauris 
8-16)  affirms  that  His  virtues  are  inexpressible 
and  that  meditation  on  His  Name  alone  can 
save  man.  Renunciation  of  the  world  and 
asceticism  will  be  of  little  awail.  Wandering  in 
the  forest  and  torturing  the  body  will  not  help 
man  realize  God  (15);  what  helps  is  the  Gum's 
teaching  by  following  which  one  can  save 
oneself  (9).  Man  is  lost  in  the  darkness  of 
ignorance  and  gets  caught  in  worldly 
temptations.  By  His  grace  one  meets  the  Guru 
and  becomes  absorbed  in  .  His  Name.  A  self- 
centred  manm  ukh  is  a  beast  in  the  body  of  man 
(14).  The  third  part  {paui'is,  17-22)  stresses  the 
value  of  bhakti  or  devotion  which  is  not 
possible  without  the  love  of  God  which  in  turn 
is  a  gift  received  by  the  favour  of  die  Guru 
(19).  The  concluding  part,  comprising  the  last 
six  pauris,  rejects  mere  intellect  as  a  means  to 
final  release.  Intellect  begets  pride,  diverting 
man  away  from  God.  Asceticism  and  ritualistic 
practices  also  lead  him  astray.  The  Guru's  sabda 
(sabad)  alone  is  the  true  guide.  The  Guru, 
again,  is  die  gift  from  God  Himself. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Bishan  Singh,  Giani,  Bal  Varan  Satik.  Amritsar,  n.d 

2.  -Sahib  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpan. 
Jalandhar,  1963 

3.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  A  Critical  Study  of  Adi 
Granth.  Delhi,  1961 

S.S.K. 
Bk.S. 

VAR  PATSHAHI  DASVIN  KI,  a  ballad  in 
Punjabi  by  an  unknown  poet  describes  Guru 
Gobind  Singh's  battle  against  the  combined 
forces  of  hill  rajas  and  the  Mughal  Faujdar 
Rustam  Khan.  The  poet  has  not  mentioned 
where  and  when  the  action  took  place,  but  die 
names  of  the  Mughal  commander  Rustam 
Khan  and  his  brother  Himmat  Khan, 
mentioned  in  the  Var  indicate  that  it  was  the 
battle  of  Nirmohgarh,  fought  in  1700. 

The  Var  opens  with  a  supplicatory  verse, 


whereafter  the  poet  straightway  begins  the 
narrative.  Rustam  Khan  has  arrived  at  the  head 
of  a  Mughal  host  with  the  proclaimed  object 
of  routing  the  Guru  and  his  Sikhs.  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  invites  his  selected  Sikhs  for 
consultation.  The  Sikhs  are  eager  to  give  the 
enemy  a  befitting  reply  on  the  battle  ground. 
Then  follows  a  vivid  description  of  the  march 
of  the  Sikh  force.  The  remaining  44  stanzas 
(12  to  55)  contain  a  forceful,  if  somewhat 
rhetorical,  narration  of  the  battle  scenes.  The 
assaults  of  the  armies,  the  charge  of  the 
warriors,  the  neighing  of  the  steeds,  the 
excitement  and  confusion  of  combat  are 
reproduced  with  imaginative  fancy.  In  stanza 
after  stanza  the  poet  deals  with  the  same  theme, 
but  every  time  employing  fresh  imagery. 

A  number  of  Sikhs  fell  on  the  field  of 
batde.  The  adversary  had,  perhaps,  suffered 
heavier  losses,  their  commander  Rustam  Khan 
being  among  those  slain.  Thereafter  Himmat 
Khan  assumed  the  command,  and  the  batde 
took  a  more  fierce  turn.  Towards  the  close  of 
the  day,  the  Sikhs  had  to  retreat,  only  to  take 
field  with  renewed  vigour  the  next  day. 

The  last  stanza  of  the  Var  pronounces  that 
those  who  sing  this  Varwould  be  rescued  from 
die  cycle  of  death  and  rebirth.  The  Guru  would 
protect  those  who  listened  to  the  narration  of 
the  valiant  deeds  of  the  heroes. 

In  addition  to  the  pauris,  the  poet  has 
used  dohra,  soratha  and  savaiyya  measures. 
The  pauris  are  in  old  Punjabi  while  for  other 
measures  Braj  Bhasa,  mixed  with  Punjabi,  has' 
been  used.  The  Var  contains  a  vast  range  of 
archaic  words.  The  influence  of  Chandi  di  Var 
is  evident.  In  addition  to  the  vocabularly,  the 
poet  has  borrowed  imagery  and,  at  places, 
complete  lines,  from  ChandJ  di  Var.  However, 
the  poet  does  noir  lack  originality.  His 
composition  contains  images  and  expressions 
which  are  new  and  fresh.  The  now  famous  line, 
"Charhda  hoia  bolia paij  rakhin  apne  nanv  di, " 
going  to  make  batde,  he  supplicated,  now 
protect  the  honour  of  Thy  name,  O  Lord. 

The  Var  remained  in  obscurity  for  over 


VAR  SAT 


418 


VAR  SHAH  MUHAMMAD 


two  centuries  and  was  published  by  Piara  Singh 
Padam,  in  1967,  in  his  collection  Varaii  Sri 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  Ji  Dian. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Varaii  Sri  Gurv  Gobind 
Singh  Ji  Dian.  Patiala,  1967 

2.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Pahjab  dian  Varan.  Amritsar, 
1946 

S.S.A. 

VAR  SAT  ("Seven  Days  of  the  Week"),  title 
shared  by  two  of  the  compositions  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib-Kablr's  in  measure  Gauri  and 
Guru  Amar  Das'  in  measure  Bilaval.  The  one 
by  Guru  Amar  Das  is  entitled  Var  Saf,  while 
that  by  Kabir  has  a  variation  in  the  form  of  Var 
Kabir  JiuKe  7.  Kabir's  poem  comprises  eight 
stanzas,  each  of  four  lines,  besides  a  verse  of 
rahau  (pause),  which  constitutes  the  refrain, 
adjuring  man  to  sing  God's  praises.  Guru  Amar 
Das'  Var  Sat  contains  ten  stanzas,  each  of  six 
lines,  besides  the  rahau  after  stanza  1.  The 
emphasis,  again,  is  oh  the  remembrance  of 
God.  All  diose  days  are  reckoned  auspicious 
which  are  devoted  to  meditation  and  repetition 
of  His  Name.  None  of  die  days  of  the  week  are 
made  auspicious  or  inauspicious  by  the 
influence  of  the  planet-deities  governing  them. 

Kabir,  using  yogic  terminology,  traces  the 
spiritual  progress  of  a  bhakta  who  is  ultimately 
urged  to  set  aside  his  ego  to  reach  the 
destination.  He  also  stresses  the  role  of  the  true 
Guru  in  the  process  of  realization.  Beginning 
most  of  the  stanzas  with  the  name  of  a  day  of 
the  week,  Kabir  sets  forth  the  ideals  of  pure 
living  and  constant  remembrance  of  God.  This 
leads  to  spiritual  enlightenment  and  union 
with  the  Lord  in  the  joy  whereof  all  rituals  and 
practices  cease  to  have  any  meaning. 

God  realization  is  also  the  theme  of  Guru 
Amar  Das'  Var  Sat.  Love  and  humility  are  the 
qualities  recommended  for  the  devotee.  He 
mustseek.and  cultivate  the  Guru's  word  which 
will  enable  him  to  overcome  his  ego.  Sabda 
(sabad)    should   be      the   basis   of  his 


contemplation  and  actions.  This  sabda  is  by 
God's  favour  grasped.  By  reference  to  the  last 
three  days  of  the  week,  Guru  Amar  Das  exhorts 
men  to  discard  superstition  and  illusion, 
austerities  and  penances.  The  ideal  the  hymn 
presents  is  that  of  a  gurmukh-one  whose  face 
is  turned  towards  the  Guru,  one  who  to  the 
Guru's  word  is  attuned. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 .  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1967 

2.  Sahib  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpan. 
Jalandhar,  1962-64 

3.  Kohli,  Surindar  Singh,  A  Critical  Study  of  Adi 
Granth.  Delhi,  1961 

T.S. 

VAR  SHAH  MUHAMMAD,  also  known  as 
Jangnama  Shah  Muhammad  or  Hind  Pahjab 
da  Jang,  is  a  long  poem  in  Punjabi  in  the 
traditional  baintmetre  dealing  with  the  events 
following  the  death  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh, 
notably  the  Sikhs'  war  with  the  English  in  1 845- 
46.  The  author  is  a  Muslim,  Shah  Muhammad 
(1 782-1862),  who  lived  at  Vadala  Viram,  near 
Amritsar.  He  identifies  himself  with  the  Sikh 
elan  and  ascendancy  and  recalls  with  pride  the 
glorious  days  of  Ranjit  Singh's  empire.  With 
equal  personal  concern  and  anguish,  he  relates 
the  tragic  events  which  overtake  it  after  the 
passing  away  of  the  Maharaja. 

Shah  Muhammad's  poem  comprises  105 
baints,  each  bain  t  having  four  verses.  The  first 
forty-five  baints  describe  the  murderous 
intrigues  which  follow  the  death  of  Maharaja 
Ranjit  Singh  in  1839.  Dhian  Singh  Dogra,  the 
prime  minister,  enticed  Kahvar  Nau  Nihal 
Singh,  son  of  Kharak  Singh,  who  had 
succeeded  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  as  the  ruler 
of  the  Punjab.  He  set  aside  Maharaja  Kharak 
Singh  and  got  rid  of  his  favourite  Chet  Singh 
who  was  murdered  in  his  presence  in  his 
bedchamber.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
bloody  story  of  intrigue  and  murder  which 
engulfed  prince  as  well  as  courtier.  Maharaja 
Kharak  Singh,  his  son  Kanvar  Nau  Nihal  Singh, 


VAR  SRI  BHAGAUTljI  Kl 


419 


VAJ?  SRI  GURU  GOBIND  SINGH JI  Kl 


Maharaja  Sher  Singh,  and  his  son  Kaiivar 
Partap  Singh  fell  victims  to  intrigue.  Dhian 
Singh  himself  was  killed  by  the  Sandhahvalias 
who  had  murdered  the  reigning  Maharaja 
Sher  Singh  and  his  son  Partap  Singh  within 
minutes  of  each  other. 

Shah  Muhammad  has  related"  this  tale  of 
political  nightmare  with  a  historical  precision 
and  brevity  of  expression  unusual  in  a  popular 
poet.  Then  follows  a  description  of  the 
engagements  between  the  English  and  the 
Sikhs  during  the  first  Anglo-Sikh  war.  In 
several  of  his  baints,  Shah  Muhammad  lyrically 
evokes  the  memory  of  bygone  days  when  the 
Sikh  warriors  had  subdued  Khaibar,  Kahgra, 
Jammu  and  numerous  other  places.  He 
describes  with  admiration  the  deeds  of  heroism 
and  sacrifice  of  sardars  such  as  Sham  Singh 
Atarivala  and  Ranjodh  Singh.  The  historical 
framework  the  poet  has  laid  out  for  the  events 
that  took  place  has  not  so  far  been  superseded. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kohli,  Sita  Ram,  ed.,  Var  Shah  Muhammad. 
Ludhiana,  1966 

2.  Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Parijab  diari  Varan.  Amritsar, 
1946 

3  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  Prachin  Varan  te 
Jangname.  Amritsar,  1950 

H.S.G. 

VAR  SRIBHAGAUTl JIKl,  a  short  anonymous 
poem  describing  an  unnamed  batde  in  which 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  emerged  a  victor.  The 
poem  consists  of  eight  stanzas  only.  It  begins 
with  a  dohra,  followed  by  six  savaiyyas,  and 
ends  with  another  dohra.  It  panegyrizes 
Bhagauti  (sword)  as  the  source  of  power,  and 
as  the  defender  of  faith  and  honour.  It  also 
pays  tribute  to  the  fearless  warriors  who  wield 
the  sword  and  never  turn  their  back  on  the 
enemy.  In  capturing  the  batde-scene,  the  poet 
has  recourse  to  the  usual  devices  of  medieval 
war-poetry.  In  the  traditional  style,  the 
mythological  Kal  and  Narad  are  introduced 
with  bloodthirsty  Kaljogans  swallowing 


bowlfuls  of  blood  and  jackals  and  vultures 
gorging  themselves  on  the  corpses  of  slain 
warriors. 

In  the  last  line  of  the  sixth  savaiyya 
appears  the  name  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  with 
the  epithet  of  Fatehjahg,  i.e.  victor  of  wars.  In 
the  final  dohra,  the  poet  advises  the  Guru's 
disciples,  never  to  have  faith  in  anyone-god 
or  goddess-except  God. 

The  language  of  the  Var,  written  in 
Gurmukhi  characters,  is  a  mixture  of  Punjabi, 
Sadh  Bhasa  and  Braj  Bhasa. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Padam,  Piara  Singh,  ed.,  Varan  Sri  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  Ji  Diari.  Patiala,  1967 

S.S.A. 

VAR  SRI  GURU  GOBIND  SINGH  JI  Kl,  also 
known  as  Jangnama  Bhangani,  is  an  account 
in  Punjabi  verse  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  batde 
at  Bhangani,  near  Paonta,  in  AD  1688,  with 
some  of  the  surrounding  hill  chiefs  supported 
by  the  Mughal  authority  in  Delhi.  The  poem 
comprises  thirty-two  cantos  of  unequal  length 
written  in  Nishani  metre.  An  old  manuscript 
of  this  work  of  unknown  authorship  was  said 
to  have  been  in  Bhai  Kahn  Singh  Library  at 
Nabha  but  the  text  is  now  available  in  printed 
form  in  an  anthology  entided  Prachin  Varan 
te  Jangname,  published  by  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee,  Amritsar, 
in  1950. 

The  Var  opens  with  Emperor  Aurangzib 
telling  his  court  about  the  letters  exchanged 
between  him  and  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  He 
seems  bent  upon  waging  a  war  against  the  Guru 
who  has  refused  to  accept  his  sovereignty.  A 
vain  effort  is  made  to  check  him  first  by  his 
daughter,  Zeb  un-Nisa,  and  then  by  the 
soothsayers  who  predict  disaster  for  him  were 
he  to  persist  in  his  plans  of  attacking  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  In  a  subdued  manner,  his 
nobles  advise  him  against  such  course  too.  He 
however  is  adamant,  and  this  constitutes  the 
subject  matter  of  the  first  fifteen  cantos  of  the 


VARSUHlKl 


420 


VAR  SUHI KI 


Var.  The  remaining  seventeen  cantos  describe 
the  battle-scene,  the  marching  of  the  armies 
of  the  hill  chiefs  against  Guru  Gobind  Singh, 
the  action  that  ensues  and  the  Guru's  glorious 
victory  in  face  of  heavy  odds.  At  the  bidding  of 
the  Emperor  himself,  Raja  Bhim  Chand  Rai 
Katoch,  Hayat  Khan  and  others  come  with  a 
large  host.  In  the  unequal  fight  between  the 
princely  forces  and  a  small  band  of  devoted 
Sikhs,  Nand  Chand,  Kirpal,  Lai  Singh,  Dip 
Singh  and  Gulab  Singh  among^  the  latter  are 
shown  to  have  fought  with  conspicuous  valour. 
What  inspired  Sikhs  to  such  brave  deeds  was 
the  presence  amid  them  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh. 

Gurii  Gobind  Singh  has  also  described  the 
batde  of  Bhahgani,  in  his  autobiographical 
Bachitra  Natak  and  the  details  of  the  action  in 
both  accounts  generally  tally.  One  factual  error 
can  easily  be  marked  in  Var  Sri  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  Ji  Ki,  that  is  about  the  Guru's  son  Ajit 
Singh  taking  part  in  the  batde.  Ajit  Singh  was 
then  a  mere  infant. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bachitra  Natak 

2.  Padam,  Piara  Singh  ed.,  Varan  Sri  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  Ji  Dian.  Patiala,  1967 

3.  Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh  ed.,  Prachin  Varan  te 
Jangname.  Amritsar,  1950 

J.S.S. 

VAR  SUHI  KI,  in  the  measure  Suhi,  is  one  of 
Guru  Amar  Das'  four  vars  in  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  Suha  in  Punjabi  means  red  or  scarlet, 
and  this  being  the  colour  of  a  bride's  dress  in 
India,  the  word  signifies  the  consecrated  lives 
of  the  true  devotees  of  the  Lord.  Ironically,  the 
hypocrites  also  wear  the  same  colour  to  appear 
as  one  with  Him,  though  internally  they  live 
in  duality.  All  the  beings  considered  as 
womenfolk  have  been  classified  in  this  Var 
into  two  broad  categories-the  suhagans,  those 
united  with  the  Lord,  and  duhagaris,  those 
estranged  from  the  Lord.  The  duhagans  owing 
to  tiieir  arrogant  and  contradictory  character 


waste  away  their  valuable  human  birth  whereas 
the  suhagans  inculcate,  as  a  result  of  the  Guru's 
grace,  humility,  self-restraint  and  love  for  die 
Lord  and  arrive  at  a  total  realization  from  the 
partial  experience  of  human  life. 

The  Var  comprises  twenty  pauris  of  five 
lines  each  and  forty-seven  slokas  of  uneven 
length.  Stanzas  seven  and  fifteen  are  preceded 
by  four  slokas  each,  six,  nine  and  nineteen  by 
three  si  okas  each  and  others  by  two  s7okseach. 
Of  the  total  forty-seven  slokas,  fifteen  are  by 
Guru  Amar  Das,  eleven  by  Guru  Ahgad  and 
the  rest  twenty-one  by  Guru  Nanak. 

Regarding  die  metrical  features  of  this 
Var,  it  may  be  noted  that  its  pauris  and  slokas 
are  composed  in  slightly  varied  forms  of  nisani 
and  doha  forms  of  metrical  constructions.  In 
the  slokas,  by  and  large,  we  have  twenty-four 
syllables  in  a  couplet  consisting  of  13  syllables 
in  the  first  foot  and  1 1  in  the  second.  Similarly, 
in  most  cases  in  the  pauris,  the  pause  comes 
after  23  syllables  followed  by  23  syllables  in  the 
second  line. 

To  revert  to  theme  of  the  Var,  the 
Almighty  has  created  both  'pleasure'  and 
'pain'  in  diis  world.  He  grants  love  of  his  Name 
to  those  favoured  by  Him.  This  is  enshrined 
in  their  minds  by  the  grace  of  the  Guru.  One 
who  is  blessed  with  His  Name  is  not  called 
upon  to  render  a  reckoning  of  his  deeds  and 
is  emancipated  from  the  illusory  'love'  of  the 
kith  and  kin.  The  Almighty  Himself  is  revealed 
through  the  true  Guru.  Such  a  man  with  the 
single  vision  of  his  true  Guru  is  enabled  to 
silence  the  maya-disturbance  .within  himself 
and,  by  treading  the  path  of  spiritual  pursuit 
as  shown  by  the  Guru,  sings  the  praises  of  Him 
and  remains  rejoiced  in  die  Divine  Will.  Those 
forsaking  the  Lord  and  wasting  themselves  by 
falling  in  love  with  what  is  'other'  (than  God) 
remain  enveloped  in  their  ego.  One  praying 
with  the  help  of  his  true  Guru  for  the 
Almighty's  bounty  is  blessed  with  the  Name, 
die  continuous  reflection  of  which  enables  him 
to  overcome  the  limits  of  his  worldly  being. 
By  singing  laudation  of  the  Lord,  he  attains 


VARSUHIKI 


421 


VARYAM  SINGH,  BHAl 


purification  of  the  mind.  He  sings  the  glory  of 
the  Infinite,  the  Unfathomable  Being,  seeing 
in  Him  the  only  True  Friend,  who  is  self- 
dependent  and  is  above  desire. 

In  the  slokas  too,  the  two  categories  of 
beings  in  this  world  are  rendered  in  the  image 
of  the  scarlet-robed  woman  enticed  by  title  love 
of  the  '  other' ,  and  Bride  of  the  Lord,  dyed  in 
fast  red  of  God's  love.  In  the  slokas,  there  are 
also  the  themes  of  the  evanescence  of  life  and 
the  vanity  of  hoarding  wealth  ;  true  worship 
and  the  false  pretence  of  it  (GG,  787)  ;  man's 
absorption  in  the  things  of  the  world  and 
indifference  to  the  creator  (GG,  788)  ;  fear  of 
God  as  the  basis  of  faith,  leading  to  joy  in  God 
(GG,  788) ;  and  beauty  of  form  ultimately  giving 
way  to  die  depredations  of  old  age  (GG,  788). 
Then,  there  is  regret  over  life  wasted  without 
devotion  and  hope  of  Divine  forgiveness 
through  grace  by  the  guidance  of  the 
Preceptor  (GG,  789).  The  external  notion  of 
purity  is  rejected.  In  a  grand  symbol,  those 
resorting  to  holy  bathing-place  with  minds 
impure,  are  likened  to  jars  washed  from 
outside,  but  full  of  poison  within  (GG.789).  In 
another  metaphor,  the  individual  self  deals  in 
wares  of  good  and  evil ;  Dharma  is  the  broker 
who  marks  the  genuine  articles.  The  holy 
Name  is  the  approved  profit  in  this  market  (GG, 
789).  In  a  sloka  of  Guru  Nanak's  composition 
preceding  Pauri  XIV  is  a  depiction  of  evil- 
doers. The  evil-minded,  fornicators,  women  of 
ill-repute-all  are  of  the  same  ilk  and  are 
disciples  of  Satan  (shaitan).  False  is  their 
spinning,  false  their  warp  and  woof.  In  Pauri 
XV  is  a  prayer  to  the  Lord  to  annul  die  seeker's 
egoism,  lust,  wrath  and  pride,  to  burn  away 
avarice  and  attachment,  and  to  grant  support 
of  the  holy  Name,  that  is  ever  pure,  beyond 
the  possibility  of  impurity.  In  Guru  Nanak's 
words  again  (GG,  790)  is  the  delineation  of  those 
without  joy  in  devotion  as  a  guest  in  a  deserted 
house,  leaving  disappointed  ;  the  lives  of  such 
are  subject  to  blame  and  denunciation.  Those 
studying  holy  texts  (vedas)  mechanically, 
without  realization,  are  reprimanded.  Such 


practices  bring  only  ignominy  (GG,  791).  In 
Pauri  XX  are  slokas  of  the  composition  of  Guru 
Angad  conveying  in  deeply  touching  tones  the 
self  s  dependence  solely  on  Divine  Grace,  and 
the  exhortation  to  devotion,  to  find  union  with 
the  Spouse. 

The  Var  is  couched  in  simple  Punjabi, 
touched  by  Sant  Bhakha.  Figures  of  speech, 
metaphors  and  similes  aptly  bring  out  the 
theme  of  the  poem.  Some  of  them  from  the 
text  :  "badiia  chafi  jo  bhare  na  gunu  na 
upakaru-  he  who  pays  homage  under 
compulsion  earns  no  merit"  (GG,  787),  "bahari 
dhoti  tumari  andari  visu  nikor-  much  as  a 
gourd  be  washed  from  outside,  its  inner  poison 
will  not  go  (GG,  789),  and  "phitu  iveha  jiviajitu 
khai  vadhaia  petu  -  cursed  is  the  life  given  to 
eating  alone"  (GG,  790)  have  passed  permanently 
into  popular  Punjabi  speech. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sahib  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Darpan. 
Jalandhar,  1963 

2.  Bishan  Singh,  Giini,  BaJ  Varan  Satik.  Amritsar,  n.d 

3.  Sabadarth  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1964 

At.S. 

VARYAM  SINGH,  BHAI  (1870-1921),  one  of 
the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  the  second  of 
the  four  sons  of  Bhai  Bhag  Singh  and  Mai 
Chand  Kaur,  Kamboj  landowners  of  Nizampur 
village,  about  8  km  east  of  Amritsar.  The  family 
later  migrated  to  Nizampur  Chelevala  in 
Sheikhupura  district  (now  in  Pakistan).  He 
started  his  education  in  the  village  gurdwara. 
As  he  grew  up,  he  enlisted  in  the  Burmese 
army,  but  came  back  after  five  years  of  active 
service.  He  was  of  a  religious  disposition  and 
displayed  an  unusually  strong  predilection 
towards  the  Gulabdasi  sect.  He  bought  a  piece 
of  land  and  founded  a  habitation,  which  he 
named  Khakatah  Morah  near  Bhunnerheri, 
in  Patiala  district  (then  Patiala  state) .  Pressed 
by  local  circumstances,  Bhai  Varyam  Singh 
came  back  to  Nizampur  Chelevala  in  the  Lower 
Chenab  Canal  Colony  where  agitation  for 


VARYAM  SINGH,  BHAI 


422 


VARYAM  SINGH,  BHAl 


Gurdwara  reform  was  at  its  height.  Dharovali 
political  conference  (1-3  October  1920)  which 
he  attended  had  an  electric  effect  on  him.  He 
underwent  the  initiation  rites  and  enlisted  as 
an  Akali  volunteer  for  the  liberation  of 
gurdwaras  under  the  control  of  hereditary 
custodians.  He  was  one  of  the  Akali  volunteers 
who  met  with  a  fatal  end  inside  the  compound 
of  Gurdwara  Janam  Asthan  on  20  February 
1921. 

The  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee  granted  a  pension  of  Rs  175  per 
annum  to  his  widow. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi Jlvan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

VARYAM  SINGH,  BHAl  (1881-1921),  one  of 
the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  born  on  31 
July  1881,  the  son  of  Bhai  Dula  Singh  and  Mai 
Hukami,  a  Mazliabi  Sikh  couple  of  the  village 
of  Sutoval,  in  Ainritsar  district.  Dula  Singh  had 
a  large  family  of  five  sons  and  four  daughters 
and  Varyam  Singh  was  the  eldest  of  the  sons. 
In  1893,  the  family  moved  to  Chakk  No.  64 
Bandala  Nihaleana  in  Lyallpur  district. 
Varyam  Singh  enlisted  in  the  army  during 
the  First  Great  War  (1914-18)  and  served  in 
the  8th  Battalion.  There  he  underwent  the 
vows  of  the  Khalsa,  and  also  learnt  to  read 
and  write  Gurmukhi.  He  returned  home  af  ter 
the  war  ended  and  enlisted  as  an  Akali 
volunteer.  He  participated  in  the  liberation  of 
Gurdwara  Bhai  Joga  Singh  at  Peshawar.  As  the 
call  came  from  Nankana,  he  joined  up 
forthwith  and  fell  a  martyr  in  the  firing  upon 
the  jadia  inside  the  compound  of  Gurdwara 
Janam  Asthan,  in  the  morning  hours  of  20 
February  1921. 

The  Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak 
Committee,  Amritsar,  sanctioned  a  pension  of 
Rs  175  per  annum  for  his  mother,  who  after 
imbibing  the  holy  ami  it  was  renamed  Hukam 
Knur. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G 

VARYAM  SINGH,  BHAI  (1883-1921),  one  of 
the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  the  son  of  Bhai 
Buta  Singh  and  Mai  Mahitab  Kaur  of  Haripur, 
in  Jalandhar  district.  He  attended  the  high 
school  up  to  the  fifth  standard  learning  to  read 
and  write  Gurmukhi.  He  grew  up  into  a  good- 
looking,  healthy  young  man.  He  joined  the 
army  and  served  in  the  22nd  Punjab  Battalion, 
where  he  underwent  the  initiation  rites  of  the 
Khalsa.  He  left  service  because  of  his  wife's  ill 
health.  He  re-joined  the  army,  this  time  the 
Singapore  Military  Police  where  he  was 
promoted  naik  (corporal) ,  but  his  own  health 
deteriorated  and  he  got  his  discharge  after  ten 
years  of  service.  He  then  setded  down  as  a 
draper  in  Chakk  No.  91  Dhannuana  in 
Lyallpur  district.  Inspired  by  Bhai  Sundar 
Singh  Jathedar  of  his  village,  he  joined  the 
y'afha  of  Bhai  Lachhman  Singh  of  Dharovali 
and  died  in  die  firing  in  the  compound  of 
Gurdwarajanam  Asthan  on  20  February  1921. 

He  was  survived  by  his  two  minor  sons 
Hart  Singh  and  Jasvant  Singh  upon  whom  the 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
settled  a  pension  of  Rs.  1 75  per  annum. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

VARYAM  SINGH,  BHAl  (1884-1921),  one  of 
the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  born  on  28 
March  1884,  the  son  of  Bhai  Balaka  Singh  and 
Mai  Nand  Kaur  of  Maryala  Chatthiah  in 
Gujraiiwala  district  (now  in  Pakistan).  The 
family  later  shifted  to  Chakk  No.  39 
Vanotiahvali  in  Sheikhupura  district.  Varyam 
Singh,  a  straight  forward  and  hardworking 
farmer,  received  the  rites  of  amrit  at  the  hands 
of  Bhai  Mul  Singh  of  Garmula  in  1903.  The 


VARYAM  SINGH,  BHAI 


423 


VARYAM  SINGH,  PANDIT 


Dharovali  conference  (1-3  October  1920) 
marked  the  beginning  of  his  career  as  an  Akali. 
From  that  conference  he  went  to  Sialkot  for 
the  liberation  of  Gurdwara  Babe  di  Ber  (5 
October  1920).  On  19  February  1921,  he 
accompanied  Bhai  Lachhman  Singh 
Dharovali's  band  of  volunteers  to  Nankana 
Sahib  where  the  entire  jatM  was  massacred  on 
20  February  1921  by  the  hired  assassins  of 
Mahant  Narain  Das,  the  Udasi  custodian  of 
Gurdwara  Jan  am  Asthan. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

VARYAM  SINGH,  BHAI  (1889-1921),  one  of 
the  Nankana  Sahib  martyrs,  was  born  on  13 
January  1889,  the  son  of  Bhai  Bhagvan  Singh 
and  Mai  Chand  Kaur  of  Tibbi  Jai  Singh,  a 
village  in  Montgomery  distiict  (now  Sahival) 
in  Pakistan.  He  attended  the  village  school  in 
the  neighbouring  Garh  to  which  he  and  his 
mother  had  shifted  after  the  death  of  his  father. 
He  started  life  as  a  village  shopkeeper.  He  took 
the  vows  of  the  Khalsa  and  observed  them 
faithfully.  When  the  Gurdwara  Reform 
movement  gathered  momentum  in  1920,  Bhai 
Varyam  Singh  went  to  Sheikhupura  and  then 
to  Gurdwara  Kliara  Sauda,  Chuharkana,  where 
he  joined  the  jatha  of  Bhai  Kartar  Siiigh 
Jhabbar,  and  served  in  Guru  ka  Langar  for 
some  time.  Jathedar  Jhabbar  then  sent  him  to 
Nankana  Sahib  where  he,  disguised  as  an  Udasi 
sadhu,  gathered  intelligence  about  Mahant 
Narain  Das'  moves  and  reported  it  to  the  local 
Akali  leaders  such  as  Bhai  Uttam  Singh,  Bhai 
Dalip  Siiigh  and  Chaudhari  Pal  Singh.  On  the 
morning  of  20  February  1921 ,  when  they  heard 
the  firing  upon  Bhai  Lachhman  Singh's  jatha 
in  Gurdwara  Janam  Asthan  and  Bhai  Dalip 
Siiigh  ran  towards  the  Gurdwara  "in  order  to 
plead  with  the  Mahant  to  stop  the  firing,  Bhai 
Varyam  Siiigh  also  accompanied  him.  While 
Bhai  Dalip  Siiigh  was  shot  at  by  the  Mahant 


himself,  Bhai  Varyam  Singh  was  struck  down 
by  one  of  his  hired  killers.  Bodies  of  both  of 
them  were  thrown  into  the  burning  fires. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Shamsher,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Shahidi  Jivan. 
Nankana  Sahib,  1938 

G.S.G. 

VARYAM  SINGH,  PANDIT  (1864-1953), 
religious  scholar  and  preacher,  was  born  the 
son  of  Dhanna  Singh,  a  peasant  of  moderate 
means  living  in  the  village  ofjabboval,  now  in 
the  Kapurthala  district  of  the  Punjab.  Losing 
his  father  at  the  age  of  14,  he  took  up  his 
ancestral  profession  of  farming,  and  as  a  hobby 
started  practising  wrestling.  But  he  soon  left 
both  and  proceeded  to  the  holy  city  of 
Amritsar  to  devote  himself  to  learning.  Besides 
the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  he  read  there  classics 
such  as  Vriti  Prabhakar,  Vichar  Sagar,  Moksa 
Panth  Prakas  with  Bhai  Amrik  Singh.  He  then 
studied  under  Pandit  Kaka  Ram  who  taught 
him  grammar  and  prosody.  Varyam  Singh 
made  a  reputation  for  himself  in  religious 
debate.  For  his  learning,  he  earned  the 
sobriquet  of  pandit.  As  a  preacher,  he 
promoted  the  reformist  ideology  of  the  Singh 
Sabha  movement  and  espoused  the  cause  of 
Sikh  education  on  behalf  of  the  Khalsa  College 
Governing  Council.  Working  for  the  Khalsa 
Diwan  Nabha,  he  attracted  the  attention  of 
Maharaja Hira Siiigh  (1843-1911), who  appointed 
him  president  of  the  Dharamarth  (charities) 
Committee  of  the  State  and  religious  tutor  to 
the  sons  of  Sardar  Shamsher  Singh  of 
Badrukkhah.  Thereafter  the  services  of  Pandit 
Varyam  Singh  were  secured  successively  by 
several  aristocratic  families  such  as  the  Sodhis 
of  Kartarpur  and  the  Sardars  of  Dhammomajra. 

Pandit  Varyam  Singh  died  on  25  January 
1953. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Khalsa  Samachar.  Amritsar,  23  and  30  April  1953 

Jn.S. 


VASAKHA  SINGH 


424 


VASTI  RAM,  BHAl 


VASAKHA  SINGH  (1877-1957),  one  of  the 
Ghadr  leaders,  was  born  on  13  April  1877  at 
Dadehar,  a  village  in  Amritsar  district  of  the 
Punjab.  His  father,  Dial  Singh,  and  mother,  Ind 
Kaur,  were  a  God-fearing  couple.  One  of  his 
ancestors,  Mohar  Singh,  is  said  to  have  received 
the  rites  of  amritat  the  hands  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  himself.  Vasakha  Singh  grew  up  in  a 
religious  environment.  As  was  usual  in  those 
days,  he  had  his  early  education  at  the  village 
gurdwara  and  learnt  to  read  the  Sikh  texts.  He 
took  the  Sikh  initiatory  rites  at  the  age  of 
twelve.  He  was  married  to  Ram  Kaur  while  he 
was  quite  young.  His  wife  died  within  four  years, 
but  he  did  not  marry  again.  At  the  age  of 
nineteen  he  joined  the  army  which  he  left  in 
1907  to  go  to  China.  From  China,  he  went  on 
to  the  United  States  of  America,  where  he  had 
a  partnership  in  a  500-acre  farm  with  Baba 
Javala  Singh  of  Thattiah.  Out  of  the  income 
of  the  farm  Vasakha  Singh  and  Javala  Singh  set 
up  Guru  Nanak  Educational  Society  with  a  view 
to  helping  needy  Indian  students  studying  in 
America.  He  was  also  one  of  die  builders  of 
the  Gurdwara  at  Stocktort.  As  the  first  issue  of 
the  Ghadr,  the  weekly  organ  of  the 
revolutionary  Ghadr  party,  carrying  reports  of 
the  conferences  of  Indian  immigrants  held  in 
the  States  of  Oregon  and  Washington,  reached 
the  hands  of  Indians  working  on  California 
farms,  they  felt  deeply  stirred.  Vasakha  Singh 
went  to  Sacramento  to  attend  the  party 
meeting  held  on  31  December  1913,  and  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  central  executive 
committee.  He  responded  to  the  party's  call 
to  return  to  India  and  take  part  in  the  armed 
rebellion  it  had  planned.  But  as  he  reached 
Madras  on  7  January  1915,  he  was  taken  into 
custody.  He  was  put  under  house  arrest  and 
detained  in  his  village. 

He  retained  his  links  with  the  Ghadr  party. 
When  the  plot  was  leaked  out  to  the  British  by 
a  spy,  Vasakha  Singh  was  seized  by  police  along 
with  several  other  Ghadr  leaders.  He  was  tried 
in  the  Lahore  conspiracy  case  I  (1915)  and, 
on  13  September  1915,  sentenced  to 


transportation  for  life  and  forfeiture  of 
property.  He  went  on  a  strike  for  over  a  month 
in  the  Andamans  as  a  protest  against 
maltreatment  of  political  prisoners.  After  his 
release  from  jail  as  a  result  of  general  amnesty 
to  certain  categories  of  political  prisoners,  he 
reached  his  village  on  14  April  1920  in  a  very 
poor  state  of  health.  He,  however,  continued 
working  actively  for  the  freedom  of  the  country. 
To  help  political  prisoners  languishing  injails, 
he  helped  form  Desh  Bhagat  Parivar  Sahaik 
Committee  of  which  he  was  elected  president. 
In  1931 ,  Baba  Vasakha  Singh's  movements  were 
confined  to  the  city  of  Amritsar,  and  in  1932, 
he  was  detained  in  his  village  for  two  years.  He 
again  went  to  jail  in  the  years  1940  and  1942. 

Baba  Vasakha  Singh's  was  a  revered  name 
in  Sikh  piety.  He  led  a  jatha  of  100  volunteers 
to  court  arrest  in  Guru  ka  Bagh  morcha.  He 
was  one  of  the  Pahj  Piaras  when  the  kar-seva 
or  cleansing  of  the  holy  sarovar  at  Tarn  Taran 
was  commenced  on  10  January  1931.  He  was 
also  one  of  the  Pahj  Piare  who  laid,  on  14 
October  1932,  the  foundation-stone  of  the  new 
building  of  Gurdwara  Pahja  Sahib.  He  had  the 
honour  to  be  appointed,  in  1934,Jathedar  of 
the  Akal  Takht  at  Amritsar. 

He  died  in  a  hospital  at  Tarn  Taran  on  5 
December  1957. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jas,  Jaswant  Singh,  Baba  Visakha  Singh. 
Jalandhar,  1991 

2.  Ghumman,  Bikram  Singh,  Qhadari  Baba  Visakha 
Singh.  Amritsar,  1982 

3.  Deol,  Gurdev  Singh,  Ghadr  Parti  ate  Bharat  da 
Qaumi  Andolan.  Amritsar,  1970 

G.S.D. 

VASTI  RAM,  BHAl  (1708-1802),  was  son  of 
Bhai  Bulaka  Singh,  who  is  said  to  have 
accompanied  Guru  Gobind  Singh  to  the  South 
in  1707  from  where  he  returned  with  his 
blessings  to  settle  in  Lahore.  Vast!  Ram  lived 
through  the  long  period  of  persecution  the 
Sikhs  endured  and  their  eventual  rise  to 


VENTURA,  JEAN  BAPTISTE 


425 


VENTURA,  JEAN  BAPTISTE 


political  power  in  the  Punjab.  He  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  medicine,  and  became 
famous  for  his  skill  in  the  use  of  indigenous 
herbs.  He  was  deeply  religious  and  God- 
fearing, and  treated  his  patients  free  of  charge. 
Stories  of  his  healing  power  and  of  his  piety 
spread  far  and  wide,  and  he  came  to  be  credited 
with  supernatural  powers.  To  say  nothing  of 
the  common  people,  he  was  visited  by 
important  Sikh  chiefs  who  came  to  seek  his 
blessings.  Among  his  frequent  Visitors  were 
Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia  and  the  Bhahgi 
sardars,  Lahina  Singh,  Gujjar  Singh,  Ganda 
Singh  and  Jhancla  Singh.  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh  himself  became  an  ardent  devotee  early 
in  his  career.  He  often  used  to  say  that  it  was 
due  to  Bhai  Vast!  Ram's  blessings  that  he  came 
out  successful  in  the  batde  of  Bhasin  (1800), 
which  confirmed  him  in  the  possession  of 
Lahore. 

Bhai  Vast!  Ram  died  in  1 802  at  the  ripe 
age  of  94.  A  marble  samadh  was  raised  near 
the  Lahore  Fort  at  the  spot  where  he  was 
cremated.  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  used  to  visit 
it  on  the  occasion  of  his  death  anniversary. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Shri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Kirpal  Singh,  Bhai  Vasti  Ram  and  Bhai  Ram 
Singh.  A  pritsar,  n.d 

3.  Chopra,  Barkat  Rai,  Kingdom  of  the  Punjab. 
Hoshiarpur,  1969 

j.S.K. 

VENTURA,  JEAN  BAPTISTE  (1792-1858),  a 
general  in  the  Sikh  army,  was  an  Italian  by  birth 
who  had  served  in  Napoleon's  army  as  a 
colonel  of  infantry  and  had  taken  part  in  the 
battle  of  Wagram  (1809),  in  the  Russian 
campaign  (1812)  cind  in  die  battle  of  Waterloo 
(1815).  After  the  defeat  of  Napoleon,  he  left 
France  and  wandering  through  Persia  and 
Afghanistan,  reached  Lahore  in  1822  in 
company  with  Jean  Francis  Allard,  whom  he 
had  met  in  Teheran.  Ventura  was  given 


employment  by  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  and 
enstrusted  with  the  task  of  organizing  Sikh 
infantry  on  European  lines.  He  raised  four 
battalions  of  Fauj-i-Khas.  a  mixed  model 
brigade  comprising  over  3,000  men  of  regular 
infantry,  a  regiment  each  of  grenadiers  and 
dragoons  and  an  artillery  corps  of  30  guns.  It 
was  partly  trained  on  the  British  model  and 
partly  on  the  French,  having  its  own  flag  with 
an  emblem  of  eagle  with  Guru  Gobind  Singh's 
sayings  embroidered  on  it.  Ventura  introduced 
the  mess  system  in  his  command.  He  also 
designed  a  uniform  for  the  Gorkhas  in  the 
Lahore  army  which  style  was  later  adopted  by 
the  British  for  their  Gorkha  troops. 

In  1 825,  Ventura  was  engaged  to  cany  out 
the  strategic  planning  of  the  Maharaja's 
expeditions.  He  took  part  in  several  important 
campaigns,  including  die  batdes  of  Naushehra 
(1823)  and  Peshawar  (1823).  He  also  took 
part  in  the  campaign  launched  against  the 
Wahabi  fanatic,  Sayyid  Ahmad  Barelavi,  in 
1831.  Another  of  the  duties  he  was  assigned  to 
by  the  Maharaja  was  the  taming  of  the 
turbulent  frontier  districts.  In  1832,  he  was 
entrusted  with  the  administration  of  the 
Derajat.  According  to  Baron  Charles  Hugel, 
who  visited  Punjab  in  1835,  Ventura  during 
1835-37  served  as  a  qadi  or  chief  justice  of 
Lahore.  Ventura  was  also  often  given  the 
honour  of  receiving  dignitaries,  especially 
Europeans,  visiting  the  Sikh  court.  In 
December  1836,  he  was  promoted  general, 
followed  a  few  days  later  by  the  grant  of  the 
tide  of  Faidiful  and  Devoted.  He  was  given  the 
tide  of  Count  de  Mandi  after  the  campaign  in 
the  hills  of  1841  and  in  France  he  was  generally 
known  by  that  tide. 

Ventura  drew  a  salary  of  Rs  3,000  per 
month.  He  lived  in  style  in  a  magnificendy  built 
residence  in  the  precincts  of  Anarkali's  tomb 
in  Lahore.  He  married  an  Armenian  lady  at 
Ludhiana  who  bore  him  a  daughter.  After  die 
death  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh,  he  continued 
in  the  Sikh  service,  supporting  Sher  Singh 
against  the  Dogra  faction.  On  Maharaja  Sher 


VERKA 


426 


VIESKENAWITCH 


Singh's  assassination  in  September  1843,  he 
left  the  Punjab  and  retuned  to  Paris  where  he 
died  on  3  April  1858. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Grey,  C,  and  Garrett,  H.L.O.,  European 
Adventurers  of  Northern  India.  Lahore,  1929 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh.  Delhi, 
1980 

3.  Gulcharan  Singh,  Ranjit  Singh  and  His  Generals. 
Jalandhar,  1976 

G1.S. 

VERKA,  township  9  km  northeast  of  Amritsar 
(31°-38'N,  74°-53  E) ,  is  sacred  to  Guru  Nanak 
(1469-1539)  who  once  came  and  stayed  here 
near  a  pond,  west  of  the  village.  The  pond  so 
consecrated  came  to  be  known  as  Nanaksar, 
Nanak's  pool.  The  pond  was  converted  into  a 
sarovar  in  1899  with  funds  donated  by  a  Sindhi 
lady,  Birji  Bai  of  Shikarpur.  The  building  of 
Gurdwara  Nanaksar,  marking  die  spot  where 
the  Guru  had  stayed,  reconstructed  in  1926, 
was  replaced  in  1973  by  the  present  complex 
within  a  walled  compound.  It  includes  a  three- 
storeyed  structure  topped  by  a  lotus  dome  and 
a  gold-plated  pinnacle.  The  Guru  Grandi  Sahib 
is  seated  at  the  far  end  of  the  hall  on  the 
ground  floor.  The  sarovar  is  on  the  left  and 
Guru  ka  Lahgar  and  residential  accommodation 
are  at  the  back  of  the  hall.  The  Gurdwara  is 
affiliated  to  the  Shiromani  Gurdwara 
Parbandhak  Committee  which  manages  it 
through  a  local  committee.  Besides  the 
celebration  of  major  anniversaries  on  the  Sikh 
calendar,  a  fair  is  held  on  1 2  Chet,  now  usually 
corresponding  to  25  March,  every  year  in  the 
belief  that  it  was  on  this  date  that  Guru  Nanak 
was  at  Verka. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1,  Kahn  Singh,  Gurushabad  Ratanakar  Mahan  Kosh 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

2.  Gurmukh  Singh,  Historical  Sikh  Shrines. 
Amritsar,  1995 

Gn.S. 


VID'IA  SAGAR  GRANTH,  lit.  the  book 
(granth)  of  the  ocean  (sagar)  of  wisdom 
(vidia) ,  is  the  title  given  to  a  legendary  literary 
corpus  created  at  Anandpur  under  the 
patronage  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  The  volume, 
also  known  as  Vidiasar  Granth,  Vidiadhar 
Granth  and  Samund  Sagar  Granth,  was 
supposed  to  comprise  the  writings  of  the  Guru 
as  well  as  of  the  fifty-two  poets  and  scholars  he 
kept  with  him.  As  the  tradition  goes,  it  weighed 
nine  maunds  (approximately  320  kilograms) 
and  got  lost  in  the  River  Sarsa  when  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  and  the  Sikhs  were  crossing  it 
after  evacuating  Anandpur  in  1705.  The 
compositions  which  now  form  part  of  the 
Dasani  Grandi  and  the  Sarabloh  Grandi  may 
be  portions  of  it  which  were  salvaged  or  which 
had  been  earlier  copied  and  preserved  by  the 
devotees.  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  poets  at 
Anandpur  Sahib-among  them,  Amrit  Rai,  Ani 
Rai,  Siam,  Sainapati,  Alam,  Tahikan,  Daya 
Singh,  Sukha  Singh  and  Dharam  Singh  had 
been  mosdy  assigned  to  the  task  of  translating 
ancient  Sanskrit  texts  into  Braj,  Sadh  Bhakha 
and  Punjabi.  These  translations  may  have 
formed  the  bulk  of  the  Vidia  Sagar  Granth 
references  to  which  exist  in  old  Sikh  works 
such  as  Mahima  Prakash  (1776),  Kesar  Singh 
Chhibbar's  Bahsavalinama  (1796)  and  SriGur 
PratapSuraj  Grandi  (1843). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Padam,  Piara  Sh^gh,  Sri  Guru  Gobind  Singh  ji 
de  Darbari  Ratan} Patiala,  1976 

2.  Kahn  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurushabad  Ratanakar 
Mahan  Kosh  [Reprint].  Patiala,  1981 

3.  Macauliffe,  M.A.,  The  Sikh  Religion.  Oxford, 
1909 

R.S.J. 

VIESKENAWITCH,  a  Russian  adventurer, 
who,  after  several  years  of  brigandage,  escaped 
to  Persia  and  took  up  service  under  Shah  Abbas 
Mirza.  He  had  attained  the  rank  of  colonel 
when  he  resigned  and  travelling  through 
Central  Asia,  reached  Peshawar  in  January 


VIGAH  MALL,  BHAI 


427 


VIJAI  VINOD 


1829.  Here  he  was  employed  by  Pir 
Muhammad  Khan  Barakzai  to  train  his 
artillery.  In  March  1830,  he  came  to  Lahore 
and  entered  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh's  service 
as  a  battalion  commander,  under  Gulab  Singh, 
then  serving  in  Hazara  and  Kashmir.  In  April 
1835,  he  resigned  and  proceeded  to  Gwalior. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Grey,  C,  and  Garrett,  H.L.O.,  European 
Adventurers  of  Northern  India.  Lahore,  1929 

G1.S. 

VIGAH  MALL,  BHAI,  of  Sultanpur  Lodhi  now 
in  Kapurthala  district  of  the  Punjab,  em  braced 
Sikh  faidi  during  die  time  of  Guru  Amar  Das. 
He  lived  up  to  the  time  of  Guru  Arjan  and  once 
visited  him  in  Amritsar  with  the  sangat  of 
Sultanpur  to  receive  instruction  from  him.  His 
name  figures  in  Bhai  Gurdas,  Varan,  XI.  21. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhari  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Partap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

VIJAI  VINOD,  also  called  Bijay  Binod,  is  an 
account  of  the  events  at  Lahore  Darbar  after 
the  death  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh.  This  work 
was  composed  in  1844  by  Gval,  the  court  poet 
at  Lahore  Darbar,  at  the  orders  of  Panditjalla, 
the  mentor  and  most  influential  adviser  of  Raja 
Hira  Singh  Dpgra.  Hira  Singh  became  the 
prime  minister  after  his  father,  Dhian  Singh, 
was  murdered.  But  because  of  the  minority  of 
the  sovereign,  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh,  he  was 
the  de  facto  ruler  of  the  Sikh  empire.  Since 
the  book  was  written  to  please  Hira  Singh  and 
Pandit  Jalla,,  it  is  full  of  praise  for  the  Dogra 
clique  of  Lahore  Darbar. 

The  poet  starts  with  the  praise  of  goddess 
Sharda,  Lord  Rama  and  Guru  Gobind  Singh. 
Then  he  gives  a  brief  account  of  the  exploits 
and  victories  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  (up  to 


stanza  24)  whom  he  describes  as  the 
incarnation  of  Lord  Krsna,  and  Prime  Minister 
Dhian  Singh  D°gfa  is  compared  to  the 
legendary  hero,  Arjuna  (up  to  stanza  42). 
Special  mention  is  made  of  the  celebrations  at 
the  birth  of  Hira  Singh  (57).  He  gives  a 
detailed  account  of  events  beginning  after  the 
death  of  Ranjit  Singh  in  AD  1839.  The 
succession  to  the  throne  of  Kharak  Singh 
(111-13),  his  death  (124)  ;  the  death  on  the 
same  day  of  the  heir  apparent  and  promising 
youth,  Prince  Nau  Nihal  Singh  (127-34)  and 
brief  reign  of  Maharani  Chand  Kaur  are 
described  in  detail.  The  poet  deals  widi  events 
leading  to  the  succession  of  Sher  Singh  (194- 
250).  Then  follow  details  about  die  flight  of 
Sandhahvalias  to  British  territory,  their 
reconciliation  with  the  Maharaja  and  their 
readmission  to  the  Darbar  (274-84),  and  the 
treacherous  assassination  of  Maharaja  Sher 
Singh  and  his  son,  Kahvar  Partap  Singh.  The 
poet  tries  to  paint  a  rosy  picture  of  the 
administration  of  Hira  Singh  and  Pandit 
Jalla. 

He  praises  them  in  high-flown  language 
(472-85) .  The  last  historical  event  narrated  in 
the  Vyai  Vinod  is  concerning  the  attack  of  the 
Lahore  army  on  the  Dera  of  die  famous  Sikh 
saint  Bhai  Bir  Singh  of  Naurangabad,  where 
Atar  Singh  Sandhanvalia  was  staying  with  his 
contingent.  Atar  Singh  was  defeated  and 
beheaded,  but  during  the  fierce  battle  Bhai 
Bir  Singh  was  also  killed,  though  he  himself 
and  his  followers  did  not  take  part  in  the  strife. 
The  death  of  this  saint  ultimately  became  the 
main  cause  of  the  downfall  and  assassination 
of  Hira  Singh  andjalla.  But  the  poet  does  not 
narrate  this  last  event,  because  he  had  fled  from 
Lahore  and  taken  shelter  in  Nabha  Darbar  just 
after  the  murder  of  his  patrons. 

Vijai  Vinod  is  a  large  composition 
consisting  of  487  stanzas  of  varying  length. 
Since  the  poet  was  an  eye-witness  to  all  the 
happenings,  the  account  he  provides  is  very 
detailed  and  is  of  considerable  historical  value. 
But  it  is  not  linear  narration  of  history.  The 


VlRO.  BlBI 


428 


VIR  SINGH,  BHAl 


poet  does  not  provide  even  a  remote  hint  of 
the  intrigues  of  the  Dogra  trinity  behind  all 
these  tragic  episodes.  His  work,  therefore,  is 
more  a  panegyric  of  the  Dogra  family  than 
objective  history. 

Vijai  Vinod  no  doubt  is  a  commendable 
literary  work.  Gval  was  a  poet  of  merit  and 
recognition  in  his  time,  who  has  written  a 
number  of  poetic  works  in  addition  to  Vijai 
Vinod.  He  was  a  native  of  Mathura  and  his 
language  was  Braj  Bhasa.  He  entered  the  court 
of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  when  he  was  still  very 
young. 

The  poet  has  used  eleven  different  poetic 
metres  including  kabit,  savaiyya,  soratlia,  do/ia, 
padhaii,  etc.  The  author  has  himself  given  full 
statistics  of  the  chhands  (metres)  used,  and 
their  total  number.  The  book  was  completed 
on  Savan  sudi  8,  1901  Bk/ August  1844. 

The  work  was  first  published  by 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee 
in  1950  in  the  collection  entitled  Piachin 
Jangname  edited  and  compiled  by  Shamsher 
Singh  Ashok.  Again  it  was  published  by  the 
same  committee  in  1977  in  the  collection 
called  Prachin  Varan  te  jangname. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ashok,  Shamsher  Singh,  ed.,  Prachin  Jangname. 
Amritsar,  1950 

S.S.A. 

VIRO,  BIBI  (b.  1615),  daughter  of  Guru 
Hargobind  (1595-1644)  and  Mata  Damodari, 
was  born  at  Amritsar  on  1 1  Jul}'  J  61 5.  She  was 
married  to  Bhai  Sadhu,  son  of  Bhai  Dharma, 
a  Khosla  Kliatri  of  the  village  of  Malla. 

The  nuptials  were  performed  on  24  May 
1629  atjhabal,  15  km  southwest  of  Amritsar. 
She  was  the  mother  of  five  sons,  Sango  Shah, 
Jit  Mall,  Gulab  Chand,  Mahri  Chand  and 
Gaiiga  Ram.  All  the  five  took  part  in  a  battle 
fought  on  18  September  1688,  between  Guru 
Gohind  Singh  and  Raja  Fateh  Shah  of  Srinagar 
(Garhval)  at  Bharigani,  11  km  from  Paonta,  in 
the  present  Sirmur  district  of  Himachal 


Pradesh,  Sarigo  Shah  and  Jit  Mall  dying  in 
action. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bacliitra  Natak 

2.  Gurbilas  Chhevin  Patshahi.  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Grantb.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

4.  Gia n  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint],  Patiala,  1970 

5.  Sainapat,  Sri  Gur  Sobha  (ed.  Ganda  Singh). 
Patiala,  1967 

0.  MacauHlfe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  ;  Its 
Gn/  iis,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

Gn.S. 

VIR  SINGH,  BHAl  (1872-1957),  poet,  scholar 
and  exegete,  was  a  major  figure  in  the  Sikh 
renaissance  and  in  the  movement  for  the 
revival  and  renewal  of  Punjabi  literary 
traditioin.  His  identification  with  all  the 
important  concerns  of  modern  Sikhism  was  so 
complete  that  he  came  to  be  canonized  as  Bhai, 
the  Brother  of  the  Sikh  Order,  very  early  in  his 
career.  For  his  pioneering  work  in  its  several 
different  genres,  he  is  acknowledged  as  the 
creator  of  modern  Punjabi  literature. 

Born  on  5  December  1872,  in  Amritsar, 
Bhai  Vir  Singh  was  the  eldest  of  Dr  Charan 
Singh's  three  sons.  The  family  traces  its 
ancestry  back  to  Dlwim  Kama  Mall  (d.  1752), 
who  rose  to  the  position  of  vice-governor  of 
Multan,  under  Nawab  Mir  Mu'in  ul-Mulk, 
with  the  title  of  Maharaja  Bahadur.  Baba  Kahn 
Singh  ( 1 788-1 878)  was  perhaps  the  first  in  the 
family  to  be  regularly  sworn  a  Sikh.  He  turned 
a  recluse  when  he  was  still  in  his  early  teens 
and  spent  his  entire  youth  in  monasteries  at 
Haridvar  and  Amritsar  acquiring  training  in 
traditional  Sikh  learning.  His  mother's 
affection  ultimately  reclaimed  him  to  the  life 
of  a  householder  at  the  age  of  40,  when  he 
got  married.  Adept  in  versification  in  Sanskrit 
and  Braj  as  well  as  in  the  oriental  system  of 
medicine,  Baba  Kahn  Singh  passed  on  his 


VIR  SINGH,  BHAI 


429 


VlR  SINGH,  BHAl 


interests  to  his  only  son,  Dr  Charan  Singh. 
Apart  from  his  sustained  involvement  in 
literary  and  scholarly  pursuits,  mainly  as  a  Braj 
poet,  Punjabi  prose-writer,  musicologist, 
prosodist  and  lexicographer,  Dr  Charan  Singh 
took  active  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Sikh 
community,  then  experiencing  a  new  urge  for 
restoration  as  well  as  for  change. 

To  this  patrimony  of  Bhai  Vir  Singh  was 
added  from  his  mother's  side  a  living  kinship 
with  another  rich  tradition  of  scholarship  in 
exegesis  of  the  Giani  school,  going  back  to  the 
times  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  His  maternal 
grandfather  Giani  Hazara  Singh  compiled  a 
lexicon  of  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  and  wrote  a 
commentary  on  Bhai  Gurdas'  Varan.  As  a 
schoolboy,  Bhai  Vir  Singh  used  to  spend  a  great 
deal  of  his  time  in  the  company  of  Giani  Hazara 
Singh  under  whose  guidance  he  not  only  learnt 
the  classical  and  neo-classical  languages, 
Sanskrit,  Persian  and  Braj,  but  also  received 
grounding,  both  theoretical  and  practical,  in 
the  science  of  Sikh  exegesis. 

Bhai  Vir  Singh  was  the  child  of  an  age  in 
ferment.  The  extinction  of  Sikh  sovereignty 
in  the  Punjab,  the  decline  in  the  fortunes  of 
Sikh  aristocracy,  the  gradual  emergence  of 
urban  middle  classes,  the  dissipation  of  the 
"national  intellectual  life"  of  the  Punjab  owing 
to  the  neglect  and  decay  of  indigenous 
education  of  the  local  people  from  their 
political  destiny  aroused  among  the  Sikhs 
concern  for  survival  and  for  redefining  the 
boundaries  of  their  faith.  Further  challenges 
arose  in  the  shape  of  modernization,  of 
Christian,  Muslim  and  Hindu  movements  of 
proselytization  and  the  agnostic  cults  such  as 
Brahmo  Samaj.  Parallel  to  the  developments 
foreboding  gradual  appropriation  of  Sikhism 
by  the  Hindu  social  order  emerged  a  powerful 
trend  towards  Braj  classicism  in  the  Sikh  literary 
and  scholarly  tradition.  Mythologization  of  the 
persons  of  Sikh  Gurus,  mixing  of  fiction  with 
historical  fact  and  interweaving  of  Vedantic 
and  Vaisnavite  mollis  into  the  essential  Sikh 
teaching  were  its  typical  features.  In  response 


arose  in  Sikhism  several  movements-Nirahkari 
(puritanism) ,  Namdhari  (militant  protestantism) , 
Singh  Sabha  (revivalism  and  renaissance)  and 
Panch Khalsa Diwan  (aggressive fundamentalism). 

Bhai  Vir  Singh  had  the  benefit  of  both 
the  traditional  indigenous  learning  as  well  as 
of  modern  English  education.  He  learnt 
Persian  and  Urdu  from  a  Muslim  Maulawi  in 
a  mosque  and  was  apprenticed  to  Giani 
Harbhajan  Singh,  a  leading  classical  scholar, 
for  Sanskrit  and  Sikh  literature.  He  dien  joined 
the  Church  Mission  School,  Amritsar,  and 
took  his  matriculation  examination  in  1891. 
At  school,  the  conversion  of  some  of  the 
students  proved  a  crucial  experience  which 
strengthened  his  own  religious  conviction. 
From  the  Christian  missionaries'  emphasis  on 
literary  resources,  he  learnt  how  efficacious  the 
written  word  could  be  as  a  means  of  informing 
and  influencing  a  person's  innermost  being. 
Through  his  English  courses,  he  acquired 
familiarity  with  modern  literary  forms, 
especially  short  lyric.  While  still  at  school,  Bhai 
Vir  Singh  was  married  at  die  age  of  1 7  to  Chatar 
Kaur,  daughter  of  Sardar  Narain  Singh  of 
Amritsar. 

Unlike  the  educated  young  men  of  his 
time,  Bhai  Vir  Singh  was  not  tempted  by 
prospects  of  a  career  in  government  service. 
He  chose  for  himself  the  calling  of  a  writer 
and  created  material  conditions  for  a  single- 
minded  pursuit  of  it.  An  year  after  his  passing 
die  matriculation  examination,  he  set  up  a 
lithograph  press  in  collaboration  with  Bhai 
Wazir  Singh,  a  friend  of  his  father's.  As  his  first 
essays  in  the  literary  field,  Bhai  Vir  Singh 
composed  some  Geography  textbooks  for 
schools. 

Bhai  Vir  Singh  began  taking  active 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  Singh  Sabha 
movement.  To  promote  its  aims  and  objects, 
he  launched  in  1894  the  Khalsa  Tract  Society. 
In  November  1899,  he  started  a  Punjabi  weekly, 
the  Khalsa  Samachar.  He  was  among  the 
principal  promoters  of  several  of  the  Sikh 
institutions,  such  as  Chief  Khalsa  Diwan  (1902)., 


VIR  SINGH,  BHAl 


430 


VIR  SINGH,  BHAl 


Sikh  Educational  Society  (1908)  and  the 
Punjab  and  Sind  Btink  (1908).  Interest  in 
corporate  activity  directed  towards  community 
development  remained  Bhai  Vir  Singh's 
constant  concern,  simultaneously  with  his 
creative  and  scholarly  pursuits.  In  this 
engagement  and,  at  the  same  time,  in  his 
eschewal  of  political  activity,  the  Christian 
missionary  example  was  apparently  his  model. 

In  determining  the  basic  parameters  of 
the  modern  phase  of  Sikhism,  Bhai  Vir  Singh 
stressed  the  autonomy  of  Sikh  faith  nourished 
and  sustained  by  an  awakening  amongst  the 
Sikhs  of  the  awareness  of  their  distinct 
theological  and  cultural  identity.  Secondly,  he 
aimed  at  reorienting  the  Sikhs'  understanding 
of  their  faith  in  such  a  manner  as  to  help  them 
assimilate  die  different  modernizing  influences 
to  their  historical  memory  and  cultural 
heritage.  Education  of  the  masses  was  the  first 
requirement  for  the  fulfilment  of  these 
objectives.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  old 
educational  system  which  had  till  then  served 
as  a  channel  for  communication  of  the 
traditional  knowledge  to  the  youth  of  the  race 
had  broken  down  with  the  withdrawal,  under 
British  dispensation,  of  state  patronage  from 
die  indigenous  institutions.  As  if  to  fdl  the 
vacuum  as  well  as  to  build  new  channels  of 
iiitra-conmiunity  communication,  Bhai  Vir 
Sihgh  through  his  single-minded  cultivation 
of  Punjabi  language  as  the  medium  of  his 
theological,  scholarly  and  creative  work, 
resolved  the  cultural  dilemma  which  the  Sikhs 
faced  at  the  turn  of  the  century.  On  the  one 
hand  was  the  Sikh  literary  tradition  in  Braj 
language  which  had  collected  unmatched 
riches  in  multiple  directions  during  the  course 
of  its  three-cen turies-long  elitist  career,  on  the 
other  were  the  compulsions  for  mobilizing  the 
common  Sikhs  through  their  own  language. 
By  drawing  upon  the  Sikh  tradition  of  Braj 
literature  for  his  basic  inspiration  and  cultural 
motivation  and  upon  the  Punjabi  literary 
tradition  for  its  linguistic  component,  Bhai  Vlr 
Sirigh  initiated  a  new  literary  idiom  distinctly 


different  from  both.  The  tracts  produced  by 
the  Khalsa  Tract  Society  introduced  a  down- 
to-earth  literary  Punjabi  remarkable  for 
lightness  of  touch  as  well  as  for  freshness  of 
expression.  In  this  writing  lay  the  beginnings 
of  modern  Punjabi  prose. 

The  Khalsa  Tract  Society  periodically 
made  available  under  the  tide  Nirguniara  low- 
cost  publications  on  Sikh  dieology,  history  and 
philosophy  and  on  social  and  religious  reform. 
Through  this  journal  Bhai  Vir  Singh 
established  a  living  contact  with  an  ever- 
expanding  circle  of  readers.  He  used  the 
Nirguniara  as  a  vehicle  for  his  own  self- 
expression  and  some  of  his  major  creative 
works  such  as  the  epic  Rank  Surat  Singh,  the 
novel  Baba  Naudh  Singh,  and  the  lives  of  die 
Gurus  Sri  Guru  Nknak  Chamatkar  and  Sri 
Guru  Kalgidhar  Chamatkar  were  originally 
serialized  in  its  columns. 

In  literature,  Bhai  Vir  Siiigh  started  as  a 
writer  of  romances  which  proved  to  be  the 
forerunners  of  the  Punjabi  novel.  His  writings 
in  this  genre-  Sundari  (1898),  Bijay  Singh 
(1899) ,  SatvantKaur  (published  in  two  parts,  I 
in  1900  and  II. in  1927)-  were  aimed  at 
recreating  the  heroic  period  (eighteenth 
century)  of  Sikh  history.  Through  these  novels 
he  made  available  to  his  readers  typical  models 
of  courage,  fortitude  and  human  dignity. 

Subhagji  da  Sudhar  Hathih  Baba  Naudh 
Singh,  popularly  known  as  Baba  Naudh  Singh 
(serialized  in  Nirguniara  from  1907  onwards 
and  published  in  book  form  in  1921)  shares 
with  Rank  Surat  Singh  (  which  he  had  started 
serializing  two  years  earlier) ,  Bhai  Vir  Siiigh's 
fascination  with  the  theme  of  widow's 
desperate  urge  for  a  re-union  with  her  dead 
husband.  But  in  Baba  Naudh  Singh  this  search 
is  situated  in  a  more  mundane  setting.  This 
makes  all  the  difference.  The  narrative  here  is 
more  realistic  in  tone,  and  almost 
contemporary  in  its  appeal.  Bhai  Vir  Singh 
weaves  into  die  narrative  numerous  motifs  of 
social  reform,  moral  teaching  and  religious 
preaching  and  depicts  several  situations  of 


VlR  SINGH,  HHAI 


431 


VlR  SINGH,  BHAI 


intercommunal  and  urban-rural  confrontation. 

In  1905,  Bhai  Vir  Singh  started  serializing 
through  tracts  Rana  Surat  Singh,  the  first 
Punjabi  epic,  written  in  blank  verse  of 
Sirkhandi  variety.  This  long  narrative  of  over 
14,000  lines  is  a  striking  imaginative  evocation 
of  the  situation  of  the  Sikhs  through  a  symbolic 
tale  of  a  widowed  queen  in  quest  of  her  lost 
paradise.  The  spiritual  voyage  of  Rani  Raj 
Kaur,  the  main  protagonist  of  the  poem,  from 
external  factuality  to  internal  essence  has  been 
described  by  Bhal  Vir  Singh  in  the  form  of  a 
fantasy  of  spiritual  ascension.  Apart  from  living 
out  her  earthly  destiny  of  suffering  and  pain, 
she  symbolized  the  total  ethos  of  the  Sikh 
people  at  that  historical  moment  when  they 
were  emerging  out  of  their  sense  of  defeat  and 
despair  into  an  era  of  a  fresh  beginning. 

Bhai  Vir  Singh's  quest  for  new  forms  of 
expression  continued.  Soon  after  the 
publication  of  Rana  Surat  Singh  in  book  form 
in  1919,  he  turned  to  shorter  poems  and  lyrics. 
In  quick  succession  came  Dil  Tarang  (1920), 
TareJ  Tupke  (1921),  Lahiran  de  Har  (1921), 
Matak  Hulare  (1922),  and  Bijlian  de  Har 
(1927).  Following  at  some  distance  was  Mere 
Saiah  Jio  (1953).  In  this  poetry,  Bhai  Vir 
Singh's  concerns  -were  more  aesthetic  than 
didactic,  metaphysical  or  mystical.  He  refined 
the  old  verse  forms  and  created  new  ones.  The 
metrical  patterns  Kabit,  Soratha,  Baint,  etc., 
which  he  inherited  from  classical  Punjabi 
literature,  were  transformed  into  light,  nimble 
measures.  Bhai  Vir  Singh  also  "naturalized  in 
Punjabi  the  Rubai  which  he  borrowed  from 
Urdu.  By  grafting  Soratha  and  Sirkhandi  forms 
on  English  blank  verse,  he  paved  the  way  for 
the  emergence  of  Punjabi  poem.  As  it 
happened,  the  first  play  written  in  Punjabi,  Raja 
Lakhdata  Singh  (1910),  also  came  from  the 
pen  of  Bhai  Vir  Singh.  Tentative  in  form,  the 
play  did  reveal  the  author's  powers  of 
constructing  crisp  and  witty  dialogues. 

Change-over  from  Braj  Bhasa  to  Punjabi 
as  the  main  medium  of  Sikh  literary  and 
scholarly  expression  created  the  need  for  new 


materials  such  as  glossaries,  lexicons, 
encyclopaedias  and  exegedcal  works.  Bhai  Vir 
Singh  himself  provided  several  of  the  tools.  He 
revised  and  enlarged  Giani  Hazara  Singh's 
dictionary,  Sri  Guru  Granth  Kosh,  originally 
published  in  1898.  The  revised  version, 
published  in  1927,  gave  evidence  of  Bhai  Vir 
Singh's  command  of  the  science  of  etymology 
and  of  the  classical  and  modem  languages.  He 
published  critical  editions  of  some  of  the  old 
Sikh  texts  such  as  Sikhah  di  Bhagat  Mala 
(1912),  Prachln  Panth  Prakash  (1914),  Puratan 
Janam  Sakhi  (1926)  and  Sakhi  Pothi  (1950). 

Monumental  in  size  and  scholarship  was 
his  annotation  of  Bhai  Santokh  Singh's 
magnum  opus,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Sura/  Granth, 
published  from  1927  to  1935  in  fourteen 
volumes  covering  6668  pages. 

No  sooner  was  the  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth  completed  than  Bhai  Vir  Singh 
launched  on  an  even  more  arduous  task.  This 
was  a  detailed  commentary  on  the  Guru  Granth 
Sahib.  In  a  way,  exegesis  had  been  his  lifelong 
occupation.  Early  in  his  career  he  had 
annotated  selections  from  the  Holy  Book 
published  in  1906  under  the  tide  Pan/  Granthl 
Satlk,  and,  as  he  himself  declared,  all  of  his 
writing  was  an  exposidon  of  the  Sikh  Scripture. 
He  devoted  himself  unsparingly  to  the 
commentary,  but  it  remained  unfinished.  A 
lifetime  of  unrelieved  hard  work  and  the  weight 
of  advancing  years  at  last  began  to  tell.  In  early 
1957  signs  of  fatigue  and  weakness  appeared. 
He  was  taken  ill  with  a  fever  and  died  in  his 
home  in  Amritsar  on  lOJune  1957.  The  portion 
of  the  commentary-  nearly  one  half  of  the  Holy 
Book-  he  had  completed  was  published 
posthumously  in  seven  large  volumes. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Talib,  Gurbachan  Singh,  and  Altar  Singh,  ed., 
Bhai  Vir  Singh  :  Life,  Times  and  Works. 
Chandigarh,  1973 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  Bhai  Vir  Singh.  Delhi,  i072 

3.  Harbans  Singh  and  Talib,  Gurbachan  Singh,  Bhai 
Vir  Singh  :  Poet  of  the  Sikhs. 


VISAKHA SINGH,  SANT 


432 


VOCHUS 


4.  Harbans    Singh,    ed.,    Bhai    Vir  Singh 
Commemoration  Volume.  Delhi,  1954 

5.  Guleria.J.S.,  Bhai  Vir  Singh  :  A  Literary  Portrait. 
Delhi,  1985 

6.  Parkash  Singh,  Continuing  Influence  of  Bhai  Vir 
Singh.  Amritsar,  1972 

7.  Satinder  Singh,  Bhai  Vir  Singh  :Jivan  te  Rachna. 
Patiala,  1982 

8.  Sekhoh,  Sant  Singh,  Bhai  Vir  Singh  te  Unhan 
da  Yug.  Ludhiana,  1962 

9.  Manmohan  Singh,    Bhai  Vir-  Singh-Kavi  da 
Darshnik  Vishleshan.  Delhi,  1975 

10.  Dip,  Dalip  Singh,  Bhai  Vir  Singh  :Jivan  te  Kavi 
Chintan.  Ludhiana,  1974 

Atr.S. 

VISAKHA  SINGH,  SANT  (1905-1968),  holy 
preacher  of  the  Sikh  faith,  was  born  at  the 
village  of  Janetpura,  in  Ludhiana  district,  on 
13  April  1903,  the  son  of  Karam  Singh  and 
Kahn  Kaur,  though  most  of  his  adult  life  was 
spent  at  Kishanpura,  in  Firozpur  district.  He 
had  his  early  education  at  the  village  gurdwara 
where  he  learnt  to  read  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib 
and  recite  kirtan.  The  massacre  of  reformist 
Sikhs  in  the  shrine  at  Nankana  Sahib  on  20 
February  1921  proved  a  turning  point  in  his 
life.  He  received  the  rites  of  Khalsa  initiation 
at  the  Akal  Takht  at  Amritsar  and  plunged  into 
the  Akali  movement  for  the  reform  of  Sikh 
shrines.  In  1922,  he  wasjailed  for  participating 
in  the  Guru  ka  Bagh  morcha  and  in  1923  for 
taking  part  in  the  Jaito  campaign.  It  was  he 
who  led  the  Panj  Piare  who  hoisted  the  Nishan 
Sahib  or  Sikh  flag  at  Gurdwara  Tibbi  Sahib  at 
Jaito  at  the  end  of  the  morcha.  A  siropa  or 
robe  of  honour  was  bestowed  upon  him,  at  the 
Akal  Takht.  Amritsar.  Assuming  die  appellation 
of  Sant  Sipahi,  Sant  Visakha  Singh  now  took 
to  the  preaching  of  Guru  Nanak's  word  and  in 


1944  established  to  this  end  a  centre  called 
Gurmat  Pracharak  Singh  Sabha  at  Kishanpura 
Kalari,  in  Firozpur  district,  with  branches  in 
several  other  villages.  He  also  formed  Guru 
Nanak  Dev  Education  Society  at  Janet,  in 
Firozpur,  and  opened  schools  in  rural  and 
backward  areas.  Besides  the  Malva  Itihas,  a 
3-volume  work,  covering  various  aspects  of 
Sikh  history,  especially  relevant  to  the  Malva 
region,  Sant  Visakha  Singh  published  a  series 
of  tracts  bearing  on  Sikh  theology  and 
religion. 

Sant  Visakha  Singh  died  on  15  August 
1968  at  Kishanpura. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Visakha  Singh,  Sant,  Ma7va  Itihas.  Kishanpura,  1954 

G.B.S. 

VISSA,  BHAI,  a  Bhardvaj  Brahman  who 
accepted  Sikhism  at  the  hands  of  Guru  Arjan. 
The  name  occurs  in  Bhai  Gurdas,  Varan,  XI. 
20. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Mani  Singh,  Bhai,  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala. 
Amritsar,  1955 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

T.S. 

VOCHUS,  a  Russian,  who  was,  in  1823, 
employed  in  the  gunpowder  factory  at  Lahore, 
then  under  the  Sikhs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Grey,  C.,  and  Garrett,  H.L.O.,  European 
Adventurers  of  Northern  India.  Lahore,  1929 

Gl.S. 


w 


WADE,  SIR  CLAUDE  MARTINE  (1794-1861), 
soldier  and  diplomat,  son  of  Lt-Col  Joseph 
Wade  of  the  Bengal  army,  was  born  on  3  April 
1794.  He  joined  the  Bengal  army  in  1809  and 
was  promoted  lieutenant  in  1815.  He  served 
in  operations  against  Scindia  and  Holkar,  and 
the  Pindaris  (1815-19)  and  officiated  as 
brigade-major  to  British  troops  in  Oudh  (1820- 
21).  In  February  1823,  he  was  appointed 
assistant  at  Ludhiana  agency,  becoming 
political  agent  in  1832  which  position  he  held 
till  1840. 

Martine  Wade  was  one  of  the  few  British 
functionaries  on  the  Sutlej  who  by  their  tact 
and  amiable  disposition  had  won  the  esteem 
and  affection  of  the  Sikhs.  He  remained  at 
Ludhiana  for  17  years  as  assistant  to  agent 
(1823-27),  political  assistant  (1827-32),  and 
then  as  political  agent  (1832-40).  In  his 
relations  with  the  Sikh  Government,  Wade 
balanced  the  interests  of  the  two  States  in  such 
a  manner  as,  in  due  course,  he  became  a 
personal  friend  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh,  who 
valued  his  advice  and  counsel  on  political 
matters.  In  the  adjustment  of  territorial 
disputes  between  the  two  governments,  Wade 
advocated  to  his  own  government  a  policy  of 
judicious  settlement  in  opposition  to  Captain 
Murray,  the  political  agent  at  Ambala,  who 
favoured  an  outright  rejection  of  Ranjit  Singh's 
claim  to  territories  in  the  cis-Sutlej  area, 
including  Wadni,  Himmatpur,  Firozpur,  the 
Ahluvalia  and  Rang  possessions,  Sialba, 
Anandpur  and  Chamkaur. 

Wade  was  chiefly  instrumental  in 
arranging  the  Ropar  meeting  between  Ranjit 
Singh  and  Lord  William  Bentinck  in  October 
1831.  By  his  tact,  he  persuaded  the  Maharaja 


tojoin  the  Indus  navigation  scheme  and  forgo 
his  claim  on  Shikarpur  and  Sindh.  He 
impressed  upon  Lord  Auckland  the  necessity 
of  retaining  the  powerful  Sikhs  as  allies,  as 
against  the  advice  of  Alexander  Burnes  who 
had  proposed  that  Peshawar  should  be  taken 
from  the  Sikhs  and  restored  to  the  Afghans. 
Wade's  personal  influence  with  Ranjit  Singh 
was  one  of  t  he  factors  in  the  ratification  of  the 
tripartite  treaty  of  1838. 

After  the  death  of  Ranjit  Singh,  Wade's 
relations  with  the  Sikh  court  became  less 
harmonious.  He  offended  Kahvar  Nau  Nihal 
Singh  and  Raja  Dhian  Singh,  and  the  Sikh 
Government  demanded  his  recall  from 
Ludhiana.  On  1  April  1840,  Lord  Auckland 
replaced  Wade  by  George  Russell  Clerk  at  the 
North-West  Frontier  Agency.  Wade  was 
appointed  resident  at  Indore.  He  held  this 
office  till  his  retirement  in  May  1844.  Wade  died 
on  21  October  1861. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Banerjee,  A.C.,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations.  Calcutta, 
1949 

2.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  Panjab  on  the  Eve  of  First 
Sikh  War.  Chandigarh,  1975 

3.  Hasrat,  Bikramajit,  ed.,    The  Punjab  Papers. 
Hoshiarpur,  1970 

4.  Buckland,  C.E.,  Dictionary  of  Indian  Biography. 
London^  1906 

BJ.H. 

WAFA  BEGAM,  the  senior  wife  of  Shah  Shuja, 
the  king  of  Kabul,  who  after  the  dethronement 
of  her  husband  came  in  February  1810  to 
Lahore  where  the  Sikh  sovereign,  Ranjit  Singh, 
made  arrangements  for  her  reception  and 


WAJAB  Uf-'ARZ 


434 


WAJAB  UL-AR2 


accommodation  suiting  her  status.  In  1812, 
Shah  Shuja'  fell  into  the  hands  of  Jahandad 
Khan,  the  governor  of  Attock,  who  sent  him  to 
his  brother,  'Ata  Muhammad  Khan,  the 
governor  of  Kahsmir.  Wafa  Begam,  fearing  for 
the  life  of  Shah  Shuja'  who  was  held  a  prisoner 
in  Kashmir,  promised  to  gift  to  Ranjit  Singh 
the  Koh-i-Nur  diamond  if  he  would  have  her 
husband  released.  When  Fateh  Khan,  the 
Kabul  Wazir,  led  an  expedition  to  Kashmir 
jointly  with  the  Sikhs,  Diwan  Muhkam  Chand, 
the  Sikh  commander,  had  Shah  Shuja'  freed 
from  capativity  in  the  Shergarh  fort  in 
Srinagar,  and  brought  him  to  Lahore.  Though 
reluctant  initially  to  part  with  the  promised 
Koh-i-Nur,  the  Begam  as  well  as  the  Shah  was 
eventually  persuaded  to  surrender  Koh-i-Nur 
to  the  Maharaja  on  1  June  1813.  Wafa  Begam 
and  several  other  ladies  of  the  royal  harem 
managed  to  escape  in  disguise  in  November 
1814  and  reached  Ludhiana  where  she  was 
received  with  honour  by  the  British  who 
granted  her  an  annual  allowance  of  18,000 
rupees.  The  Shah  also  escaped  from  Lahore 
and  joined  Wafa  Begam  at  Ludhiana  in 
September  1815.  After  the  former's  restoration 
to  his  throne,  in  August  1839,  both  lived 
together  in  Kabul.  Upon  the  assassination  of 
Shah  on  5  April  1842,  Wafa  Begam  returned 
to  Ludhiana  and  remained  a  pensioner  of  the 
British  Government  till  her  death. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Cunningham,  Joseph  Davey,  A  History  of  the 
Sikhs.  London,  1849 

3.  Garrett,  H.L.O.,  and  G.L.  Chopra,  Events  at  the 
Court  of  Ranjit  Singh,  1810-1817.  Lahore,  1935 

4.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs.  Delhi, 

1983 

H.R.G. 

WAJAB  UL-'ARZ,  lit.  a  properly  petition,  is  a 
section  of  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  MaJa,  also  known 
as  Gursikkha.fi  dl  Bhagatmal,  a  manuscript  in 


Punjabi,  Gurmukhi  script,  attributed  to  Bhai 
ManI  Singh  (d.  1737)  the  martyr,  who  had 
received  the  rites  of  initiation  at  the  hands  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  himself.  Three  copies  of 
the  manuscript  were  preserved  in  the  Sikh 
Reference  Library  at  Amritsar  under  No.  7398, 
No.  6140  and  No.  751  until  these  perished 
during  operation  Blue  Star  in  1984.  The 
printed  version  of  Sikhan  di  Bhagat  Mala 
however  does  not  include  this  section.  The 
Wajab  ul-'Arz  also  forms  part  of  Bhagvan 
Singh's  anthology  of  rahitnamas  entitled 
Bibekbardhi,  an  unpublished  manuscript  of 
which  is  preserved  in  the  Dr  Balbir  Singh 
Sahitya  Kendra,  Dehra  Dun. 

The  text  is  meant  to  be  a  ten-point 
petition  addressed  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh  by 
Sikhs  who  were  not  formally  admitted  into  the 
Sikh  fold  but  who  otherwise  believed  in  Sikh 
teachings  and  precepts.  These  ten  questions 
relate  to  the  difficulties  in  observing  the  new 
code  of  conduct  prescribed  by  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  for  the  Khalsa  inaugurated  on  the 
Baisakhi  day  of  AD  1699.  The  petitioners 
requested  that  the  reply  should  be  under  the 
Guru's  own  signatures  so  as  to  preclude  any 
ambiguity  later  on.  In  the  manuscript,  the 
words  "specially  signed  by  the  Guru"  are  added 
to  six  out  of  the  ten  answers.  Two  of  the 
questions,  for  instance,  were  : 

(a)  Brahmans  used  to  conduct  our  marriage 
ceremonies  and  the  Vedic  ritual  was 
followed,  but  now  the  Sikhs  who  have 
undergone  the  rites  of  pahul  and  who 
keep  their  hair  unshorn  say  that  we  should 
not  call  in  Brahmans,  but  should  read 
Anand,  along  with  Lavari.  We  await  your 
order,  O'Guru  : 

(b)  O'  True  Master  !  We  used  to  feed  the 
Brahmans  at  marriages  and  on  death 
anniversaries.  Now  we  are  required  to 
feed  Sikhs  alone. 

Since  the  replies  to  the  questions  tend  to 
allow  some  laxity  to  the  believer,  it  has  led  many 
to  doubt  the  genuineness  of  the  work.  The 
name  of  Bhai  ManI  Singh  seems  to  have  been 


W'Al.l  QANDHAUI 


435 


WAQVA-I-jANG-I-SIKKHAN 


introduced  merely  to  lend  it  authenticity.  One 
of  the  manuscripts  (No.  7398)  contained 
additionally  an  enumeration  of  the  taboos  for 
Sikhs  ;  also,  directions  for  them  to  read 
Scripture,  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  with 
devotion  and  faith,  follow  truth  and 
righteousness,  to  hold  no  one  in  fear  and  by 
the  same  token  to  fear  none.  Men  of  good 
deeds  were  to  be  reckoned  of  high  birth  and 
respected,  and  those  of  evil  deeds  of  low  caste. 

K.S.T. 

WALI  QANDHARl  (lit.  Saint  of  Qandahar) 
was,  according  to  a  tradition  popularized  by 
Bhai  Bala  Janam  Sakhi  and  Bhai  Santokh 
Singh,  Sri  Gur  Nanak  Prakash,  a  Muslim 
recluse  putting  up  on  top  of  a  hill  near  Hasan 
Abdal,  now  in  Campbellpore  (Attock)  district 
of  Pakistan  Punjab.  Accompanied  by  Bhai 
Mardana,  Guru  Nanak  came  to  Hasan  Abdal 
on  his  way  back  from  Mecca  and  Baghdad  and 
halted  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  Feeling  fatigued 
and  thirsty,  but  seeing  no  water  in  the  vicinity, 
Mardana  went  up  hill  to  Wall  Qandhari.  The 
latter  desired  to  know  who  he  was  and  how  he 
happeiied  to  wander  in  that  direction.  When 
he  heard  Mardana  tell  him  that  he  was  in  the 
company  of  no  ordinary  being,  he  refused  to 
give  him  water  and  said  that  if  his  master  was 
so  accomplished  he  should  not  let  his  follower 
go  thirsty.  Mardana  walked  back  and  told  the 
Guru  what  the  Wall  had  said.  Guru  Nanak 
asked  Mardana  to  go  once  again  and 
supplicate  the  Wall  with  humility.  Mardana 
obeyed,  but  returned  only  to  report  the  failure 
of  his  mission.  The  Guru  thereupon  touched 
the  hillside  with  the  stick  he  was  holding.  As 
he  did  this,  water  spouted  forth.  Mardana 
drank  his  fill,  but  simultaneously  Wall 
Qandhari's  reservoir  on  the  hilltop  began  to 
ebb  and  soon  dried  up.  Blinded  witii  rage,  the 
Wall  rolled  a  big  boulder  downhill  towards  the 
travellers.  The  Guru  calmly  raised  his  arm  and 
the  rocky  mass,  as  says  the  story,  stopped 
against  his  open  palm  (pan/a,  in  Punjabi)  which 
made  an  impress  upon  it.  The  boulder  with 


the  palm-mark,  i.e.  pan/a,  recessed  into  it,  with 
the  water  rolling  around  it,  still  attracts  visitors 
and  pilgrims  to  the  site.  The  Gurdwara  built  in 
the  midst  of  a  small  pool  in  front  of  the  stone, 
reverendy  called  Pahja  Sahib  (Holy  Palm),  is 
one  of  Sikhs'  most  magnificent  and  venerated 
shrines.  Wali  Qandhari's  grave  on  top  of  the 
adjacent  oblong  hill  is  also  preserved. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Sura/ 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint],  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Kiipal  Singh,  ed.,  Janam  Sakhi  Sri  Guru  Nanak 
Dev Ji.  Amritsar,  1962 

4.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  The  Sikh  Religion  :  Its 
Gurus,  Sacred  Writings  and  Authors.  Oxford, 
1909 

Gn.S. 

WAQI'A-I-JANG-I-SIKKHAN,  by  Diwan 
Ajudhia  Parshad,  is  a  chronicle  in  Persian  prose 
of  the  events  of  the  first  Anglo-Sikh  war  (1845- 
46) .  The  narratives  of  the  battles  of  Pherushahr 
and  Sabhraoh  have  in  fact  been  taken  from 
two  separate  manuscripts. 

The  work  was  translated  into  English  by 
V.S.  Suri  and  published  under  the  tide  Waqi'a- 
i-Jahg-i-Sikkhah.  was  first  published  in  the 
journal  of  the  Panjab  University  Historical 
Society,  vol.  VIII,  April  1944,  Lahore,  and  later 
reproduced  in  The  Panjab  Past  and  Present, 
Punjabi  University,  Patiala,  vol.  XVIII,  April 
1984.  A  copy  of  the  Persian  manuscript  is 
preserved  at  the  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar. 
Diwan  Ajudhia  Parshad  (d.  1870)  had  served 
the  Sikh  State  both  as  soldieY  and  civilian  since 
the  days  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh.  Though  the 
author  has  not  recorded  the  date,  it  is  evident 
from  internal  evidence  that  the  book  came  to 
be  written  soon  after  the  actual  happenings- 
sometime  in  1846.  As.  he  himself  tells  us,  his 
account  of  Pherushahr  and  Sabhraoh  battles 
was  mainly  based  on  his.  personal  knowledge 
and  on  reports  of  notable  persons  who  were 


WAQl  'A-I-fANG-I-SIKKHAN 


436 


WAQl  ■A-I-jANG-l-SlKKHAN 


present  at  the  scene  of  action.  In  contrast  to 
the  style  of  chronicles  in  Persian,  the  text  is 
free  from  literary  or  dedicatory  embellishments. 

In  the  account  of  the  batde  of  Pherushahr, 
the  writer  records  that  on  receipt  of  news  of 
the  British  East  India  Company  strengthening 
the  frontier  with  additional  troops,  the  Sikh 
soldiers  apprehended  danger.  They  also 
suspected  that  those  at  the  helm  of  affairs  at 
Lahore  were  in  league  with  the  British.  Their 
chosen  leaders  decided,  against  the  advice  and 
warning  of  their  officers,  to  cross  the  Sutlej  and 
attack  the  British  cantonment  of  Firozpur. 
Three  brigades  of  the  Fauj-i-Khas  were  ferried 
across  on  14  and  15  December  1945.  They 
were  followed  by  other  regular  and  irregular 
troops.  On  18  December,  it  was  learnt  that  the 
British  Governor-General  was  advancing  with 
large  reinforcements  by  way  of  Mudkl  to 
Firozpur.  It  was,  therefore,  decided  that  the 
Fauj-i-Khas  and  others  who  had  already 
crossed  the  river  should  straightway  advance 
to  Pherushahr  and  Mudki  while  the 
Commander-in-Chief  Tej  Singh  with  the 
remaining  force  still  on  their  way  to  cross 
would  stay  at  Pherushahr  for  the  purpose  of 
attacking  Firozpur.  The  British  met  the  Sikh 
advance  a  few  kilometres  north  of  Mudki.  "The 
Sikhs  opened  fire  first  and  the  British  guns 
replied.  Some  riderless  horses  from  a  British 
regiment  opposite  the  Sikh  cavalry  got  out  of 
control  and  galloped  into  the  Sikh  lines  killing 
some  of  the  Sikhs  but  the  others  fired  thinking 
that  British  cavalry  were  charging  [at]  them. 
In  the  confusion  which  followed  they  fell  into 
panic  and  fled  firing  in  all  directions.  In  reply 
the  British  sent  over  shells  of  various 
kinds. ..When  night  fell,  the  British  troops  still 
held  their  ground.  The  Sikhs  retired  from  the 
field  abandoning  some  of  their  guns  and 
withdrew  to  Pherushahr." 

The  battle  at  Pherushahr  took  place  on 
21  and  22  December  1845.  Tej  Singh  who  was 
bringing  reinforcements  had  not  yet  reached 
Pherushahr  when  the  British  attacked  this 
position  with  artillery.  Tej  Singh  found  the 


following  morning  that  the  Sikhs  had  already 
been  defeated  and  dispersed.  "An  artillery 
batde  from  a  distance  ensued  between  the  guns 
attached  to  the  British  cavalry  and  Sardar  Tej 
Singh's  brigade,"  after  which  these  troops  also 
withdrew  and  recrossing  the  Sutlej  went 
towards  Sabhraon. 

The  battle  of  Sabhraon  was  also  fought  at 
the  insistence  of  the  soldiery  and  against  the 
advice  of  officers  and  Sardars  who  had 
counselled,  "...there  was  some  chance  of 
placating  the  British  government  from  this  side 
of  the  Sutlej.  It  would  not  be  surprising,  since 
the  British  government  was  the  paramount 
power,  if  the  Governor-General,  knowing  that 
the  Punjab  was  the  home  of  the  Sikhs,  and 
learning  the  true  state  of  affairs  from  reliable 
reports  should  hear  and  accept  their  apology." 
Instead,  writes  the  author,  "the  Singhs  deputed 
by  the  various  brigades  of  the  army  met  on  the 
bank  of  the  river  and  discussed  what  the  officers 
had  told  them  and  their  own  ambitions  and 
plans."  Tej  Singh  had  also  opened  negotiations 
with  the  British.  A  bridge  of  boats  was 
constructed  and  the  Sikhs  crossing  the  river 
opposite  Sabhraon  established  a  bridgehead 
with  a  big  breastwork  of  sand  and  mud  and  a 
trench  dug  around  it.  On  10  February  1846,  a 
little  before  dawn,  the  Bridsh  opened  the  attack 
with  artillery  fire  followed  by  advance  by  their 
main  force.  "The  British  guns  wrought  havoc 
among  the  ghorcharhas  and  the  infantry, 
sowars,  howitzers  and  guns  which  were  with 
the  ghorcharhas  in  the  morcha.  It  was  said  that 
the  howitzers  fired  only  one  round  and  then 
their  crews  fled,  but.  the  ghorcharhas  stood 
their  ground  for  some  time.  Ultimately  they 
too  turned  and  fled  from  the  battlefield,  but 
most  of  them  were  killed  or  wounded. 
...Wounded  or  unwounded  they  fell  back 
towards  the  river,  many  towards  the  bridge, 
which  became  crowded  with  fugitives  and  gave 
way. .  .The  Sikh  troops  under  the  command  of 
Sardar  Sham  Singh  continued  the  fight  as  long 
as  they  could,  but  even  they  could  not 
withstand  the  onslaught  of  the  British  troops 


WATHEN,  GERARD  ANSTRUTHER 


437 


WATHEN,  GERARD  ANSTRUTHER 


and  all  suffered  defeat."  In  the  list  of  deras 
appended  to  the  manuscript  Sardar  Sham  Singh 
Atarivala  has  been  shown  as  a  cavalry  officer 
in  the  Fauj-i-Ghair-A'in.  i.e.  irregular  army. 

The  account  given  by  Ajudhia  Parshad  is 
clearly  pro-British.  "While  he  writes  approvingly 
that  "on  that  day  the.  truth  had  been  revealed, 
the  strength  and  valour  of  the  British  army  had 
been  proved,"  there  is  not  a  single  word  in  the 
manuscript  about  the  matchless  bravery  of  the 
Sikh  soldiers  or  about  the  shameless  betrayal 
by  their  commanders,  the  facts  appreciatively 
noticed  even  by  contemporary  British  writers. 
Nor  does  he  account  for  the  utter  inefficiency 
and  cowardice  of  the  officers  in  facing  and 
controlling  the  men  placed  under  their 
command. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kirpal  Singh,   A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

2.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  'Umdat  ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

B.S. 

WATHEN,  GERARD  ANSTRUTHER  (1878- 
1958),  a  British  educator  who  came  by  much 
applause  and  friendliness  at  the  hands  of  his 
Sikh  pupils  and  their  parents  during  his  time 
as  principal  of  the  Khalsa  College  at  Amritsar 
in  the  early  part  of  the  twentieth  cen  tury.  By 
his  helpfulness  and  natural  affability  and  by  his 
spirit  of  devotion  he  had  won  the  trust  of  the 
entire  people.  They  soon  seemed  to  be  ea  ting 
off  his  palm.  They  worshipped  him  and  Mrs 
Wathen  as  their  friends  and  benefactors.  They 
are  fondly  remembered  to  this  day  by  the  Sikh 
community  as  the  creators  of  their  famous 
school.  Their  names  still  evoke  much  waimth 
and  appreciation. 

Most  of  the  Sikhs  of  that  period  consider 
their  success  and  prosperity  in  life  as  their 
personal  gifts  to  them.  In  1916,  Mr  Wathen 
took  in  hand  the  completion  of  the  main 
building  and  the  construction  of  cubicles  for 
the  increasing  number  of  boarders.  Both, 


husband  and  wife,  carried  on  their  heads 
basketfuls  of  rubble-a  scene  unforgettably 
etched  on  the  minds  of  many  a  youth  of  that 
time.  His  coats-off  exercise  proved  crucial  in 
bringing  to  the  youth  the  virtues  of  manual 
work.  He  implanted  in  the  minds  of  the  Sikh 
people  the  idea  of  a  Sikh  university. 

Mr  Wathen  was  born  at  Bexley,  Kent,  on 
28  December  1878.  He  was  married  to  Melicent 
Buxton  who  bore  him  three  sons  and  a 
daughter.  His  son  Roger  was  killed  playing 
polo  at  Jhahsi  in  1935.  Mr  Wathen  was 
educated  at  St  Paul's  school  and  at  Peterhouse, 
Cambridge,  and  travelled  extensively  in  the 
Balkans  and  Anatolia  on  archaeological 
research.  In  1905,  he  joined  the  Indian 
Education  Service,  becoming  professor  of 
English  at  Government  College,  Lahore.  He 
also  acted  as  inspector  of  schools,  Jalandhar 
division.  His  association  with  Khalsa  College 
lasted  from  1915  to  1924. 

A  very  unusual  student  during  his  time  at 
the  Khalsa  College  whom  he  had  groomed  with 
much  attention  was  a  strapping  youth,  Partab 
Singh  from  the  village  of  Narahgval-a  village 
which  has  bequeathed  to  the  Punjab  many 
famous  saints  as  well  as  soldiers.  His  father,  Col 
Hira  Singh,  had  retired  from  the  service  of 
Maharaja  of  Rewa,  in  Central  India,  where  he 
held  the  position  of  commander  of  the  state 
forces.  Col  Hira  Singh's  father  Capt  Hz.zura 
Singh  had  also  served  in  the  princely  state  of 
Rewa  in  the  same  capacity.  Leaving  the  Khalsa 
College  S.  Partab,  to  give  the  Sikh  youth  the 
anglicized  name  he  was  to  adopt,  joined 
Oxford  University  from  where  he  received  his 
B.A.  in  English  literature.  He  then  began  his 
top-brass  civilian  career.  In  the  Gurdwara 
Shahidgahj  agitation  started  by  the  Muslims 
of  Lahore  he  showed  extraordinary  cool  and 
sang  froid  in  tackling  a  highly  combustible 
situation  when  he  was  deputy  cpmmissioner 
there. 

The  young  man  had  earned  a  very  warm 
and  complimentary  tribute  from  the  principal, 
Mr  Wathen,  who  while  at  Khalsa  College  had 


WAZIRABAD 


438 


WAZIR  KHAN.  NAWAB 


recorded  the  following  testimonial  for  him  : 
"He  has  had  an  excellent  record  both  in  work 
and  play  ;  comes  of  a  family  with  admirable 
traditions ;  has  a  fine  appearance,  good  health 
and  physique.  But  other  things  are  not  equal 
for  he,  on  the  verge  of  his  degree,  joined  the 
Army  in  the  University  Signal  Section.  Not  only 
did  he  alone  of  the  senior  classes  enlist,  but  he 
expressed  his  intention  of  enlisting  on  the  very 
day  that  the  formation  of  the  unit  was 
announced.  But  in  no  case  have  I  been  able  to 
say  that  any  candidate  has  deserved  so  well  of 
a  college  and  the  state  as  he." 

Mr  Wathen  had  become  the  cherished 
idol  for  the  Sikhs.  Since  hi*  passing  they  have 
often  silently  wished  that  he  should  return  to 
the  Punjab  to  take  control  of  their  affairs. 

Mr  Wathen  died  in  a  traffic  accident 
knocked  down  by  a  London  taxi  on  9  August 
1958. 

T1.S. 

WAZIRABAD  (32"-26'N,  74"-7'E),  a  sub- 
divisional  town  in  Gujrahwala  district  of 
Pakistan,  is  sacred  to  Guru  Hargobind  (1595- 
1644),  who  halted  here  briefly  while  returning 
from  his  visit  to  Kashmir  in  1620.  Bhai  Khem 
Chand,  a  local  Sikh,  placed  at  the  Guru's 
disposal  his  own  house  ykotha,  in  Punjabi) 
which  was  subsequently  turned  into  what  came 
to  be  known  as  Gurdwara  Guru  Kotha  Chheviri 
Patshahi.  According  to  local  tradition,  Bhai 
Khem  Chand  died  during  Guru  Hargobind's 
stay  here  and  the  Guru  himself  performed  his 
funeral  rites:  A  memorial  to  him  in  the  form 
of  a  tower  was  later  raised  within  the  premises 
of  the  Gurdwara.  Before  it  was  abandoned  in 
1947,  the  Gurdwara  was  managed  by  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee,  Amritsar. 
Religious  fairs  to  celebrate  Basant  Pahchami 
(in  February)  and  Divali  (in  November)  used 
to  attract  devotees  in  large  numbers. 

During  the  Sikh  rule,  Wazirabad  was  the 
headquarters  of  a  district  administered  for  a 
time  by  General  Avitabile,  a  French  officer  in 
the  service  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Natoram  Tara  Singh,  Sri  Guru  Tirath  Sangrahi. 
Kankhal,  1975 

2.  Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  Sri  Gurduare  Darshan. 
Amritsar,  1923 

3.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Gurduarian.  Amritsar, 
n.d 

4.  Khqn  Mohammad  Waliullah  Khan,  Sikh  Shrines 
in  West  Pakistan.  Karachi,  1962 

5.  Sahi,  Joginder  Singh,  Sikh  Shrines  in  India  and 
Abroad.  Faridabad,  1978 

M.G.S. 

WAZIR  KHAN  (d.  1634)  is  the  name  popularly 
given  by  Sikh  chroniclers  to  Hakim  'Alim  ud- 
Din,  son  of  Shaikh  'Abd  ul-Latif  of  Chiniot,  a 
town  now  in  Jhahg  district  of  Pakistan  Punjab. 
Trained  as,  a  physician,  he  rose  in  favour  with 
Emperor  Shah  Jahah,  who  created  him  a 
mansabdar  of  5000  zat  and  sowar  and 
appointed  him  governor  of  Lahore  in  1628, 
which  office  he  held  until  1633.  Wazir  Khan 
was  a  pious  man  and  an  admirer  of  Guru  Arjan. 
He  had,  as  says  Bhai  Santokh  Singh,  Sri  Gur 
Pratap  Suraj  Granth,  felt  great  relief  listening 
to  the  Guru's  Sukhmani  when  suffering  from 
dropsy.  Since  that  day  he  had  learnt  to 
reverence  Guru  Arjan.  His  efforts  to  plead  on 
behalf  of  Guru  Arjan  in  Emperor  Jahaiigir's 
court  and  shield  him  against  the  malice  of 
Chandu  Shah  had  been  in  vain. 

In  1633,  Wazir  Khan,  was  transferred  to 
Agra  as  governor.  He  died  th*ere  in  1634. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Gurbilas  Patshahi  Chhevih.  Patiala,  1970 

2.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

3.  Satibir  Singh,  Puritan  Itihasik Jivaniah.  Jalandhar, 
1969 

4.  Trilochan  Singh,  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur :  Prophet 
and  Martyr.  Delhi,  1967 

T.S. 

WAZIR  KHAN,  NAWAB  (d.  1710),  a  resident 
of  Kuhjpura,  near  Karnal,  now  in  Haryana,  was 


WAZIR  KHAN.  NAWAB 


439 


WAZIR  KHAN,  NAWAB 


the  faiy'dar  of  Sirhind  under  the  Mughals  in 
the  opening  years  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  hill  chiefs  who  held  territories  in  the 
Sivalik  ranges  often  sought  his  help  against 
Guru  Gobind  Singh,  then  living  in  their  midst 
at  Anandpur.  In  August  of  1700  they  invested 
Anandpur,  but  found  the  defences 
impregnable.  Later,  Guru  Gobind  Singh  moved 
to  a  site  4  km  south  of  Kiratpur.  By  this  time  a 
contingent  of  troops  sent  by  Wazir  Khan 
from  Sirhind  at  the  rajas'  requestjoined  their 
forces.  A  fresh  attack  was  mounted.  The 
encounter  that  ensued  is  known  as  the  battle 
of  Nirmohgarh.  It  lasted  a  whole  week  and 
Wazir  Khan's  troops  used  even  cannon  fire. 
On  14  October  1700,  however,  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  and  his  Sikhs  broke  the  cordon  and 
crossed  the  Sutlej  into  Basoli,  a  small 
friendly  state.  The  imperial  troops  retired  to 
Sirhind. 

Guru  Gobind  Singh  soon  returned  to 
Anandpur  and  spent  the  next  few  years  in 
comparative  peace.  In  the  winter  of  1704, 
Ajmer  Chand  of  Kahlur  waited  upon  Emperor 
Auraiigzib  in  the  Deccan  and  secured  from  him 
orders  for  his  deputies  at  Lahore  and  Sirhind 
to  launch  an  expedition  against  Guru  Gobind 
Singh,  Wazir  Khan  advanced  from  Sirhind  and 
Zabardast  Khan  came  from  Lahore,  the  two 
meeting  at  Ropar,  where  they  were  joined  by 
the  hill  rajas.  A  direct  assault  on  Anandpur 
proving  ineffective,  they  laid  siege  to  the  town 
and  its  protective  fortresses,  but  were  not  able 
to  force  surrender.  Wazir  Khan  had  recourse 
to  a  ruse.  He  sent  messengers  to  Guru  Gobind 
Singh,  assuring  him,  on  solemn  oath,  safe 
conduct  if  he  would  evacuate  the  town.  But  no 
sooner  had  the  Gum  left  Anandpur,  during  the 
night  of  5-6  December  1705,  than  Wazir  Khan 
set  out  in  hot  pursuit.  Severe  fighting  took 
place  on  the  bank  of  the  rivulet  Sarsa,  which 
was  unexpectedly  in  spate.  The  Guru 
succeeded  in  crossing  the  river,  and, 
accompanied  by  his  two  elder  sons  and  forty 
Sikhs,  reached  Chamkaur  where  he  stopped 
in  a  large  vacant  house.  Wazir  Khan,  receiving 


reinforcements  from  Malerkotla,  closely 
encircled  Chamkaur.  In  the  batde  that  raged 
throughout  the  following  day,  7  December 
1705,  most  of  the  Sikhs  along  with  the  Guru's 
two  sons  were  killed.  The  remaining  five 
entreated  the  Guru  to  withdraw  to  be  able  to 
reassemble  the  survivors  of  Sarsa  and  other 
followers.  Guru  Gobind  Singh  escaped  through 
the  besieging  host  into  the  interior  of  the  semi- 
desert  region  of  Malva.  Wazir  Khan  returned 
to  Sirhind  where  he  ordered  the  execudon  of 
Guru  Gobind  Singh's  two  younger  sons,  aged 
nine  and  seven,  who  had  been  betrayed  into 
his  hands  by  an  old  servant  of  the  Guru.  He 
gave  chase  to  Guru  Gobind  Singh  and 
overtook  him  at  Khidrana,  modern  Muktsar, 
in  Faridkot  district.  But  before  he  could  attack 
him,  he  was  confronted  by  a  small  hand  of  forty 
Sikhs.  The  forty  fell  fighdng  to  a  man.  Wazir 
Khan's  troops,  worn  out  by  long  marches 
through  a  waterless  tract,  retreated. 

Wazir  Khan  felt  especially  perturbed  when 
he  learnt  that  Emperor  Aurahgzib's  son  and 
successor,  Bahadur  Shah,  had  turned  friendly 
towards  Guru  Gobind  Singh  and  that  the  two 
were  travelling  together  towards  the  South. 
Alarmed  at  this  development,  he?  hired  two 
Pathans,  one  of  them  named  Jamshaid  Khan, 
secretly  to  finish  off  the  Guru.  The  assassins 
got  their  chance  at  Nanded  where,  finding 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  alone  in  his  camp,  one  of 
them  stabbed  him  twice  in  the  abdomen.  The 
Guru  died  of  the  wounds  on  7  October  1708, 
but  he  had  already  despatched  to  the  Punjab 
Banda  Singh  Bahadur,  newly  converted  to  the 
Sikh  faith,  to  chastise  the  persecutors. 

Banda  Singh  Bahadur,  joined  shordy  after 
his  arrival  in  the  southern  Punjab  by  armed 
Sikhs  from  far  and  near,  ransacked  Samana, 
Ghuram  and  Chhat-Banur.  His  next  target  was 
Sirhind.  Wazir  Khan,  on  his  part,  proclaimed 
jihad,  and  mustered  a  strong  force.  A  fierce 
action  took  place  at  Chappar  Chiri,  near 
present-day  Chandigarh,  on  12  May  1710.  In 
the  day-long  batde,  Wazir  Khan  was  killed  and 
his  army  completely  routed. 


WAZIR  SINGH,  RAJA 


440 


WHISH,  SIR  WILLIAM  SAMPSON 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhangu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,    Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa. 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  Sikh  Gurus.  Delhi, 
1973 

4.  Harbans   Singh,      Guru    Gobind  Singh. 
Chandigarh,  1966 

Kt.S. 

WAZIR  SINGH,  RAJA.  (1828-1874),  succeeded 
in  1849  his  father  Raja  Pahar  Singh  to  the 
gaddi of  Faridkot.  A  devout  Sikh,  Wazir  Singh 
had  received  the  rites  of  initiation  at  Gurdwara 
Sri  Hazur  Sahib,  Nanded.  sacred  to  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  He  founded  new  villages  and 
introduced  several  reforms  in  the  land  revenue 
system.  He  also  introduced  a  system  of  written 
plaints  and  himself  held  court.  He  placed  his 
services  at  the  disposal  of  the  British 
government  for  the  suppression  of  the  1857 
rising  and  was  rewarded  with  the  title  of  Brar 
Bans  Raja  Sahib  Bahadur  and  a  salute  of  eleven 
guns. 

•  Raja  Wazir  Singh  died  at  Kurukshetra  on 
21  April  1874  after  a  reign  of  25  years  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Bikram  Singh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Griffin,  Lepel,  The  Rajas  of  the  Punjab. 
[Reprint].  Delhi,  1977 

2.  Ganda  Singh,  The  Patiala  and  the  East  Panjab 
States  Union.  Patiala,  1951 

3.  Harbans  Singh,  Faridkot  Itihas  Bare.  Faridkot,  n.d. 

S.S.B. 

WEIR,  a  Russian,  who  served  in  the  Khjtfsa 
army  for  some  time  in  1842.  He  married  a 
Kashmiri  Muslim  woman  and  lived  within  the 
walled  city  of  Lahore. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Grey,  C.,  and  Garrett,  H.L.O.,  European 
Adventurers  of  Northern  India.  Lahore,  1929 

Ol.S. 


WELLESLEY PAPERS.  Private  correspondence 
and  letters  of  Lord  Wellesley,  Governor- 
General  of  India  (1798-1805),  at  the  British 
Library  and  Museum,  London,  important  for 
the  light  it  throws  on  British  policy  towards 
the  cis-Sutlej  region  and  towards  the  Sikh 
Darh/ir.  Part  of  this  correspondence  relating 
to  the  Afghan  threat  to  British  India  in  the 
closing  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  has 
been  published  in  Martin  R.  Montgomery's 
The  Despatches,  Minutes  and  Correspondence 
of  the  Marquess  of  Wellesley  (London,  1836- 
37,  5  volumes),  and  R.P.  Pearse's  Memoirs 
(London,  1846,  3  vols.). 

The  correspondence  dealing  with  Shah 
Zaman's  apprehended  invasion  of  India  was 
published  in  the  Blue  Book,  XV  (ii),  1806. 

Some  of  the  important  documents  in  the 
Wellesley  Papers  are  correspondence  with  the 
President,  Board  of  Control,  regarding  the 
possibility  of  a  Sikh-Afghan  coalition  for  an 
invasion  of  Delhi  and  Oudh  (1798)  ;  letters 
and  Home  Government  despatches  to 
Wellesley  pertaining  to  the  possible  Sikh- 
Afghan-French-Tipu-Maratha  combination 
against  the  British  Indian  Government  and  the 
latter's  measures  to  counteract  the 
apprehended  threat  (1798-99). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Hasrat,  B.J.,  The  Punjab  Papers.  Hoshiarpur,  1970 

BJ.H. 

WHISH,  SIR  WILLIAM  SAMPSON  (1787^ 
1853),  divisional  commander  of  the  British 
army  under  Lord  Hugh  Gough  in  the  second 
Anglo-Sikh  war,  was  born  at^Northwold, 
England,  on  27  February  1787,  the  son  of 
Richard  Whish.  He  received  a  commission  in 
the  Bengal  artillery  in  1804.  In  1826,  he  was 
appointed  to  command  the  Karnal  and  Sirhind 
division  of  the  artillery.  In  January  1848,  he 
took  over  from  Sir  John  Littler  the  command 
of  British  troops  stationed  at  Lahore.  In  August 
1848,  he  was  given  the  command  of  the  Multan 
field  force,  8,000  strong,  to  march  against 


WOLFFJOSEPH 


441 


WOLFFJOSEPH 


Diwan  Mul  Raj.  He  took  up  position  in  front 
of  Multan  and  besieged  the  fort  on  7 
September.  As  the  Darbar  troops  under  Sher 
Singh  Atarivala  withdrew  a  week  later,  Whish 
removed  his  forces  to  Tibbl,  and  a  period  of 
inaction  followed  which  enabled  Mul  Raj  to 
improve  his  defences.  In  the  beginning  of 
November  Mul  Raj  threw  up  his  batteries 
which  threatened  Whish 's  camp,  but  on  21 
December  he  was  reinforced  by  a  column  from 
Bombay  and,  on  22  January  1849,  he  secured 
the  Multan  governor's  surrender.  After  the  fall 
of  Multan,  Whish's  division  moved  northwards 
to  join  Lord  Gough's  army.  He  reached  Ramnagar 
on  13  February  and  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Gujrat  (21  February  1849).  In  November  1851, 
he  was  promoted  lieutenant-general. 

Whish  died  in  London  on  25  February 
1853.  His  eldest  son,  G.  Palmer  Whish,  general 
of  the  Bengal  staff  corps,  had  taken  part  in  the 
batde  of  Gujrat.  Another  son,  Henry  Edward 
Whish,  a  major-general  in  the  Bengal  staff 
corps  had  also  served  with  his  father  in  the  siege 
of  Multan. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Hasrat,  Bikramaji  t,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations  1799- 
1849.  Hoshiarpur,  1968 

2.  Buckland,  C.E.,  Dictionary  of  Indian  Biography. 
London, 1906 

B.J.H. 

WOLFF,  JOSEPH  (1795-1862),  Christian 
missionary  and  traveller,  who  visited  the  Punjab 
in  1832,  was  born  of  Jewish  parents  at 
Weilersbach,  near  Bamberg  (West  Germany). 
He  was  coverted  to  Christianity  in  1812.  He 
studied  oriental  languages  at  Cambridge. 
Between  1821  and  1826,  he  travelled  as  a 
missionary  in  Egypt  and  the  Sinai  Peninsula. 
His  travels  onwards  brought  him  to  the  Punjab. 
As  he  crossed  the  River  Indus  into  the  Sikh 
territory,  he  was  given  hearty  welcome,  twenty- 
one  guns  being  fired  in  his  honour.  A  daily 
ziafat  (banquet)  of  Rs.  250,  twenty  pots  of 
sweetmeat  and  linen  to  make  twenty  shirts  was 


provided  for  him.  At  Rawalpindi,  he  was  put 
up  in  the  camp  of  Kharak  Singh,  heir  apparent 
to  the  throne  of  the  Punjab.  At  Gujrat,  he 
stayed  with  the  governor  of  the  town,  Dr  Josiah 
Harlan,  an  American,  and  at  Wazirabad,  with 
General  Avitabile,  an  Italian  serving  Ranjit 
Singh.  In  Lahore,  taking  up  his  abode  with 
General  Allard,  one  of  the  French  officers,  Dr 
Wolff  issued  proclamations,  which  were  posted 
in  the  streets,  calling  on  the  nations  to  turn  to 
the  Christ.  For  this  he  received  from  the  Sikh 
sovereign  a  polite  letter  of  disapprobation  in 
which  he  said  that  he  had  read  his 
proclamations,  adding  that  "  such  words  must 
neither  be  said  nor  heard."  The  Sikh  sovereign 
who  had  been  following  his  travels  through 
continual  reports,  received  him  in  audience  in 
Amritsar  and  overwhelmed  him  with  his 
customary  wit  and  banter.  He  told  his  visitor 
that  he  had  been  preaching  that  people  should 
put  their  trust  in  the  Creator.  He  asked  him 
why  he  was  not  preaching  to  the  English  in 
Hindustan  "who  have  no  religion  at  all."  He 
told  Dr  Wolff  ironically  that  one  way  of  coming 
near  God  was  by  making  an  alliance  with  the 
British  government  and  that  he  had  ensured 
this  for  himself  by  having  a  meeting  at  Ropar 
with  the  "  Lard  Nawab  Sahib"  (the  Governor- 
General,  Lord  William  Bentinck).  Ranjit 
Singh's  native  power  of  persiflage  showed  to 
great  advantage  on  this  occasion. 

Dr  Wolff  wrote  a  book  entitled  The 
Travels  and  Adventures  of  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Wolff  which  was  published  in  London  in  1861. 
His  account  of  the  Punjab  and  its  people, 
however,  suffers  from  a  high  tone  of  Occidental 
superiority  and  religious  bias. 

Dr  Wolff  died  at  his  Somerset  Vicarage  on 
2  May  1862. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Hugel,  Baron  Charles,  Travels  in  Cashmere  and 
the  Punjab.  London,  1845 

2.  Hasrat,  Bikrama  Jit,   Life  and  Times  of  Ranjit 
Singh.  Nabha,  1977 

B.J.H. 


WOMEN  IN  SIKHISM 


442 


WOMEN  IN  SIKHISM 


WOMEN  IN  SIKHISM.  Women  who  had  many 
equal  privileges  with  the  menfolk  in  Vedic 
India  were  reduced  to  a  position  of  utter 
subordination  during  the  time  of  the  lawgivers. 
In  the  codes  and  institutes  laid  down  in  the 
dharmasastras  they  were  given  the  status  of 
sudras.  They  were  declared  to  be  intrinsically 
impure  and  unfit,  hence  ineligible,  even  for 
listening  to  the  recital  of  sacred  texts  and 
receiving  religious  instruction  or  initiation. 
The  inherent  attraction  of  the  female  was 
considered  to  be  a  temptation  to  sin,  and  man 
had  to  remain  on  guard  all  the  time.  Woman 
was  maya,  illusion  ;  "nature  had  designed  her 
for  the  enjoyment  of  man,"  and  she  had  "no 
other  function  than  to  serve  him." 

With  the  Muslims  came  pardah,  the  veil, 
and  zananah,  confinement  of  womenfolk  to 
the  interior  apartments.  The  female  became  a 
greater  liability  for  the  male  of  the  invaded 
populace  who,  weakened  economically,  had 
not  only  to  feed  his  female  dependents  but  also 
to  be  ready  to  protect<their  honour  and  chastity 
in  those  troubled  times.  This,  among  other 
causes,  social  as  well  as  cultural,  led  to  the 
practice  of  female  infanticide,  as  also  of  child 
marriage.  The  state  of  a  widow  was  the  most 
pitiable.  Polygamy  was  permissible  for  man,  but 
a  woman  could  not  remarry  even  after  the 
death  of  her  husband.  The  smrtis  enjoined 
upon  the  widow  to  practise  sahamarana,  lit. 
simultaneous  death,  commonlyknown  as  sati, 
by  burning  herself  on  the  funeral  pyre  of  her 
husband.  Where  concession  was  made  and  the 
widow  allowed  to  live  on,  being  pregnant  or 
having  infant  children,  for  instance,  she 
remained  ostracized  from  society,  submitting 
herself  to  rigorous  discipline  of  self-denial. 

With  the  advent  of  Sikhism  appeared  a 
liberating  force  in  Indian  society.  Affirmation 
of  the  dignity  of  the  human  being,  male  as  well 
as  female,  was  central  to  Guru  Nanak's 
teaching.  His  mystical  vision  of  the  immanence 
of  the  Creator  in  all  of  His  creation  was 
concretized  in  a  forceful  enunciation  of  the 
gospel  of  equality.  Guru  Nanak  said  that  all 


creatures  were  equal  before  God  and  that  to 
make  distinctions  among  them  on  the  grounds 
of  birth  or  sex  was  sinful.  For  women  especially, 
he  had  many  bold  and  sympathetic  words  to 
say.  Quot  ed  most  often  in  this  respect  are  verses 
from  Asa  ki  Var,  a  long  composition  sung  in 
sarigat  in  the  morning  service.  "Of  woman  are 
we  born,  of  woman  conceived  ;  to  woman 
engaged,  to  woman  married.  Women  are 
befriended,  by  woman  is  the  civilization 
continued.  When  woman  dies,  woman  is  sought 
for.  It  is  by  woman  that  the  entire  social  roder 
is  maintained.  Then  why  call  her  evil  of  whom 
are  great  men  born  ?" 

In  another  stanza  in  Asa  ki  Var,  Guru 
Nanak  rejects  the  prevalent  superstition  of 
sutak,  according  to  which  a  woman  giving  birth 
to  a  child  remains  in  pollution  for  a  given 
number  of  days,  depending  upon  the  caste  to 
which  she  belongs.  Pollufion  is  not  in  child- 
birth, says  Guru  Nanak  "  Greed  is  the  pollution 
of  die  mind  ;  lying  the  pollution  of  the  tongue  ; 
looking  with  covetousness  upon  another's 
wealth,  upon  another's  wife,  upo.n  the  beauty 
of  another's  wife  the  pollution  of  the  eye  ; 
listening  to  slander  the  pollution  of  the  ears. 
The  pollution  in  which  they  commonly  believe 
is  all  superstition.  Birth  and  death  are  by  Divine 
Will  ;  by  Divine  Will  men  come  and  go"  (GG, 
472).  As  against  celibacy  and  renunciation, 
Guru  Nanak  recommended  grhastha,  the  life 
of  a  householder,  in  which  husband  and  wife 
were  equal  partners.  Fidelity  was  enjoined  upon 
both.  In  the  sacred  verse,  domestic  felicity  was 
presented  as  a  cherished  ideal  and  conjugal 
life  provided  a  running  metaphor  for  the 
expression  of  love  for  the  Divine.  Bhai  Gurdas, 
poet  of  early  Sikhism  and  authoritative 
interpreter  of  Sikh  doctrine,  pays  high  tribute 
to  womankind.  "A  woman,"  he  says  (Varan, 
V.16),  "  is  the  favourite  in  her  parental  home 
loved  dearly  by  her  father  and  mother.  In  the 
home  of  her  in-laws,  she  is  the  pillar  of  the 
family,  the  guarantee  of  its  good  fortune... 
Sharing  in  spiritual  wisdom  and  enlightenment 
and  with  noble  qualities  endowed,  a  woman, 


WOMEN  IN  SIKH  ISM 


443 


WOMEN  INSIKHISM 


the  other  half  of  man,  escorts  him  to  the  door 
of  liberation." 

To  ensure  equal  status  for  women,  the 
Gurus  made  no  distinction  between  the  sexes 
in  matters  of  initiation,  instruction  or 
participation  in  sahgat,  holy  fellowship,  and 
pahgat,  commensality.  According  to  Sarup  Das 
Bhalla,  Mahima  Prakasb,  Guru  Amar  Das 
disfavoured  the  use  of  veil  by  women.  He 
assigned  women  to  the  responsibility  of 
supervising  the  communities  of  disciples  in 
certain  sectors,  and  preached  against  the 
custom  of  sari".  Sikh  history  records  the  names 
of  several  ladies  such  as  Mai  Bhago,  Mata 
Sundari,  Rani  Sahib  Kaur,  Rani  Sada  Kaur  and 
Maharanijind  Kaur  who  played  a  leading  role 
in  the  events  of  their  time  and  left  their  imprint 
on  them. 

In  the  tumultuous  decades  of  the 
eighteenth  century  when  Sikhs  went  through 
fierce  persecution,  the  women  displayed 
exemplary  steadfastness.  Their  deeds  of 
heroism  and  sacrifice  are  to  this  day  recounted 
morning  and  evening  by  the  Sikhs  in  their 
ardas.  "Our  mothers  and  sisters,"  they  repeat 
every  time  in  their  prayer,  "who  plied  handmills 
in  the  jails  of  Mannu,  the  Mughal  goverr  of 
Lahori  ( 1 748-53) ,  grinding  daily  a  maund-and- 
a-quarter  of  corn  each,  who  saw  their  children 
being  hacked  to  pieces  in  front  of  their  eyes, 
but  who  uttered  not  a  moan  from  their  lips 
and  remained  steadfast  in  their  Sikh  faith- 
recall  their  spirit  of  fortitude  and  sacrifice,  and 
say,  Vahiguru,  Glory  be  to  God  !"  s 

Even  in  those  days  of  severe  trial  and 
suffering,  Sikhs  were  guided  in  their  treatment 
of  the  womenfolk  of  enemy  captured  in  batde 
by  the  highest  standards  of  chivalry.  They 
showed  towards  them  utmost  respect.  In  AD 
1763,  for  instance,  one  of  Ahmad  Shah 
Durrani's  generals,  Jahan  Khan,  was  defeated 
by  the  Sikhs  at  Sialkot  and  a  number  of  his 
female  relations  and  dependants  fell  into  their 
hands.  "But"  says  'Ali  ud-DIn,  in  his  'Ibratnaniah, 
"as  the  Sikhs  of  old  would  not  lay  their  hands 
on  women,  they  had  them  escorted  safely  to 


Jammu."  Another  Muslim  chronicler,  Ghulam 
Muhaiy  ud-Din,  vituperates  the  Sikhs  in  his 
Fatuhat  Namah-i-  Samadi,  yet  he  dog s  not  fail 
to  notice  the  esteem  they  had  for  women. 
"They  (i.e.  the  Sikhs),"  he  records  in  his  book, 
"look  upon  all  women  in  the  light  of  mothers." 
This  is  how  a  Sikh  was  defined  by  Bhal  Gurdas 
a  century  earlier.  He  said,  "  A  Sikh  casting  his 
eyes  upon  the  handsome  womenfolk  of 
families  other  than  his  own  regards  them  as 
his  mothers,  sisters  and  daughters." 

Such  being  the  respect  for  womanhood 
among  the  Sikhs,  monogamy  has  been  the  rule 
for  them,  and  polygamy  a  rare  exception. 
Female  infanticide  is  prohibited.  The 
Rahitnamas,  codes  of  conduct,  prohibit  Sikhs 
from  having  any  contact  or  relationship  with 
those  who  indulge  in  this  practice.  As  for  sad 
widow-burning,  Scriputre  itself  rejects  it. 

In  a  sabda  (hymn)  in  measure  Suhi,  Guru 
Amar  Das  says,  "Sads  are  not  those  that  burn 
themselves  on  the  husband's  funeral  pyre  ;  satis 
are  they,  O  Nanak,  who  die  of  the  pangs  of 
separation  (GG,  787)".  Stanza  follows  :  "  They, 
too  be  reckoned  satis  who  live  virtuously  and 
contentedly  in  the  service  of  the  Lord,  ever 
cherishing  Him  in  their  hearts".  "Some", 
continues  the  sabda,  "burn  themselves  along 
with  their  dead  husbands  :  [but  they  need  not, 
for]  if  they  really  loved  them  they  would  endure 
the  pain  alive."  As  a  practical  step  towards 
discouraging  the  practice  of  sad,  Sikhism 
permitted  remarriage  of  widows. 

In  the  present-day  democratic  system  in 
India,  women  as  a  whole  have  been  rid  of  many 
of  their  disabilities.  They  all  enjoy  political 
franchise  and  many  new  opportunities  for 
advancement  have  opened  up  for  them.  Sikh 
women  have  shown  enterprise  in  several  fields 
and  are  among  the  most  progressive  in 
education  and  in  the  professions  such  as 
teaching  and  medicine.  In  the  Sikh  system,  they 
are  the  equals  of  men  in  all  respects.  They  can 
lead  congregational  services  and  participate  in 
akhand  paths,  uninterrupted  readings  of 
scripture  to  be  accomplished  within  forty-eight 


WOMEN  IN  SIKHISM 


444 


WOMEN  IN  SIKHISM 


lours.  They  vote  with  men  periodically  to  elect 
Sikhs'  central  religious  body,  the  Shiromani 
Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee,  which 
administers  their  places  of  worship. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Sabdarath  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  Amritsar,  1975 


2.  Baig,TaraAli,  India's  Women  Power.  Delhi,  1976 

3.  Marenco,  Ethne  K.,  The  Transformation  of  Sikh 
Society.  Portland,  Oregon,  1974 

4.  Nikky-Guninder  Kaur  Singh,  The  Feminine 
Principle  in  the  Sikh  Vision  of  the  Transcendent. 
Cambridge,  1994 

G.S.T. 


Y 


YADAVINDER  SINGH,  LIEUTENANT- 
GENERAL  MAHARAJA  (1913-1974),  Grand 
Commander  of  the  Indian  Empire,  Companion 
of  the  British  Empire,  Doctor  of  Laws  from 
Banaras  and  Pahjab  Universities,  was  the  last 
hereditary  ruler  of  the  erstwhile  Indian 
princely  state  of  Patiala.  Born  on  7  January 
1913  during  the  high  noon  of  the  Bridsh  raj, 
he  lived  to  see  India  become  an  independent 
democratic  republic.  He  was  the  premier 
ruling  prince  in  the  Punjab.  Prominent  in  sports, 
courageous  in  war,  persuasive  in  diplomacy, 
knowledgeable  in  botany  and  agriculture,  he 
was  perhaps  modern  India's  nearest  equivalent 
to  the  ideal  renaissance  man. 

Yadavinder  Singh's  early  life  was  moulded 
by  his  rank  and  environment.  Son  of  Maharaja 
Bhupinder  Singh,  one  of  the  most  prominent 
of  India's  600-odd  ruling  princes,  "Yadavinder 
Singh  was  brought  up  in  a  luxurious 
atmosphere.  At  the  suggestion  of  the  c-ii 
British  resident,  Bhupinder  Singh  sent  his  son, 
while  still  a  young  boy,  to  the  Aitchison  College 
at  Lahore.  There  he  received  a  solid  all-round 
education,  acquired  valuable  habits  of  inquiry 
and  self-discipline,  and  distinguished  himself 
on  the  cricket  field.  In  1930,  after  completing 
his  education,  he  accompanied  his  father'to 
the  first  Round  Table  Conference  in  London. 
He  spent  some  time  at  the  Punjab  Police 
School,  Phillaur,  and  acquired  some  training 
in  revenue  work  back  in  Patiala.  At  his  majority, 
in  1931,  he  was  made  Superintendent  of  Police 
for  Patiala  district,  graduating  two  years  later 
to  the  rank  of  Inspector-General.  In  1933,  he 
was  appointed  the  Chancellor  of  Khalsa 
College,  Amritsar,  and  he  held  this  position 
for  a  number  of  years.  Seconded  in  1935  to  a 


crack  Sikh  unit  of  the  Indian  army,  he  did 
valuable  work  helping  in  reconstruction  after 
the  terrible  Quetta  earthquake  and  earned  a 
glowing  tribute  from  the  military  authorities. 

Yadavinder  Singh's  public  activities  were, 
however,  overshadowed  by  his  sporting 
achievements.  Patiala  had  always  been 
synonymous  with  Indian  cricket  boasting  at 
Chail,  the  Maharaja's  summer  residence,  the 
highest  ground  in  the  world.  Encouraged  to 
play  the  game  by  his  father,  who  had  captained 
India  on  the  tour  of  England,  Yadavinder 
Singh  rapidly  blossomed  into  a  fine  all-round 
player.  He  donned  Indian  colours  in  1934 
when  he  was  selected  to  play  against  England. 
However,  cricket  was  far  from  his  only  athletic 
accomplishment.  Supple  of  limb  and  reaching 
almost  6'  4"  when  fully  grown,  he  had  no 
difficulty  adapting  successfully  to  a  variety  of 
games  :  he  climbed,  ran,  played  hockey,  was 
north  Indian  tennis  champion,  and  led  the 
Patiala  polo  team.  In  his  devotion  to  sport,  he 
had  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father.  In 
1928,  Bhupinder  Singh  had  been  elected 
founder-president  of  Indian  Olympic 
Association,  formed  after  India  had  won  its  first 
gold  medal  in  the  hockey  competition  at  the 
IXth  Olympiad  in  Amsterdam.  On  Bhupinder 
Singh's  death  in  1938,  the  members  of  the 
Association  chose  the  son  to  replace  the  father. 
Yadavinder  Singh  continued  as  president  until 
1960,  when  he  stepped  down  in  favour  of  his 
brother,  Bhalendra  Singh.  During  his  22-year 
term,  he  cemented  India's  connection  with  the 
international  Olympic  movement,  fostered  the 
establishment  of  branches  of  the  Association 
in  several  provinces  and  encouraged  the 
formation  of  national  federations  for 


YADAV1NDKR  SINGH,  MAHARAJA 


446 


YADAVINDER  SINGH,  MAHARAJA 


individual  Olympic  sports. 

1938  was  indeed  a  momentous  year  for 
the  young  prince.  It  jvas  clouded,  of  course, 
by  his  father's  death  ;  but  on  the  brighter  side 
it  saw  his  election  to  the  presidency  of  the 
Olympic  Association.  He  became  the  ruler  of 
a  kingdom  of  5,932  square  miles  having  a 
population  of  nearly  two  million.  In  the  year 
of  his  accession  was  also  solemnized  his 
marriage  to  Mohinder  Kaur,  daughter  of  a 
Patiala  nobleman,  Harchand  Singh  Jeji. 

On  the  outbreak'  of  the  World  War  in 
1939,  Maharaja  Yadavinder  Singh  founded  the 
Khalsa  Defence  of  India  League.  Sikh  enlistment 
to  the  army  was  accelerated  by  the  efforts  of 
the  Maharaja  who  himself  went  to  the  Italian 
theatre  of  war  and  to  the  Middle  East  and 
Malaya.  His  support  of  the  War  effort  was 
rewarded  in  1944  by  an  honorary  appointment 
as  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  Indian  army. 

Viceroy  Lord  Wavell,  who  described 
Yadavinder  Singh  as  "one  of  the  best  of  the 
princes,  really  interested  in  managing  his  state 
on  progressive  lines,"  caused  him  to  be 
appointed  an  aide-de-camp  to  the  British  King 
and  supported  his  election  as  pro-chancellor  of 
the  Chamber  of  Princes  in  March  1946.  The 
Maharaja  became  a  leading  figure  in  the  politics 
of  the  Indian  princes.  When  after  the  failure  of 
the  Cripps  Mission  in  1942,  the  British 
Government  sent  to  India  the  Cabinet  Mission 
under  the  leadership  of  Lord  Pethick-Lawrence, 
the  Maharaja  of  Patiala  led  a  princes'  delegation 
to  the  Mission.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
negotiations  committee  of  the  princes  which, 
under  the  Cabinet  Mission  Plan,  was  to 
negotiate  with  the  representatives  of  British 
India  the  terms  on  which  the  states  would  accede 
to  the  Indian  Union.  Patiala  was  also  one  of  the 
first  princely  states  to  decide  on  13  March  1947 
to  participate  in  the  Constituent  Assembly  and 
to  send  up  its  representauves  as  members.  On 
1  August  1947,  twenty-two  rulers  of  states,  with 
Maharaja  Yadavinder  Singh  leading,  signified 
their  decision  to  accede  to  the  Indian  Union 
and  others  followed  in  quick  succession.  In  May 


1948  he  gave  his  assent  to  the  merger  of  Patiala 
with  seven  other  Punjab  states  to  constitute  what 
came  to  be  known  as  the  Patiala  and  East  Punjab 
States  Union  (PEPSU). 

When  the  decision  to  partition  the  Punjab 
was  announced,  Yadavinder  Singh  went  to 
Viceroy  Mountbatten  and  pleaded  with  him  to 
fix  the  boundary  on  the  basis  of  landed  and 
religious  property  rather  than  population, 
thereby  preserving  the  central  Punjab  as  a  Sikh 
homeland.  Mountbatten  refused,  and  the 
Radcliffe  Commission  opted  for  a  line  which  left 
many  Sikhs  and  Sikh  shrines  in  Pakistan. 
Yadavinder  Singh  then  took  his  case  to  Sardar 
Patel,  urging  that  the  rehabilitation  of  the  Sikhs 
should  be  made  a  priority  of  government  policy. 
Sikh  refugees  should  be  fully  compensated  for 
their  losses,  and  community  as  a  whole  assured 
of  its  rightful  place  in  the  polity  of  India  through 
the  incorporation  of  suitable  provisions  in  the 
new  constitution.  In  subsequent  letters  to  die 
Sardar,  he  enjoined  the  government  to  open 
negotiations  with  Pakistan  for  the  return  of  Sikh 
religious  records  and  the  preservation  of 
untended  gurdwaras  and  criticized  curbs  which 
New  Delhi  had  placed  on  certain  Sikh 
newspapers.  At  the  same  time  the  Maharaja 
maintained  his  direct  links  with  the  Panth 
through  the  patronage  of  schools  and  charities. 
Towards  the  endof  1947  he  added  the  presidency 
of  the  Panthic  Darbar,  a  quasi-political 
organization,  to  his  many  other  activities. 

In  November  1956,  in  accordance  with  the 
recommendations  of  the  States  Reorganization 
Commission,  PEPSU  was  merged  with  East 
Punjab  and  Yadavinder  Singh,  who  had  been 
Rajpramukh  of  the  state  since  its  inception, 
found  himself  for  the  first  time  in  his  adult  life 
without  a  full-time  occupation.  But  soon 
thereafter  Prime  Minister Jawaharlal  Nehru  sent 
him  to  New  York  as  a  member  of  the  Indian 
delegation  to  the  11th  session  of  the  United 
Nations  General  Assembly.  In  1958,  Yadavinder 
Singh  represented  India  in  Paris  at  the  10th 
annual  conference  of  UNESCO,  and  in  1959, 
1961,  1962,  1963,  1967  and  1969  he  led  the 


YADAVINDER  SINGH,  MAHARAJA 


447 


YAHlYA  khan 


Indian  team  at  meetings  of  the  UN  Food  and 
Agricultural  Organization  (FAO)  -  a  task  for 
which  the  horticulturally-knowledgeable 
Maharaja  was  well  suited.  In  1960,  the 
government  made  him  chairman  of  the  newly- 
created  Indian  Council  of  Sports,  a  body 
designed  to  oversee  the  whole  sporting  sphere 
and  advise  on  the  allocation  of  public  money 
to  sports  teams  and  facilities.  In  1965,  the  Lai 
Bahadur  Shastri  government  appointed  him  to 
the  prestigious  post  of  Indian  Ambassador  in 
Rome,  where  he  served  undl  1967. 

The  decade  1 956-1966  was  a  relatively  quiet 
and  relaxed  period  in  Yadavinder  Singh's  life, 
much  of  it  spent  abroad.  As  a  diplomat  he 
shunned  public  forums,  preferring  to  exercise 
his  considerale  personal  charm  in  private 
informal  gadierings.  In  February  1967  elections 
were  held  for  die  Punjab  legislature  ;  Yadavinder 
Singh  decided  to  stand  as  an  independent 
candidate,  and  was  voted  in  by  a  handsome 
majority.  His  short  parliamentary  career  was  over 
as  he  soon  realized  that  he  was  unfit  for  the  role 
of  a  professional  politician.  He  continued, 
however,  to  involve  himself  closely  in  Sikh  affairs, 
and  in  1969  revived  his  role  as  intermediary  with 
the  Cenue  in  an  unsuccessful  bid  to  head  off 
Darshan  Singh  Pheruman's  fast  to  deatii  over 
the  status  of  Chandigarh.  Earlier  he  had  presided 
over  the  Sikh  Eductional  Conference  annual 
sessions  held  at  Patiala  (1949),  Delhi  (1952)  and 
Indore  (1961).  He  was  also  the  chairman  of  the 
Punjabi  University  Commission  which  preceded 
die  establishment  in  1962  of  Punjabi  University 
at  Patiala.  He  was  chosen  president  of  the  Guru 
Gobind  Singh  Foundation  as  well  as  of  the  Guru 
Nanak  Foundation,  the  former  set  up  to  honour 
the  tercentenary  of  the  birth  of  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  (1967)  and  the  latter  the  quincentenary 
of  the  birth  of  Guru  Nanak  (1969). 

Throughout  the  late  1969's,  Yadavinder 
Singh  Continued  his  association  with  FAO  and 
the  Council  of  Sports,  and  in  1970  took  on  a 
new  role  as  chairman  of  the  Indian 
Horticulture  Development  Council.  In  1971, 
Yadavinder  Singh  took  up  his  second  and  last 


permanent  diplomatic  posting  at  the  Hague 
in  the  Netherlands.  Three  years  later,  on  17 
June  1974,  he  suffered  a  severe  heart  attack 
and  died.  He  was  61  years  of  age.  His  body  was 
flown  to  India  and  was  cremated  with  full  state 
honours  on  21  June  at  Patiala  in  the  family 
crematorium,  the  Shahi  Samadhan. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Cashman,  Richard,  Patrons,  Players  and  the 
Crowd  :  The  Phenomenon  of  Indian  Cricket. 
Bombay,  1980 

2.  Menon,  VP.,  The  Story  of  the  Integration  of  the 
Indian  States.  Bombay,  1961 

3.  Nayar,  B.R.,  Minority  Politics  in  the  Punjab. 
Princeton  1966 

4.  Pavate,  D.C.,  My  Days  as  Governor.  Delhi,  1974 

5.  Richter,  William  and  Ramusack,  Barbara,  "The 
Cham  icr  and  the  Consultation :  Changing  Form 
of  Princely  Association  in  India."  in  Journal  of 
Asian  Studies,  vol.  XXXV  (1975),  pp.  755-66 

6.  Ramusack,  Barbara,  "The  Punjab  States  ; 
Maharajas  and  Gurdwaras  :  Patiala  and  the  Sikh 
Community,"  in  People,  Princes  and  Paramount 
Power.  Delhi,  1978 

7.  Sanyal,  Saradindu,  Olympic  Games  and  India. 
Delhi,  1970 

8.  Ganda  Singh,  "The  role  of  Patiala  in  the 
Integration  of  India,"  in  Panjab  Past  and  Present, 
vol.  II,  Part  I.  Patiala,  1968 

9.  "Obituary  :  Maharaja  Yadavindra  Singh  of 
Patiala"  in  Panjab  Past  and  Present,  vol.  VIII,  Part 
II.  Patiala,  1974 

10.  Singh,  K.  Natwar,  Curtain  Raiser  :  Essays, 
Reviews,  Letters.  Delhi,  1983 

11.  Crown  Representative  Records,  India  Office 
Library.  London,  1938-1946 

12.  Durga  Das,  ed.,  Sardar  Patel's  Correspondence 
1945-50.  Ahmedabad,  1974 

13.  Dessing's  Contemporary  Archives,  1947-1974 

14.  Newsweek,  20  June  1966,  pp.  49-50 

15.  The  New  York  Times,  19  June  1974,  p.  48 

I.C.&  L.F.R.W. 

YAHlYA  KHAN,  the  eldest  son  of  Nawab 
Zakariya  Khan,  became  governor  of  Lahore 


YAH  IYA  KHAN 


448 


YOGA 


under  the  Mughals  in  1745  after  the  death  of 
his  father.  He  continued  his  father's  policy  of 
repression  against  the  Sikhs.  During  his 
regime,  a  fracas  between  a  band  of  Sikh 
horsemen  and  the  State  constabulary  resulted 
in  the  death  ofJaspatRai,  Faujdar  of  Eminabad 
and  younger  brother  of  Diwan  Lakhpat  Rai, 
who'was  revenue  minister  to  the  governor.  The 
minister,  bent  upon  vengeance,  took  heavy 
reprisals,  rounding  up  Sikhs  living  in  Lahore 
and  having  them  executed  at  the  nakhas,  the 
local  horse  market,  later  renamed  by  Sikhs 
Shahidgahj  (martyrs'  shrine).  Lakhpat  Rai  and 
Yahiya  Khan  proceeded  in  pursuit  of  Sikhs 
concentrating  on  the  bank  of  the  Ravi,  north 
of  Lahore.  The  Sikhs  retreated  further 
northwards  but  the  hill  soldiers  coming  from 
the  opposite  side  barred  their  way.  Yahiya 
Khan's  troops  caught  up  with  the  Sikhs  at 
Kahnuvan  in  Gurdaspur  district  on  1  May  1746 
and  inflicted  upon  them  a  heavy  defeat,  with 
more  than  7,000  of  them  killed  in  battle  and 
3,000  taken  to  Lahore  as  captives  to  be 
executed  there.  The  disaster  which  overtook 
the  Sikhs  is  known  in  history  as  Chhota 
Ghallughara  or  Minor  Massacre  in  contrast  to 
Vadda  Ghalughara,  the  Great  Massacre,  that 
took  place  later  on  5  February  1762. 

Shah  Nawaz  Khan,  brother  of  Yahiya  Khan 
and  governor  of  Multan,  revolted  against  the 
authority  of  Yahiya  Khan  and  hostilities 
between  the  two  brothers  continued  through 
the  winter  months  of  1746-47.  In  March  1747 
Shah  Nawaz  forced  his  way  into  Lahore,  put 
Yahiya  Khan  in  jail,  and  proclaimed  himself 
governor  of  the  Punjab. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhaftgu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa 
[Reprint].  Patiala,  1970 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia. 
Patiala,  1969 

4.  Gvipta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  IV. 
Delhi,  1982 


5.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

B.S. 

YAR  MUHAMMAD  KHAN  (d.  1829),  the 
Barakzai  ruler  of  Peshawar.  In  November  1818, 
Ranjit  Singh  seized  the  city  from  him  and 
placed  it  in  the  charge  of  Jahahdad  Khan, 
another  of  the  Barakzai  brothers,  but  no 
sooner  did  Ranjit  Singh  return  to  Lahore  than 
Yar  Muhammad  Khan  emerged  from  his 
hiding,  expelled  Jahahdad  Khan  and  resumed 
control  of  Peshawar.  In  June  1822,  Yar 
Muhammad  Khan  agreed  to  become  a 
tributary  of  Ranjit  Singh,  but  soon  thereafter 
Muhammad  Azim  Khan,  the  Kabul  Wazir, 
expelled  him  from  Peshawar.  Ranjit  Singh 
defeated  the  Kabul  Wazir  in  the  battle  of 
Naushehra  on  14  March  1823,  and  installed 
Yar  Muhammad  Khan,  governor  of  Peshawar. 
Shortly  afterwards,  Sayyid  Ahmad  Barelavi 
proclaimed  a  holy  war  against  the  Sikhs,  Yar 
Muhammad  Khan  joining  hands  with  him.  A 
battle  was  fought  between  the  Ghazis  and  the 
Sikhs  on  21  December  1826,  at  Akora,  18  km 
from  Attock,  across  the  River  Indus.  The 
Ghazis  were  repulsed  and  Peshawar  was 
reoccupied.  Yar  Muhammad  was  pardoned 
and  restored  to  his  old  position.  Sayyid  Ahmad 
again  attacked  Peshawar  in  1829  and  Yar 
Muhammad  was  killed  in  action. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Cunningham,  Joseph  Davey,  A  History  of  the 
Sikhs.  London,  1849 

2.  Griffin,  Lepel,  Ranjit  Singh.  Oxford,  1965 

3.  Latif,  Syad  Muhammad,  History  of  the  Punjab. 
Calcutta,  1891 

4.  Garrett,  H.L.O.,  and  Chopra,  G.L.,  Events  at  the 
Court  of  Ranjit  Singh.  Lahore,  1935 

5.  Khushwant  Singh,   History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  I. 
Princeton,  1963 

H.R.G. 

YOGA,  derived  from  Sanskrit  root  yuj  having 
its  equivalent  in  Latin  as  jugum,  in  Gothic  as 


YOGA 


449 


YOGA 


juk,  in  German  as  jock,  is  the  equivalent  of  yoke 
in  English.  Yoga  refers  to  yoking  or  harnessing 
of  mind  in  order  to  cultivate  paravidya  or 
higher  knowledge,  the  result  of  those  psychical 
and  physical  processes  which  are  employed  to 
discover  man's  supereme  inner  essence 
through  samadhi.  Samadhi  being  the  ultimate 
stage,  certain  other  ascedc  practices  precede 
it  in  the  different  varieties  of  Yoga  such  as 
Mantra,  Hatha,  Laya  and  Rajyoga.  Rajyoga  or 
eight-limbed  (astarig)  yoga  is  based  on 
Patahjali's  Yogasutras  which  are  further  rooted 
in  the  metaphysics  of  Sankhya  system, 
sometimes  held  to  be  a  pre-Aryan  postulation. 
It  is  generally  held  that  various  yoga  practices 
were  in  vogue  before  Patanjali  who  codified 
the  scattered  sutras  into  one  treatise  which  later 
came  to  be  known  as  Yogasutras,  an 
authoritative  critique  on  Yoga.  Whether  this 
Patanjali  is  the  same  man  Patanjali,  the 
grammarian,  is  a  problem  which  still  awaits 
solution.  The  constant  activity  of  the  mind 
being  the  major  obstacle  to  realization,  the 
Yoga  has  been  defined  as  silencing  of  the 
mental  ripplings-  yoga  chittvrtti  nirodha. 

In,,  the  Bhagavad-gita,  various  aspects  of 
the  term  yoga  such  as  karmayoga,  jnanayoga, 
and  bhakti  yoga  have  been  taken  into  account. 
Aurobindo  saw  a  new  vision  and  possibility  of 
advancement  in  spiritual  life  through  yoga.  In 
view  of  the  complete  transformation  of  the 
'being'  wherein  all  the  yogas  are  taken  into 
consideration  for  reaching  the  superamental 
level,  he  calls  his  yoga  as  the  integral  yoga. 

Equanimity  of  mind  can  be  attained 
through  different  ways.  On  the  basis  of  the 
degree  of  renunciation  and  control  of  body, 
yoga  has  been  generally  classified  under  four 
major  heads  :  Mantrayoga,  Hathayoga, 
Layayoga  and  Rajyoga.  But  these  four  or  many 
other  types  of  yoga  are  not  totally 
compartmentalized  spheres.  They  are  rather 
closely  linked  and  overlap  one  another. 
Though  yoga  is  a  system  which  has  a  vast  scope 
and  variety  yet  the  popularly  known  yoga  is 
Hathayoga  which  professes  the  control  of  the 


different  systems  of  the  gross  body  in  order  to 
attain  mastery  over  the  subtle  body. 

In  Mantrayoga  this  creation  is  held  to  be 
namrupatmak  (full  of  names  and  forms)  which 
is  required  to  be  deduced  into  one  idea  with 
the  help  of  the  mantras  and  then  by  entering 
into  that  idea  the  yogi  can  reach  the  final  cause 
of  the  universe.  Hindu  scriptural  science  and 
idol  worship  much  depend  on  this  Mantrayoga. 
In  Layayoga  certain  pressure  points  under  the 
names  of  cftakras  are  identified  and  the 
kundalini  lying  in  the  base  lotus  is  harnessed 
to  reach  the  last  lotus,  the  sahasrar,  situated  in 
the  uppermost  region  of  the  skull.  This 
meeting  of  Sakti  with  the  6iva  in  the  skull  is 
held  to  be  conducive  to  the  Mahalaya  samadhi 
which  is  the  aim  of  Layayoga.  In  hathayoga, 
gross-body-oriented  exercises  are  undertaken 
and  then  the  subtle  body  is  mastered  which 
being  devoid  of  all  filths  of  worldly  passions 
comes  face  to  face  with  the  Supreme  Reality. 
The  chief  practices  of  hathayoga  are  six 
practices  (sat  karmas),  asana,  mudra, 
pratyahara,  pranayama,  dhyana  and  samadhi. 
Analytical  wisdom  is  the  main  force  to  be 
realized  in  Rajyoga,  in  which  ripplings  of  the 
mind  are  to  be  silenced  with  the  help  of  yama 
(don'ts),  niyama  (do's),  asana  (posture), 
pranayama  (breath  control),  pratyahara 
(control  and  withdrawal  of  senses),  dhyana 
(contemplation),  dharana  (meditation)  and 
samadhi  (superconscious  absorption). 

Yoga  has  much  to  do  with  a  diseaseless 
body  so  that  hard  penances  and  physical 
exercises  may  be  undertaken.  Yogasutras  being 
the  authoritative  work  on  yoga,  other  popular 
treatises  on  yoga  are  :  Goraksa  Satak  by 
Gorakhnath,  Hathayoga  Pradipika  by 
Svatmarama,  Gheranda  Samhita  by  Gheranda, 
a  Vaisnavke  ascetic  of  Bengal  and  &iva  Samhita, 
a  tantric  text. 

Sikhism  rejects  the  traditional  forms  and 
practices  of  yoga  and  teaches  its  followers  the 
blessings  of  intense  love  and  reverence  for 
God.  It  teaches  the  brotherhood  of  mankind. 
Like  true  karmayogis,  all  Sikh  Gurus  led  very 


YOGA 


450 


YOGA 


active  lives  without  any  attachment  to  this 
world.  Before  the  advent  of  Guru  Nanak  and 
Guru  Gobind  Singh,  many  distortions  of 
Patahjali's  Yogasutras  and  Hathayoga 
Pradipika  had  been  in  vogue.  By  the  time  of 
the  Gurus,  yoga  had  been  reduced  to  a  mere 
instrument  of  earning  sidhis  and  intimidating 
others  in  order  to  multiply  the  number  of  the 
followers.  The  Sikh  Gurus  have  used  the 
terrminology  of  yoga  in  their  verses  and 
recognized  the  utility  of  self-realization  but  the 
methodology  prescribed  by  them  is  that  of 
narn-simaraji,  remembrance  and  praise  of  God 
rather  than  self-mortification.  Gurbani 
primarily  aims  at  the  welfare  of  mankind.  In 
Jabala  Upanisad,  Goraksa  £atak  and  Hathayoga 
Pradipika,  we  do  come  across  a  detailed 
account  of  body-based  six  chakras,  sixteen 
bases,  nine  doors,  pranayama  besides  different 
types  of  vital  air.  Many  hints  about  these 
ingredients  of  yoga  are  available  in  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib  also, but  according  to  the  Gurus, 
first  of  all,  man  is  required  to  become 
gurmukh  in  order  to  unravel  the  mysteries  of 
the  universe  and  bear  the  unstruck  sound  of 
the  word  after  rising  above  the  nine  oudets.  A 
spiritually  blind  man  cannot  remove  the  dirt 
of  the  mind  even  with  frequent  baths  and 
mortificational yogic  exercises  (GG,  1343).  Guru 
Nanak  says  that  observance  of  six-fold  actions, 
Vedas,  Samrti,  reading  of  3astras,  yogic 
exercises  and  pilgrimage  are  useless  and  this 
can  push  an  adherent  into  hell  if  he  does  not 
enshrine  love  of  God  in  his  heart  (GG,  1124). 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  also  pays  court  to  this  fact 
in  the  Akal  Ustati  included  in  the  Dasam 
Granth. 

A  description  of  six  chakras  exists  in 
Gurbani.  There  is  also  reference  in  it  to  the 
"upside  down"  lotus.  When  this  "upside  down" 


lotus  blooms,  God  realization  takes  place  (GG. 
108).  Guru  Nanak  says  that  this  lotus  blooms 
when  all  the  four  kinds  of  fire-violence, 
selfishness,  anger  and  greed-  are  extinguished 
by  remembering  God  and  the  sadhak 
experiences  the  ecstasy  by  drinking  nectar  of 
nam.  The  descripdon  of  navel-lotus  is  given  in 
detail  in  Sidh  Gosd  where  Guru  Nanak  regards 
this  navel-lotus  as  the  abode  of  prana  vayu,  the 
vital  breath.  Where  yogasutra  is  based  on  the 
metaphysics  of  the  Saiikhya,  and  lays  emphasis 
on  the  dissociation  or  the  negation  of  one's 
self  from  the  Prakrd  or  the  worldly  activities 
in  order  to  attain  the  kaivalya  or  aloneness, 
the  Gurus  have  accepted  the  household-life  as 
most  fulfilling  because  only  through  it  one  can 
remain  in  touch  with  the  world.  The 
attainment  of  nidhis-sidhis  which  was  the 
principal  aim  of  the  yogis  in  the  medieval 
period,  has  also  been  rejected  in  Sikhism.  Self- 
realization  through  devodon  and  the  conquest 
of  ego  have  been  applauded. 

Both  Yoga  and  Sikhism  are  essentially 
mystical  faiths.  While  Yoga  is  myticism  without 
social  and  cultural  roots,  Sikhism  is  firmly 
embedded  in  society  as  well  as  in  the  world.  A 
Sikh  mystic  aspires  to  spiritual  perfection  to 
serve  the  cause  of  Truth  and  God,  tojustify  His 
ways  to  men,  and  to  bear  testimony  to  His 
existence,  grace  and  love. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Jodh  Singh,  The  Religious  Philosophy  of  Guru 
Nanak.  Varanasi,  1983 

2.  Briggs,  G.W.,  Gorakhnath  and  the  Kanphata 
Yogis.  Varanasi,  1973 

3.  Barthwal,  P.D.,  Gorakh  Bani.  Prayag,  1960 

4.  Dwivedi,  Hazari  Prasad,    Nath  Sarnpradaya. 
Varanasi,  1966 

5.  Svatmarama,  Hathyoga  Pradipika.  Madras,  1972 

H.K.K. 


z 


ZAFARNAMAH,  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  letter  in 
Persian  verse  addressed  to  Emperor  Aurangzib 
included  in  the  Dasam  Granth.  The  word 
zafarnamah  is  a  compound  of  Arabic  zafar, 
meaning  victory,  and  Persian  namah,  meaning 
letter.  Zafarnamah  thus  means  a  letter  or 
epistle  of  victory.  Pressed  by  a  prolonged  siege, 
Guru  Gobind  Singh  had  to  evacuate  Anandpur, 
in  the  Sivaliks,  in  December  1705.  He  passed 
through  a  very  strenuous  period  and  travelling 
across  the  sandy  plains  of  the  Punjab  reached 
Dina,  a  small  village  in  Faridkot  area  wi  th  only 
three  companions  or  followers.  From  here  he 
wrote  in  1 706  his  famous  letter  which  he  styled 
Zafarnamah,  and  sent  it  to  Aurangzib  in 
Ahmadnagar,  in  the  South,  through  Bhai  Daya 
Singh  and  Bhai  Dharam  Singh. 

The  text  indicates  that  the  epistle  was 
written  by  Guru  Gobind  Singh  after  he  had 
heard  the  news  of  the  execution  of  his  two 
younger  sons  at  Sirhind.  The  two  elder  sons 
he  had  seen  lay  down  their  lives  in  the  battle 
of  Chamkaur.  He  says  in  the  Zafarnamah,  "It 
matters  little,  if  my  four  children  have  been 
killed,  for  the  coiling  cobra  (i.e.  the  Khalsa) 
still  holds  its  head  high"  (verse  78).  As  is 
evident  from  the  title  itself,  the  letter,  more 
appropriately  a  fair-sized  poem  in  1 1 1  stanzas, 
was  written  in  an  exalted  mood  of  righteous 
fervour.  The  central  theme  of  the  composition 
is  the  presentation  of  the  ethical  principle  as 
the  supreme  law  in  matters  of  public  policy  as 
well  as  in  private  behaviour.  It  condemns  what 
is  unjust  and  cruel  and  extols  what  is  true  and 
morally  correct.  Victory  and  defeat  are  to  be 
judged  by  the  ultimate  standards  of  morality, 
and  not  by  temporary  material  advantage.  The 
epistle  was  a  severe  indictment  of  Aurangzib 


who  was  repeatedly  chided  for  breach  of  faith 
in  the  attack  made  by  the  Mughal  troops  on 
the  Sikhs  after  they  had  vacated  Anandpur  on 
solemn  assurances  given  them  by  him  and  his 
officers  (verses  13,  14).  For  the  candid  and 
unambiguous  terms  in  which  the  Emperor  and 
his  policies  are  castigated  in  it,  the  Zafarnamah 
should  easily  be  the  most  forthright  essay  in 
diplomacy  known  in  history.  It  emphatically 
reiterates  the  sovereignty  of  morality  in  the 
affairs  of  state  as  much  as  in  the  conduct  of 
individual  human  beings  and  regards  the 
means  as  important  as  the  end.  Absolute 
truthfulness  is  as  much  the  duty  of  a  sovereign 
as  of  any  one  of  the  ordinary  citizens. 

The  letter  begins  with  an  invocation  to 
God  who  is  remembered  by  Guru  Gobind 
Singh  as  Eternal,  Beneficent,  Bestower  of 
Grace,  Remitter  of  sins,  King  of  kings,  the 
Support  of  the  unhappy,  Protector  of  the  faith, 
Fountain  of  eloquence,  and  Author  of 
revelation  (verses  1-12).  Addressing  the 
Emperor,  he  says,  "  I  have  no  faith  in  thine  oath 
to  which  thou  tookest  the  One  God  as  witness. 
He  who  putteth  faith  in  thine  oath  is  a  ruined 
man"  (verse  15).  "Thou  knowest  not  God  and 
believest  not  in  Muhammad.  He  who  hath 
regard  for  his  faith  never  swerveth  from  his 
promise"  (verses  46,47). 

How  alien  the  Emperor  was  to  the  spirit 
of  faith  is  emphasized,  not  without  a  touch  of 
sarcasm,  in  a  compliment  the  Guru  pays  him. 
He  says, -"Fortunate  art  thou  Aurangzib,  king 
of  kings,  expert  swordman  and  rider. 
Handsome  is  thy  person,  and  intelligent  art 
thou.  Emperor  and  ruler  of  the  country,  thou 
art  clever  in  administering  thy  kingdom,  and 
skilled  in  wielding  the  sword.  Thou  art 


ZAFAIlNAMAH-I-liANJlT  SINGH 


452 


ZAFARNAMAH-I-RANJIT  SINGH 


generous  to  thy  co-religionists,  and  prompt  in 
crushing  thine  enemies.  Thou  art  the  great 
dispenser  of  kingdoms  and  wealth.  Thy 
generosity  is  profuse,  and  in  batde  thou  art 
firm  as  a  mountain.  Unexcelled  is  thy  position  ; 
thy  loftiness  is  as  that  of  the  Pleiades.  Thou  art 
the  king  of  kings,  and  an  ornament  of  the 
thrones  of  the  world.  Thou  art  monarch  of  the 
world,  but  far  distant  thou  remainest  from  thy 
plighted  word"  (verses  89-94). 

The  Guru  intended  to  say  that  all  the 
qualities  enumerated  were  of  no  value  if  one 
were  not  humane  and  truthful  in  one's  dealings 
with  others.  An  oft-quoted  verse  from  the 
Zafarnamah  is  :  "  When  all  other  means  fail,  it 
is  but  lawful  to  take  to  the  sword"  (verse  22). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Zafarnamah.  Patiala,  1973 

2.  Randhir  Singh,  Bhai,  Sabadarth  Dasam  Granth 
Sahib.  Delhi,  1959 

3.  Sainapati,  Sri  Gur  Sobha.  Amritsar,  1914 

4.  Harbans    Singh,    Guru    Gobirtd  Singh. 
Chandigarh,  1966 

5.  Ganda  Singh,  Guru  Gobind  Singh  :  The  Last 
Phase.  Chandigarh,  1967 

6.  Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,    The  Sikh  Religion. 
Oxford,  1909 

7.  Ashta,  Dharam  Pal,  The  Poetry  of  the  Dasam 
Granth.  Delhi,  1959 

J.S.S. 

ZAFARNAMAH-I-RANJIT  SINGH  (A 
Chronicle  of  the  Victories  of  Ranjit  Singh),  by 
Diwan  Amar  Nath,  is  a  contemporary  account 
in  Persian  of  the  events  of  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh's  reign  from  AD  1800  to  AD  1837.  Amar 
Nath,  born  in  1822,  was  the  son  of  Diwan  Dina 
Nath,  the  Maharaja's  finance  minister,  and 
grandson  of  Bakht  Mall,  a  noted  scholar  of 
Persian  and  Arabic  and  author  of  the  Khalsa 
Namah.  Amar  Nath  held  the  position  of 
Bakhshi  or  paymaster  of  the  irregular  cavalry 
forces  of  the  Sikh  government  of  Lahore  and 
was  personally  acquainted  with  most  of  the 
influential  men  at  the  Sikh  court.  The 


Zafarnamah-i-Ranjh  Singh,  as  edited  by 
Professor  Sita  Ram  Kohli,  was  published  by  the 
University  of  the  Pahjab,  Lahore,  in  1928.  The 
work,  three  manuscripts  of  which  were 
accessible  to  the  editor,  was  given  no  specific 
tide  by  the  author ,  though  the  text  was  towards 
the  end  referred  to  as  a  Zafarnamah.  On  the 
author's  own  family  copy  the  copyist  gives  it 
the  name  of  "Twarikh-i-Khalsa."  This  tide  is 
inappropriate  inasmuch  as  the  work  is  limited 
to  Ranjit  Singh's  reign  alone.  The  manuscript 
which  was  then  in  the  possession  of  Rai  Sahib 
Pandit  Wazir  Chand  of  Jhahg  bore  a  pencil 
scrawl,  "Zafarnamah  Akbari."  Akbari  was  the 
nom  de  plume  of  Diwan  Amar  Nath.  This 
name  also  bears  no  reference  to  the  contents 
of  the  book.  The  current  tide  was  supplied  by 
the  editor. 

The  text  is  divisible  into  four  parts.  Part 
I,  i.e.  the  first  forty  chapters,  forms  historically 
the  most  important  section.  It  embraces  events 
of  Ranjit  Singh's  reign  up  to  the  close  of  the 
Bikrami  Sammat  1893/AD  1836-37.  In  most 
cases  these  are  eye-witness  accounts.  For  events 
of  the  period  perior  to  his  being  asked  to  write 
the  book  by  the  Maharaja,  the  author 
ascertained  the  facts  from  official  sources  or 
from  persons  direcdy  involved.  Part  II  contains 
descriptions  of  the  principal  gardens  around 
Lahore.  This  section  was,  as  the  author  tells 
us,  included  in  the  book  at  the  express  wish  of 
the  Maharaja  himself.  Part  III  is  mainly  a  love 
poem  and  alludes  to  episodes  in  the  lives  of 
Mirza  Akram  Beg  and  Ilahi  Bakhsh.  the  latter 
of  whom  rose  to  the  rank  of  general  in  the  Sikh 
artillery.  Part  rV  is  a  long  dedicatory  poem  in 
honour  of  the  Maharaja. 

A  Punjabi  translation  of  the  book  was 
published  by  Punjabi  University,  Patiala,  in 
1983.  A  typical  entry  from  the  work  is  quoted 
below: 

[Of  the  conquest  of  Kahgra  in  Sammat 
1866  Bikrami  corresponding  to  1225  Hijri 
(AD  1809)] 

The  King  [Ranjit  Singh]  marshalled  his 
army  ;  taking  an  army  of  boundless  force 


ZAFARNAMA  H-J-RANJlT  SINGH 


453 


ZAFARNAMAH  MU'lN  UL-MULK 


and  numberless  men,  he  advanced  and 
encamped  at  Pathankot.  Having  received 
tribute  from  the  chiefs  of  jasrota  and 
Nurpur,  he  went  to  Amritsar  and  having 
performed  offerings  put  his  forehead  at 
the  doorstep  of  that  house  of  prayer. 
Having  received  the  wealth  of  holy 
glimpse  and  having  made  large  offerings, 
he  supplicated  for  [divine]  assistance  in 
overcoming  those  evil  mischief  makers, 
the  Gorkhas.  They  all  fell  upon  the  heads 
of  [the  Gorkhas].  The  Gorkhas  having 
known  the  resolve  of  that  Jamshaid-like 
King  trembled  like  a  cane  shoot.  They 
dropped  the  shield  of  bravery  and 
became  desirous  of  fleeing  with  only  their 
heads  and  two  ears  (i.e.  empty-handed). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Amar  Nath,  Zafarnama-i-Ranjit  Singh  (Punjabi 
edition)  Patiala,  1983 

B.S. 

ZAFARNAMAH-I-RANJIT  SINGH,  sub-titled 
Ranjhnamah,  by  Kanhaiya  Lai  is  an  account 
in  Persian  verse  of  the  reign  of  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh  and  his  successors,  covering  the  period 
1799-1849.  The  manuscript  copies  of  the  work 
are  preserved  in  Pahjab  University  Library, 
Lahore  ;  Pahjab  Public  Library,  Lahore  ;  Khalsa 
College,  Amritsar  ;  and  the  Punjab  State 
Archives,  Patiala.  Its  author,  Kanhaiya  Lai,  was 
a  native  of  Jalesar,  an  old  town  in  Agra  district 
of  Uttar  Pradesh.  His  father  Lala  Hari  Narain 
Mathur  had  migrated  to  Lahore.  Here 
Kanhaiya  Lai  acquired  technical  education  and 
rose  to  be  an  executive  engineer.  The  British 
government  conferred  upon  him  the  title  of 
Rai  Bahadur.  "Hindi"  was  his  pen-name.  He 
was  a  prolific  writer  and  wrote  several  books 
in  Persian  and  Urdu.  Of  these,  his  Tarlkh-i- 
Pahjab  in  Urdu  prose  is  ,  in  his  oWn  words,  an 
expanded  version  of  his  Ranjhnamah. 

Zafarnamah  in  Persian  means  a  letter  or 
account  of  victory.  It  was  one  of  the  common 
titles  given  by  Persian  poets  and  historians  to 


their  works  in  prose  and  verse  eulogizing  the 
conquests  and  achievements  of  kings  and 
military  heroes.  Already  Diwan  Amar  Nath 
Akabri,  a  high  official  under  Maharaja  Ranjit 
Singh,  had  written  an  account  of  the  Maharaja's 
conquests  under  the  tide,  Zafamamah-i-Ranjit 
Singh,  which  remained  unpublished  until 
1928.  Kanhaiya  Lai's  Zafarnamah  was 
lithographed  in  1876  at  Mustafa!  Press,  Lahore. 
A  summary  translation  of  it  in  English  was 
serialized  in  the  Indian  Antiquary,  Calcutta, 
during  October  1887-April  1888. 

In  the  compilation  of  Zafamamah-i-Ranjit 
Singh,  Kanhaiya  Lai  seems  to  have  utilized 
works  such  as  Sohan  Lai  Suri's  'Umdat  ut- 
Twarikh.  Bute  Shah's  Twarikh  i-Punjab  and, 
possibly,  Diwan  Amar  Nath's  Zafarnamah. 
Following  the  style  of  Persian  poets  like 
Firdausi  and  Nizam!  Gahjavi,  Kanhaiya  Lai 
commences  his  book  with  invocation  to  God. 
This  is  followed  by  laudation  of  Hindu  and 
Muslim  teachers  and  the  Gurus.  The  major 
portion  of  the  work  is  taken  up  by  the  wars 
and  conquests  of  Ranjit  Singh,  ten  concluding 
chapters  covering  the  period  from  the 
coronation  of  Maharaja  Kharak  Singh  to  the 
annexation  of  the  Punjab  by  the  British  in 
1849.  The  author'style  is  highly  hyperbolic  and 
full  of  poetic  exaggerations.  He  describes  the 
techniques  of  war  and  dauntless  bravery  of 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  and  praises  the  courage, 
manliness  and  chivalry  of  his  soldiers 
comparing  them  to  such  legendary  heroes  as 
Rustam  and  Asfand  Yar. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,   A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

Jn.S. 

ZAFARNAMAH  MU'lN  UL-MULK,  an 
unpublished  manuscript,  is  a  book  written  in 
1748-49  by  Ghulam  Muhaiy  ud-DIn  Khan.  It 
gives  an  account  of  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani's  first 
two  invasions  of  India.  Copies  of  the 
manuscript  are  available  at  the  University  of 


ZAFARNAMAH MU'IN  UL-MULK 


454 


ZAIL  SINGH,  GIANI 


the  Panjab,  Lahore,  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar, 
and  in  the  Punjab  Historical  Studies 
Department  of  Punjabi  University,  Patiala.  The 
author  appears  to  be  a  courtier  or  a  great 
admirer  of  Mu'in  ul-Mulk,  the  Mughal 
governor  of  the  Punjab  from  1748  to  1753, 
whose  dauntless  courage  and  administrative 
capability  he  profusely  praises.  He  seems  to  be 
a  well-read  person  with  a  scholarly  style  of 
writing  rich  in  quotations  from  Arabic  texts.  A 
sizable  portion  of  the  book  is  in  verse.  The 
historical  information  it  contains  appears  to 
be  based  on  personal  knowledge  of  the  author 
and  is  on  the  whole  correct  and  useful. 

The  Zafarnamah  (lit.  record  of  victories) 
opens  with  invocation  to  God  followed  by  a 
qasidah  or  panegyric  in  praise  of  the  book's 
protagonist.  Mu'in  ul-Mulk,  known  to  Sikh 
chroniclers  as  Mir  Mannu,  was  the  son  of  Wazir 
Qamar  ud-Din,  the  prime  minister  of  the 
Mughal  emperor  Muhammad  Shah.  When 
Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  invaded  India  for  the 
first  time  at  the  head  of  fifty  thousand 
horsemen,  early  in  January  1748,  Shah  Nawaz 
Khan,  governor  of  Lahore  and  Multan,  fled 
to  Delhi  offering  only  atfeeble  resistance  and 
the  invader  occupied  Lahore  which,  says  the 
author,  was  subjected  to  thorough  plunder,  a 
part  of  it  being  set  on  fire.  Emperor 
Muhammad  Shah  sent  a  huge  force  led  by 
Wazir  Qamar  ud-Din  under  the  nominal 
command  of  the  crown  prince,  Ahmad  Shah, 
to  drive  away  the  invader.  Mu'in  ul-Mulk 
accompanied  his  father.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  batde  fought  at  Manupur ,  15  km  northwest 
of  Sirhind,  Qamar  ud-Din  was  mortally 
wounded  by  a  cannon  shot.  Mu'in  ul-Mulk  at 
once  took  command  of  the  situation. 
Suppressing  his  filial  tears,  he  hurriedly  buried 
his  father's  dead  body  in  the  floor  of  his 
sleeping  tent,  levelling  it  over  with  sand,  and 
launched  a  fierce  attack  against  the  enemy 
lines.  A  severe  battle  followed  resulting  in 
heavy  casualties  on  both  sides  but  it  ended  in 
victory  for  the  Mughals.  The  Durrani  quietly 
retreated  during  the  night  to  Lahore  and 


thence  to  his  own  country.  During  his  return 
journey  he  was  constantly  harassed  and  looted 
by  the  Sikhs. 

Just  during  this  time  news  arrived  of 
imminent  death  of  the  emperor  at  Delhi. 
Prince  Ahmad  Shah,  directing  Mu'in  ul-Mulk 
to  take  charge  as  governor  of  Lahore  and 
Multan,  hastened  back  to  Delhi,  where  he 
succeeded  to  the  throne  of  his  father  who  had 
expired  before  the  son's  arrival  in  the  capital. 
Mu'in  ul-Mulk  came  to  Lahore  and 
immediately  attended  to  the  shattered  civil 
administration  of  the  province  and  provided 
relief  to  the  oppressed  populace.  He  replaced 
Lakhpat  Rai  by  Kaura  Mall  as  his  diwan  and 
confimed  Adina  Beg  Khan  in  the  faujdari  of 
Jalandhar  Doab. 

Ahmad  Shah  Durrani  descended  upon 
the  Punjab  for  the  second  time  in  December 
1748.  Mu'in  ul-Mulk  promptly  sent  forth  a 
strong  force  which  faced  the  invading  horde 
on  the  bank  of  the  River  Chenab.  Ahmad  Shah 
offered  to  go  back  if  the  Punjab  governor  paid 
the  arrears  and  undertook  regular  payment  in 
future  of  the  revenue  of  four  mahils  or 
districts  of  Gujrat,  Aurarigabad,  Sialkot  and 
Pasrur  which  he  claimed  had  been  assigned  to 
Nadir  Shah  and  were  legitimately  his  now. 
Mu'in  ul-Mulk  wrote  back  that  it  was  stupid  to 
engage  in  a  battle  where. Muslims  would  be 
killed  on  both  sides.  He  prudendy  agreed  to 
pay  the  dues,  and  Ahmad  Shah  returned  to 
Qandahar. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kirpal  Singh,  ed.,  A  Catalogue  of  Persian  and 
Sanskrit  Manuscripts.  Amritsar,  1962 

B.S. 

ZAIL  SINGH,  GIANI  (1916-1994),  the  first 
Punjabi  to  become  President  of  the  Republic 
of  India,  was  born  on  5  May  1916,  the  son  of 
Bhai  Kishan  Singh  and  Mai  Ind  Kaur,  a 
Ramgarhia  couple  of  a  small  village,  Sandhvari, 
near  Kot  Kapura,  in  the  princely  state  of 
Faridkot.  Kishan  Singh  was  the  village 


ZAII.  SINGH,  GIANl 


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ZAIL SINGH,  GIAN1 


carpenter.  Additionally,  he  had  his  own  small 
acreage  to  till.  He  was  a  devout  Sikh  and  was 
known  in  the  countryside  for  his  simple  and 
upright  manner. 

Youngest  of  the  five  brothers  and  a  sister, 
Zail  Singh  lost  his  mother  in  his  early 
childhood.  He  was  brought  up  by  his  mother's 
sister,  Daya  Kaur.  He  had  had  little  formal 
educadon,  but  he  had  inherited  the  family's 
broad  interest  in  religious  learning  and  gained 
easy  fluency  in  reading  the  holy  book,  the  Guru 
Granth  Sahib.  He  acquired  a  fairly  wide 
knowledge  of  Sikh  doctrine  and  history.  He 
was  accepted  for  admission  to  the  Shahid  Sikh 
Missionary  College  at  Amritsar,  without 
fulfilling  the  minimum  entry  condition  of  a 
matriculation.  What  impressed  the  admission 
committee  most  was  his  flair  for  public 
speaking. 

A  course  in  religious  training  he  had  gone 
through  at  college  won  him  the  epithet  of 
'GianI',  one  learned  in  die  religious  lore.  This 
epithet  stuck  to  him  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He 
possessed  a  high  level  of  intelligence  and  had 
a  natural  insight  into  the  minds  of  men  and 
their  motivations  which  remained  his  most 
precious  asset.  He  grew  into  the  mastery  of 
public  speaking  and  could  easily  throw  spells 
on  his  audiences.  He  could  mix  with  uncanny 
facility  couplets  of  Urdu  verse  with  his  fluent 
Punjabi.  Snatches  of  Urdu  poetry  entered 
effortlessly  into  his  Punjabi  oratory.  Easily 
spoken  passages  of  Punjabi  prose,  somewhat 
rugged  in  the  beginning,  tended  to  smoothen 
out  at  the  edges  with  the  passage  of  time.  As  a 
student  of  the  Missionary  College,  he  had  the 
opportunity  of  further  polishing  his  Punjabi 
speech  and  of  shedding  the  more  colloquial 
aspects  of  it  He  had  a  subtle  sense  of  fun.  His 
stay  at  the  Missionary  College  was  short  and 
he  was  called  away  to  a  still  more  direct 
participation  in  public  affairs. 

His  native  Faridkot  was  a  small  unit 
politically  and  geographically.  Peaceful  and 
quiet.  Its  ruler,  Raja  Harindar  Singh,  was  a 
colourful  personality.  He  was  full  of  energy  and 


ambition.  One  of  his  aims  was  to  open  the 
doors  of  modern  progress  for  his  state  and  have 
it  counted  among  the  more  progressive 
territories  of  the  region.  He  had  a  network  of 
roads  laid  out.  He  opened  schools  and  colleges 
everywhere.  Even  in  the  tiniest  of  hamlets. 
Every  village  lit  by  night  by  a  cherag  or  lamp 
had  a  school  to  its  name. 

By  his  friendly  and  engaging  personal 
manner  Raja  Harindar  Singh  had  made  friends 
with  the  common  people.  There  was  not  a 
village  in  which  he  did  not  know  personally 
some  of  the  inhabitants  and  in  which  he  could 
not  address  them  by  their  first  names.  He  was 
an  easy  mixer  and  could  climb  down  to  speak 
with  them  in  their  own  idiom.  As  political 
awakening  burst  forth  on  a  sleepy  countryside 
sharply  divided  confrontationist  alignments 
appeared  on  the  horizon.  As  the  year  of  Indian 
independence,  1947,  drew  closer,  the 
confrontadonist's  writ  ran  freely.  This  brought 
the  Indian  leader,  Jawaharlal  Nehru,  to  the  tiny 
town  of  Faridkot.  There  took  place  a  very  civil 
dialogue  between  him  and  the  Raja.  But  the 
entente  proved  very  shorlived.  There  erupted 
a  storm.  The  Raja,  had  to  go  to  neighbourly 
Malerkotla  to  fulfil  a  long-standing 
engagement.  During  his  absence  from  the  city 
a  parallel  government  was  formed  by  the 
people  in  revolt.  A  young  leader,  Gurbakhsh 
Singh,  of  the  village  of  Chahil  was  named 
prime  minister  of  the  new  government. 
Another  local  public  man,  Pandit  Amar  Nath 
was  designated  home  minister,  Pandit  Chetan 
Dev,  rehabilitation  minister  andjathedar  Jahga 
Singh,  defence  minister.  There  were  some  of 
the  officials  of  Faridkof  government  joining 
them,  notably,  Odham  Singh  who  was  ajudicial 
officer  and  Bakhtavar  Singh,  a  police  boss. 

When  the  Raja  returned  to  Faridkot  in  the 
evening  he  found  the  demonstrators  in 
occupation  of  the  civil  secretariat.  He  was  in  a 
rage.  He  had  a  group  of  demonstrators  lie 
down  prostrate  on  the  ground  in  the  palace 
lawns  and  beaten  up  mercilessly  with  lathis.  He 
gleefully  jumped  around  over  their  bodies 


ZAIL  SINGH,  GIANl 


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ZAIL SINGH,  GIANI 


roaring  revenge  for  their  temerity.  Outside  the 
palace  grounds  the  victims  were  dragged  along 
behind  running  jeeps.  A  weired  stillness  had 
fallen  upon  the  city  broken  by  the  screams  of 
the  victims  under  the  lash  of  the  ruler.  Panting 
and  huffing,  the  Raja  walked  into  one  of  the 
waiting  rooms  inside  the  palace.  He 
immediately  dictated  a  cable  to  be  sent  to 
Sardar  Patel,  India's  deputy  prime  minister.  He 
poured  out  into  his  message  all  the  pent-up 
anger  of  his  heart. 

Giani  Zail  Singh  had  been  the  principal 
architect  of  the  movement  and  the  main  force 
behind  it.  He  had  given  up  his  position  as  a 
preacher  of  Sikhism  which  he  had  occupied 
for  nearly  five  years.  He  returned  to  his 
Faridkot  from  Gurdwara  Garna  Sahib  near 
Urmur  Tanda,  in  the  Doaba  area.  The  main 
brunt  of  the  Raja's  spite  fell  on  him.  He  faced 
the  bludgeon  without  a  wince.  The  local 
merchants  needed  somone  to  lead  the  struggle. 
Giani  Zail  Siiigh,  bold  and  honest,  was  their 
perfect  answer.  Giani  Zail  Singh  was  able  to 
strengthen  his  hold  by  the  support  he  received 
from  the  urbanite  classes.  By  their  unstinted 
support,  Giani  Zail  Singh  was  able  to  broaden 
the  base  of  his  struggle  and  impart  to  it  the 
character  of  a  mass  upsurge. 

Freedom  lay  at  India's  doorstep.  It  now 
needed  for  political  leaders  to  talk  matters  over. 
Once  the  decision  had  been  taken  to  divide 
the  country  into  Hindu  and  non-Hindu  India, 
another  knotty  problem  awaiting  solution  was 
putting  the  political  jigsaw  into  some  kind  of  a 
demographic  order.  More  than  600  of  the 
princely  states  of  many  different  climes,  hues 
and  sizes,  the  armies  of  some  of  whom 
consisted  of  but  a  few  iathj-bearing  men, 
whose  "commander-in-chief  was  a  grandee, 
claiming  no  more  than  rupees  Five  as  his 
monthly  salary.  Out  of  this  chaos  men  like 
Jawaharlal  Nehru  and  Sardar  Patel  by  their 
genius  for  planning  and  leadership  created  a 
new  India.  Viable  polidcal  and  geographical 
units  appeared  all  over  the  gigantic  Indian 
jungle.  The  word  PEPSU,  short  for  Patiala  and 


East  Punjab  States  Union,  marked  a 
conglomerate  of  mainly  of  the  Punjab  Sikh 
states — Patiala,  Jind,  Nabha,  Kapurthala, 
Faridkot,  and  Kalsia  and  two  others,  Nalagarh 
and  Malerkoda.  These  states  merged  their 
identity  into  the  new  polidcal  and  geographical 
unit  which  had  come  into  being.  This  new  state 
comprised  a  total  area  of  10,099  sq  miles,  with 
a  populadon  of  34,24,060.  The  annual  revenue 
of  the  state  was  a  little  over  5  crore  rupees. 

Giani  Zail  Singh  had  emerged  from  one 
of  the  smaller  units.  He  was  more  earth-bound 
and  practical.  He  was  dedicated  and  single- 
minded  with  limidess  powers  of  concentration. 
In  free  India  talent  was  the  arbiter.  Giani  Zail 
Siiigh  traversed  many  a  long  mile,  and  he 
ended  up  by  coming  out  at  the  very  top.  In 
1949  when  a  non-party  government  was 
established  in  PEPSU  with  Gian  Singh 
Rarevala  of  Padala  as  chief  minister,  Giani  Zail 
Siiigh  was  called  upon  to  join  as  revenue 
minister.  In  the  Congress  Government  formed 
on  23  May  1951,  he  became  agriculture 
minister.  From  1956  to  1962,  he  served  as  a 
member  of  parliament  (Rajya  Sabha).  In  the 
general  elections  of  1972,  he  became  chief 
minister  of  the  Punjab.  In  the  1980  general 
elections  Giani  Zail  Siiigh  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Lok  Sabha  and  was  picked  on 
HJanuary  1980  tojoin  Indira  Gandhi's  cabinet 
as  minister  for  home  affairs.  Upon  the 
retirement  in  1982,  of  Sanjiva  Reddy,  as  the 
President  of  India,  Gianf  Zail  Singh  was 
unanimously  chosen  by  the  Congress  party  as 
its  nominee  for  the  office  then  fallen  vacant. 
Giani  Zail  Singh  won  almost  by  a  unanimous 
vote  of  the  nation.  Even  the  dissident  parties 
such  as  Akalis  in  the  Punjab  and  Communists 
in  West  Bengal  supported  him. 

The  presidency  brought  in  its  train  a 
bundle  of  problems  and  challenges.  The  worst 
came  when  Giani  Zail  Siiigh  was  charged  a 
tankhahia  (  liable  to  religious  punishment) 
following  the  army  acdon  within  the  Darbar 
Sahib  precincts.  He  presented  himself  before 
the  Sikh  clergy  to  seek  atonement.  He  told  the 


ZAIL  SINGH,  GIANT 


457 


ZAIL  SINGH,  GIANI 


group  that  as  constitutional  head  he  had  no 
active  role  in  ordering  the  Indian  army  into 
the  Golden  Temple  premises.  His  explanation 
was  accepted  and  he  was  exonerated. 

Tensions  arose  after  the  installation  of  his 
own  nominee  for  prime  minister  of  India  had 
taken  office.  In  the  long-winded  controversies 
which  ensued  upon  Rajiv  Gandhi  taking  over 
as  Prime  Minister,  he  exhibited  his  true  mettle 
and  stamina,  his  disadvantages  of  education 
notwithstanding.  There  came  moments  when 
he  could  have  crushed  Rajiv,  but  he  desisted- 
against  his  own  good  judgement  and  against 
the  good  advice  proferred  by  many. 

Whenever  Giani  Zail  Singh  was  in  the 
Punjab  or  close  to  it  he  scarcely  ever  missed 
chance  of  paying  obeisance  at  Sri  Kesgarh 
Sahib  shrine.  On  one  such  pilgrimage  on  29 
November  1994,  his  car  met  with  a  very  serious 
mishap.  He  was  taken  to  the  Postgraduate 
Institute  of  Medical  Sciences  (PGI}  in 
Chandigarh  where  waging  the  last  mighty 
struggle  of  his  life  he  died  on  25  December 
1994. 

In  Giani  Zail  Singh's  death  the  country 
lost  a  leader  whose  sense  of  timing  and  earthly 
commonsense  had  shaped  many  an  event  in 
Chandigarh  and  in  Delhi.  A  shrewd  person, 
he  knew  his  political  arithmedc  and  was  well- 
informed  about  currents  and  undercurrents 
in  the  Punjab.  He  directed  his  moves 
accordingly.  Both  as  Chief  Minister  and  later 
in  his  capacity  as  the  Union  Home  Minister 
and  President  of  India,  he  virtually  set  the  tone 
for  Punjab  with  the  objective  of  making  the 
Akalis  irrelevant  to  the  state  politics.  In  his  bid 
to  outdistance  the  Akalis  in  the  highly 
competitive  game  which  was  pardy  polidcal  and 
partly  religious,  he,  more  often  than  not, 
played  with  fire.  At  one  stage,  it  was  presumed- 
and  righdy  so-that  the  Bhindranvale  factor  was 
part  of  his  gameplan  to  promote  his  political 
goals.  Since  he  had  the  "ears"  of  Indira  Gandhi 
during  those  days,  it  was  somewhat  easier  for 
him  to  pursue  his  own  brand  of  politics.  His 
.  troubles  began  in  the  wake  of  assassination  of 


Indira  Gancltn  and  with  the  coming  into  power 
of  Rajiv  Gandhi.  That  the  two  did  not  get  along 
well  with  each  other  was  clear  from  several 
events  and  non-events.  The  Giani  would  not 
dismiss  Rajiv  Gandhi's  government  because  of 
his  old-time  loyalty  to  the  Nehru-Gandhi 
family,  though  he  was  keen  to  teach  him  a 
lesson  or  two  for  undermining  his  role  and 
crippling  his  style  of  functioning  at  Rashtrapati 
Bhavan.  In  fact,  Zail  Singh's  total  loyalty  and 
commitment  to  the  family  contributed  to  a 
large  extent  to  his  progress  from  a  mud  house 
to  the  Rashtrapati  Bhavan.  Only  in  a 
democratic  India  was  such  a  meteoric 
phenomenon  possible.  A  pragmatic  person, 
the  Giani  was  rooted  in  the  earth  with  his  eyes 
contandy  fixed  on  the  Punjab,  which  was  his 
total  passion  .  He  always  thought  that  he  knew 
his  Punjab  and  its  people  and  that  nobody 
should  deny  him  his  role  therein. 

Giani  Zail  Singh  did  contribute  to  the 
shaping  of  the  history  of  modern  Punjab.  He 
also  played  a  role  in  directing  certain  critical 
matters  at  the  national  level.  What  made  him 
stand  out  was  his  basic  sharpness.  He 
conducted  himself  with  dignity  and  with  a 
touch  of  class  which  was  remarkable  for  one 
who  had  had  an  humble  origin.  He  was  always 
meticulously  dressed  with  the  red  rose-bud  in 
his  buttonhole  in  the  Nehruvian  style.  His  lack 
of  sophistication  was  more  than  made  up  by 
his  disarming  smile  and  natural  courtesies.  He 
was  warm  and  humane  and  applied  his  soft 
touches  to  all  those  who  interacted  with  him 
on  various  occasions  and  for  various  purposes. 
Giani  Zail  Singh's  life  was,  in  fact,  the  success 
story  of  a  common  man  who  had  rubbed 
shoulders  with  men  of  letters  as  well  as  of 
wealth.  This  is  in  itself  a  tribute  to  the  man 
who,  in  his  own  way,  stirred  the  state  for  years 
and  created  waves  in  New  Delhi. 

The  emergence  of  Giani  Zail  Singh  as  a 
charismatic  and  most  civil  political  leader  is  a 
phenomenon  which  will  have  to  be  finally 
explained  in  terms  of  interaction  between  him 
and  the  Raja  of  Faridkot.  They  were  both  very 


ZAIN  KHAN 


458 


ZAIN  KHAN 


strong  persons,  highly  intelligent  and  sensitive. 
And  their  relationship  was  governed  by  an 
attitude  of  mutual  rejection  and  acceptance. 
In  his  childhood,  GianI  Zail  Singh,  whose 
village  lay  fewer  than  five  miles  from  the  city 
of  Faridkot,  must  have  been  fed  on  stories  of 
the  splendour  of  the  Faridkot  Palace  and  he 
must  have  dreamt  certain  dreams.  He  rode  to 
the  fulfilment  of  the  sweetest  of  them  when  in 
the  summer  of  1982  he  entered  the  portals  of 
the  Presidential  Palace  of  New  Delhi. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Johar,  Surinder  Singh,  Giani  Zail  Singh-A 
Biography.  New  Delhi,  1984 

2.  Harbans  Singh,  The  Heritage  of  the  Sikhs,  pp. 
342-377.  New  Delhi,  1994 

3.  Walia,  Ramesh,  Praja  Mandal  Movement  in  East 
Punjab  States.  Patiala,  1972 

4.  Ganda  Singh,  The  Patiala  and  East  Punjab  States 
Union.  Patiala,  1957 

5.  TheAjit  (Punjabi). Jalandhar,  27  December  1994 

6.  The  Tribune.  Chandigarh,  26  December  1994 

7.  Hari  Jaisingh,  India  After  Indira. 

8.  Menon,  V.P.,  The  Story  of  the  Integration  of  the 
Indian  States.  Madras,  1961 

H.Js. 

ZAIN  KHAN  (d.  1764),  an  Afghan,  was 
appointed  governor  of  Sirhind  in  March  1761 
by  Ahmad  Shah  Durrani.  Earlier  he  had  acted 
as  Faujdar  of  Char  Mahal-  the  four  districts  of 
Sialkot,  Gujrat,  Pasrur  and  Auraiigabad.  This 
was  from  1759  when  Karim  Dad  Khan  was 
appointed  governor  of  the  Punjab  by  the 
Afghan  invader.  For  his  relentless  campaign 
against  the  Sikhs  and  for  his  part  in  the  Vadda 
Ghallughara  (  5  February  1762),  or  Great 
Carnage,  at  the  village  of  Kup-Rahira  near 
Malerkotla,  Zain  Khan  had  become  a  special 
target  of  their  vengeance.  Within  four  months 
of  the  Ghallughara  they  attacked  Sirhind  with 
a  strong  force,  inflicting  upon  him  a  severe 
defeat  and  laying  him  under  tribute.  In  January 
1764,  the  Sikhs  under  the  leadership  of  Jassa 
Singh  Ahluvalia  invaded  Kurali  and  looted  Zain 


Khan's  diwan  Lachhmi  Narain.  Zain  Khan, 
apprehending  an  attack  on  his  capital,  opened 
negotiations  with  Ala  Singh  of  Patiala  offering 
jagirs  to  Sikhs  if  they  would  withdraw  from  his 
country.  Ala  Singh,  according  to  Ratan  Singh 
Bhaiigu,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash,  deputed  his 
agent  Nanu  Singh  Greval  to  the  Sikh  chiefs, 
who  forthwith  turned  down  the  terms  he  had 
brought,  saying,  "Authority  does  not  come  by 
charity...  The  Guru  has  assigned  sovereignty 
to  us.  The  Khalsa  had  won  it  by  bargaining  away 
their  heads  for  it." 

Oh  14  January  1764,  the  Sikhs  besieged 
Sirhind.  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia  commanded 
10,000  horse  of  his  own  misl  or  clan.  As  head 
of  the  Dal  Khalsa.  he  had  under  him  troops  of 
seven  misls,  six  of  these  belonging  to  the 
Buddha  Dal  and  the  seventh  being  the  Bhahgi 
misl  of  the  Taruna  Dal.  In  the  batde  that  took 
place  at  Pir  Jain  about  10  km  from  Sirhind, 
Zain  Khan  was  wounded.  He  fled  the  field  on 
horseback  and  entered  a  mango  grove  to  hide 
himself.  A  Sikh  soldier,  Tara  Singh  of  Mari,  who 
was  pursuing  him  spotted  him  and  cut  off  his 
head.  The  territory  of  Sirhind,  a  vast  tract  of 
plain  country,  350  km  long  and  250  km  wide, 
extending  from  the  Sirmur  hills  and  the  River 
Yamuna  in  the  east,  to  the  borders  of  Rajasthan 
in  the  west,  and  from  the  River  Sudej  in  the 
north  to  Panipat  in  the  south,  now  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Sikhs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhaiigu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  GianI,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa.  Patiala, 
1970 

3.  Ganda  Singh,    Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia. 
Patiala,  1969 

4.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  IV. 
Delhi,  1982 

5.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

6.  Bhagat  Singh,  Sikh  Polity  in  the  Eighteenth  and 
Nineteenth  Centuries.  Delhi,  1978 

S.S.B. 


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459 


ZINDAGl  NAMAH 


ZAKARIYA  KHAN  (d.  1745),  who  replaced  his 
father  'Abd  us-Samad  Khan  as  governor  of 
Lahore  in  1726,  had  earlier  acted  as  governor 
ofjammu  (1713-20)  and  of  Kashmir  (1720-26). 
He  had  also  taken  part  in  Lahore  government's 
operations  against  the  Sikh  leader  Banda  Singh 
Bahadur.  After  the  capture  of  Banda  Singh  and 
his  companions  in  December  1715  at  Gurdas- 
Nahgal,  he  escorted  the  prisoners  to  Delhi, 
rounding  up  Sikhs  he  could  find  in  villages 
along  the  route.  As  he  reached  the  Mughal 
capital,  the  caravan  comprised  seven  hundred 
bullock  carts  full  of  severed  heads  and  over 
seven  hundred  captives.  After  becoming  the 
governor  of  the  province  in  1726,  Khan 
Bahadur  Zakariya  Khan,  shortened  to  Khanu 
by  Sikhs,  launched  a  still  severer  policy  against 
the  Sikhs  and  let  loose  terror  upon  them.  His 
moving  military  columns  forced  the  Sikhs  to 
seek  shelter  in  remote  hills  and  forests.  Yet  Sikh 
bands  continued  harassing  the  administration 
attacking  government  caravans  and  treasuries. 
Such  was  the  effect  of  their  depredations  that 
Zakariya  Khan  was  obliged  to  make  terms  with 
them.  In  1733,  he  decided  to  lift  the  quarantine 
forced  upon  the  Sikhs  and  made  an  offer  of  a 
grant.  His  envoy,  Subeg  Singh,  a  Sikh  resident 
of  the  village  of  Jambar,  near  Lahore,  who 
was  for  the  time  kotwal  or  police  inspector  of 
the  city  under  Muslim  authority,  reached 
Amritsar  where  the  Sikhs  had  been  allowed 
to  assemble  and  celebrate  the  festival  of 
Baisakhi  after  many  years  of  exile,  and  offered 
them  on  behalf  of  the  government  the  title  of 
Nawab  and  a  jagir  consisting  of  the  parganahs 
of  Dipalpur,  Kahganval  and  Jhabal,  worth  a 
lakh  of  rupees  in  revenue.  But  the  entente  soon 
came  to  an  end,  before  the  harvest  of  1735, 
Zakariya  Khan  sent  a  force  and  occupied  the 
jagir.  The  Sikhs  were  driven  away  towards  the 
Malva  region  by  Lakhpat  Rai,  the  Hindu 
minister  at  the  Mughal  court  at  Lahore.  In  the 
clashes  that  followed  many  officers  of  the 
Lahore  army,  including  Lakhpat  Rai's  nephew 
Dun!  Chand,  were  killed.  Zakariya  Khan  took 
the  field  himself  to  re-establish  his  authority 


in  the  region.  He  had  the  fortress  of  Dalleval 
blown  up  and  ordered  village  officials  to 
capture  Sikhs  and  hand  them  over  for 
execution.  A  graded  scale  of  rewards  was  laid 
down-  a  blanket  for  cutting  off  Sikh's  hair,  ten 
rupees  for  information  about  the  whereabouts 
of  a  Sikh,  fifty  rupees  for  a  Sikh  scalp.  Plunder 
of  Sikh  homes  was  made  lawful ;  giving  shelter 
to  Sikhs  or  withholding  information  about 
their  movements  was  made  a  capital  offence. 
Zakariya  Khan's  police  consisting  of  nearly 
20,000  men  especially  recruited  for  this 
purpose,  scoured  the  countryside  and  brought 
back  hundreds  of  Sikhs  in  chains.  Prominent 
Sikhs  including  the  revered  Bhai  Man!  Singh 
and  Bhai  Ta.ru  Singh  were,  after  the  severest 
of  torments,  publicly  oeheaded  at  the  Nakhas. 
the  horse-market  of  Lahore,  renamed  by  Sikhs 
Shahidgahj  in  honour  of  the  martyrs.  Yet 
Zakariya  Khan  remained  unsuccessful  in  his 
object  of  vanquishing  the  Sikhs.  He  died  at 
Lahore  on  1  July  1745  a  dispirited  man, 
bequeathing  to  his  sons  and  successors  chaos 
and  confusion. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Bhangu,  Ratan  Singh,  Prachin  Panth  Prakash. 
Amritsar,  1914 

2.  Gian  Singh,  GianI,  Twarikh  Guru  Khalsa.  Patiala, 
1970 

3.  Ganda  Singh,  Sardar  Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia. 
Patiala,  1969 

4.  Gupta,  Hari  Ram,  History  of  the  Sikhs,  vol.  rV. 
Delhi,  1982 

5.  Gandhi,  Surjit  Singh,  Struggle  of  the  Sikhs  for 
Sovereignty.  Delhi,  1980 

6.  Bhagat  Singh,  Sikh  Polity  in  the  Eighteenth  and 
Nineteenth  Centuries.  Delhi,  1978 

B.S. 

ZINDAGl  NAMAH,  a  book  of  pious  poetry  in 
Persian  by  Bhai  Nand  Lai  Goya,  an  honoured 
Sikh  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  whose  name 
continues  to  be  remembered  with  affection 
and  esteem.  A  distinction  which  uniquely 
belongs  to  him  is  that  his  verse  can  be  sung 


ZINDAGINAMAH 


460 


ZOBEIR  RAHAMA 


along  with  Scriptural  hymns  at  Sikh  religious 
divans,  an  exception  made  only  in  one  other 
case,  viz.  that  of  Bhai  Gurdas.  The  Zindagi 
Namah  is  believed  to  be  Nand  Lai's  first  work 
of  poetry  which  he  wrote  after  he  had  shifted 
to  Anandpur  to  join  the  Guru.  As  the  tradition 
goes,  Bhai  Nand  Lai  had  originally  titled  the 
book  Bandagi  Namah  (Book  of  Prayer)  but  at 
the  suggestion  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh  whom 
he  presented  the  manuscript  and  who  read  it 
with  admiration,  it  was  renamed  Zindagi 
Namah  (Book  of  Life).  The  poet  himself  states 
in  couplet  498  that  the  work  derives  its  name 
from  being  full  of  the  nectar  of  life.  The  poem 
which  comprises  510  couplets  was,  according 
to  the  poet,  written  so  as  to  familiarize  man 
with  the  Divine  mystery  (497) .  It  is  a  portrayal 
of  the  enlightened  souls  which  will  serve  to 
edify  those  who  go  through  it  (501). 

At  places  the  verses  seem  to  echo  those  in 
die  Guru  Granth  Sahib.  God  is  described  as  the 
Creator  of  the  universe  and  as  one  who  has 
imparted  life  to  all  creatures  (1).  The  human 
body  is  the  temple  of  God  lit  with  His  light 
(55).  Since  God  dwells  in  every  heart,  we 
should  respect  all  human  beings  (81).  He  who 
wishes  to  gain  proximity  to  the  Supreme  Being 
must  seek  the  help  of  the  true  Guru  (440).  The 
true  Guru  treats  (sick)  hearts  and  leads  men  to: 
hav  their  desires  fulfilled  (454).  Man  is  the 
owner  of  the  invaluable  treasure  (of  a  Divine 
particle  in  the  form  of  his  soul)  within  him,  but 
remains  ignorant  of  it.  If  he  takes  to  the  right 
path  which  only  the  saints  can  show,  he  should 
be  able  to  unlock  the  door  and  take  possession 
of  the  treasure  (164-70).  Only  a  true  and  perfect 
Guru  can  unravel  to  man  all  the  mysteries  of 
•  God  and  help  him  acquire  everlasting  felicity 
(394).  There  are  several  couplets  in  praise  of 
satsang,  the  assembly  of  the  holy,  and  of  the 
Guru.  The  company  of  the  holy  creates  in  the 
human  mind  the  love  of  God  (129).  Man  is 
adjured  to  end  all  duality  and  constantly  to 
remember  His  name  (504).  The  concluding 
couplets  (505-10)  are  an  invocation  to  the 
Supreme  Lord,  the  poet  seeking  His  blessing 


for  himself  and  for  all  mankind. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ganda  Singh,  ed.,  Bhai  Nand  Lai  Granthavali. 
Malacca  (Malaya),  1968 

D.S. 

ZOBEIR  RAHAMA  (1830-1913),  Egyptain 
pasha  and  Sudanese  governor  whose  name  is 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  campaign 
for  the  restoration  of  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh 
to  the  throne  of  the  Punjab,  was  a  member  of 
a  family  which  claimed  descent  from  the 
Quraish  tribe  through  'Abbas,  uncle  of 
Muhammad.  He  was  a  leading  ivory  and  slave 
trader  on  the  White  Nile.  Nominally  a  subject 
of  Egypt,  he  raised  an  army  of  several  thousand 
well-armed  blacks  and  became  a  dangerous 
rival  10  the  Egyptian  authorities.  He 
participated  on  the  side  of  the  Turks  in  the 
Russo-Turkish  war  of  1877.  Because  of  the 
influence  he  commanded  in  international 
affairs,  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh  on  his  return 
to  Europe  from  Aden  in  1886  sought  to  enlist 
his  support.  His  agent,  Abdul  Rasul  Kashmiri, 
met  Zobeir  in  Cairo.  Zobeir  attracted  the  notice 
of  the  Government  of  India  who  in  1 888  sent 
two  of  its  agents-  Munshi  'Aziz  ud-Din  andjasvant 
Singh  called  "father  of  the  turban"  by  Zobeir 
on  account  of  his  unwieldy  turban-to  Cairo 
posing  as  friends  of  the  Maharaja.  That  was 
the  time  of  the  decline  of  Zobeir.  All  his  property 
had  been  confiscated  and  he  was  living  in  a 
house  near  the  railway  station  in  Cairo. 
Though  allowed  personal  freedom  he  was 
carefully  watched  and  his  movements  restricted. 
The  only  names  from  among  Duleep  Singh's 
friends  in  India  he  remembered  were  those  of 
Baba  Khem  Singh  Bedi  and  some  chiefs  near 
Firozpur  (presumably  the  Raja  of  Faridkot)- 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Ganda  Singh,  ed.,    History  of  the  Freedom 
Movement  in  the  Panjab  (Maharaja  Duleep 
Singh  Correspondence).  Patiala,  1972 

K.S.T. 


ZORAWAR  SINGH 


461 


ZORAWAR  SINGH 


ZORAWAR  SINGH  ( L696-1 705) ,  the  third  son 
of  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  was  born  to  Mata  Jltoji 
at  Anandpur  on  17  November  1696,  and  was 
barely  nine  years  old  at  the  time  of  the 
evacuation  of  Anandpur  on  the  night  of  5-6 
December  1705.  Since  the  death,  on  5 
December  1700,  of  Mata  Jitoji,  Mata  Gujari, 
his  grandmother  had  been  especially  attached 
to  young  Zorawar  Singh  and  his  infant  brother, 
Fateh  Singh.  She  took  charge  of  both  as  the 
column  moved  out  of  Anandpur.  While 
crossing  on  horseback  the  rivulet  Sarsa,  then 
in  spate,  the  three  were  separated  from  Guru 
Gobind  Singh.  Their  cook,  Garigu,  who  had 
also  succeeded  in  crossing  the  stream,  escorted 
them  to  his  own  house  in  the  village  of  Kheri, 
now  known  as  Saheri,  near  Morinda  in  present- 
day  Ropar  district.  While  unsaddling  the  horse 
he  saw  that  there  was  some  cash  in  the 
saddlebag.  This  tempted  him  to  treachery.  He 
not  only  stole  the  saddlebag  during  the  night, 
but  also  planned  to  betray  the  fugitives  to  the 
government  in  hope  of  a  reward.  On  the 
morning  of  7  December  1705,  the  day  of  the 
fateful  battle  of  Chamkaur,  Zorawar  Singh, 
along  with  Fateh  Singh  and  their  grandmother, 
was  taken  into  custody  by  Jam  Khan  and  Man! 
Khan  Rarighar,  the  officials  at  Morinda.  They 
were  despatched  on  the  following  day  to 
Sirhind  where  they  were  consigned  to  the  Cold 
Tower  (Thanda  Burj)  of  the  Fort.  On  9 
December  1705,  Zorawar  Singh  and  Fateh 
Singh  were  produced  before  the  faujdar, 
Nawab  Wazir  Khan,  who  hadjust  returned  from 
Chamkaur  with  his  feudal  ally,  Nawab  Sher 
Muhammad  Khan  of  Malerkotla.  Wazir  Khan 
tried  to  lure  the  Sahibzadas  to  embrace  Islam 
with  promises  of  riches  and  honours,  but  they 
spurned  the  suggestion.  He  then  threatened 
them  with  death,  but  they  remained 
undaunted.  Death  sentence  was  finally 
pronounced.  Upon  Sher  Muhammad  Khan's 
intercession  for  the  innocent  children  to  be 
spared  their  lives,  they  were  given  some  more 
time  to  ponder  over  the  suggestion  to  convert. 
Zorawar  Singh  and  his  brother  spent  another 


two  days  of  severe  winter  in  their  old 
grandmother's  lap  in  the  Cold  Tower.  Still 
adamant,  they  were,  on  11  December  1705, 
ordered  to  be  sealed  alive  in  a  wall.  According 
to  tradition,  as  the  masonry  around  their 
tender  bodies  reached  chest-high,  it  crumbled. 
The  Sahibzadas  were  sent  to  the  Cold  Tower 
again  for  the  night.  The  next  day,  1 2  December 
1705,  the  alternative  of  conversion  being  again 
turned  down,  Zorawar  Singh  and  Fateh  Singh 
were  put  to  death  by  execution.  The  aged  Mata 
Gujari,  who  had  all  along  been  kept  in  the  Cold 
Tower,  only  a  little  distance  away,  breathed  her 
last  as  the  news  reached  her  ears.  Seth  Todar 
Mall,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Sirhind, 
performed  the  cremation  of  the  three  dead 
bodies  the  following  day.  The  site  of  the  fateful 
happenings,  since  christened  Fatehgarh  Sahib, 
close  to  the  old  town  of  Sirhind,  is  now  marked 
by  four  Sikh  shrines.  A  religious  fair  is  held 
here  from  25  to  28  December  every  year  to 
honour  the  memory  of  the  martyrs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Kuir  Singh,  Gurbilas  Patshahi  10.  Patiala,  1968 

2.  Chhibbar,  Kesar  Singh,  Barisavaiihama  Dasan 
Patshahiaii  Ka,  ed.  Rattan  Singh  Jaggi. 
Chandigarh,  1972 

3.  Sainapati,  Sri  Gur  Sohha,  ed.  Ganda  Singh. 
Patiala,  1967 

4.  Gian  Singh,  Giani,  Panth  Prakash.  Delhi,  1880 

5.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  Char  Sahibzade.  Patiala, 
1970 

S.S.A. 

ZORAWAR  SINGH  (1786-1841),  military 
general  who  conquered  Ladakh  and  Baltistan 
in  the  Sikh  times  and  carried  the  Khalsa  flag  as 
far  as  the  interior  of  Tibet.  About  Zorawar 
Singh's  place  of  birth  authorities  differ.  Major 
G.  Carmichael  Smyth,  A  Reigning  Family  of 
Lahore,  says  that  he  was  a  native  of  Kussai, 
near  Riasi,  now  in  Jammu  and  Kashmir  state. 
Hutchison  and  Vogel  have  recorded  that  he 
was  a  native  of  Kahlur  (Bilaspur)  state,  now  in 
Himachal  Pradesh.  A  modern  writer  Narsihg 


ZO  RAWAR  SINGH 


462 


ZORAWAR  SINGH 


Das  Nargis,  on  the  basis  of  information 
supplied  to  him  by  a  great  grandson  of  Zorawar 
Singh,  states  in  his  book  Zorawar  Singh  that 
he  was  born  in  a  Rajput  family  about  AD  1786 
in  the  village  of  Ansora,  in  Kahgra  district.  It 
is  stated  that  when  16,  Zorawar  Singh  killed 
his  cousin  in  a  dispute  over  property  and 
escaped  to  Haridvar,  where  he  met  Rana 
Jasvant  Singh,  who  took  him  to  Galihan,  now 
known  as  Doda,  near  Jammu,  and  trained  him 
as  a  soldier.  He  joined  service  under  Gulab 
Singh  Dogra, 

Gulab  Singh  employed  Zorawar  Singh 
mostly  for  defending  the  forts  to  the  north  of 
Jammu.  For  some  time  he  also  worked  as  an 
inspector  in  commissariat  of  supplies  where  he 
did  a  commendable  job  by  effecting  a  saving 
in  the  much-needed  provisions  about  1823. 
When  Raja  Gulab  Singh,  the  feudatory  chief 
of  Jammu  under  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh,  was 
appointed  governor  of  Kishtvar,  he  appointed 
Zorawar  Singh  to  administer  the  new  district 
with  the  title  of  wazir.  In  Kishtvar,  Zorawar 
Singh  introduced  fiscal  and  judicial  reforms 
and  had  the  old  fort  of  Kishtvarl  rulers 
renovated.  From  here  he  led  several 
expeditions  into  Ladakh.  the  first  one  in  the 
series  in  July  1834.  From  Kishtvar,  the  D  ras 
entered  the  Sum  valley.  After  fighting  pitched 
battles  at  places  such  as  Sariku,  Lahgkartse, 
Kantse,  Sot  and  Pashkam,  the  invaders  pushed 
on  to  Leh,  the  capital  of  Ladakh.  The  Ladakhi 
king,  Tse-pal  Namgyal,  was  made  to  pay  war 
indemnity.  He  also  undertook  to  pay  an  annual 
tribute  of  Rs  20,000  and  acknowledged  the 
suzerainty  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh.  The 
Ladakhis.  however,  soon  rose  in  revolt  against 
their  new  masters  and  Zorawar  Singh  launched 
a  second  attack.  This  time  he  followed  the  short 
but  difficult  Kishtvar-Zahskar  route.  He  quelled 
the  rebellion,  deposed  the  old  king  and 
appointed  his  prime  minister  and  brother-in- 
law,  Nagorub  Stanzin,  as  the  new  ruler  of 
Ladakh.  But  Zorawar  Singh  had  to  make  two 
more  incursions  before  Ladakh  was  annexed 
to  the  Sikh  kingdom  in  1840.  The  same  year, 


Zorawar  Singh  attacked  Baltistan,  a 
Muhammadan  principality  in  the  Indus  valley, 
to  the  northwest  of  Kargil.  He  defeated  the 
Baltis  and  deposed  Ahmad  Shah,  whose  eldest 
son,  Muhammad  Shah,  was  installed  as  the  new 
king  of  Baltistan.  Zorawar  Singh  next  turned 
his  attention  towards  western  Tibet.  The 
conquest  of  Tibet  was  an  ambition  he  had 
harboured  in  his  heart  for  some  time  and,  as 
Sohan  Lai  Suri,  the  court  chronicler  of  the  Sikh 
times,  records,  this  was  the  suggestion  he 
proffered  to  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh  when  he 
in  March  1836  waited  on  him  at  the  village  of 
Jandiala  Sher  Khan  to  pay  nazarana.  He  told 
the  Maharaja  that  he  was  ready  to  "kindle  the 
fires  of  fighting"  and  "by  the  grace  of  ever 
triumphant  glory  of  the  Maharaja,  he  would 
take  possession  of  it."  The  Maharaja,  however, 
was  not  willing  to  allow  him  to  undertake  the 
adventure.  Zorawar  Singh  had  his  chance  in 
the  time  of  Ranjit  Singh's  successor,  Maharaja 
Sher  Singh.  In  April  1841,  by  which  time  the 
conquest  of  Ladakh  had  been  completed,  he 
marched  into  Tibet  at  the  head  of  a  large  army 
and  within  six  months  had  conquered  territory 
to  the  north  west  of  the  Mayyum  Pass.  But  then 
a  strong  Tibetan  army  descended  down  from 
Lhasa  and  confronted  the  invaders  at 
Tirthapuri,  near  Lake  Manasarovar.  Zorawar 
Singh  could  get  no  reinforcements  from  Leh 
or  from  any  other  place  as  heavy  snows  had 
blocked  all  the  passes.  He  fought  many  a 
pitched  action  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake 
Manasarovar  and  was  killed  in  the  last  one  of 
these  on  12  December  1841.  Although  this 
great  conqueror  perished  mid-campaign,  his 
initiative  did  not  go  unrewarded.  In  September 
1842  a  treaty  was  signed  by  representatives  of 
Chinese  and  Lhasa  governments  on  the  one 
hand  and  of  Khalsa  Darbar  and  Gulab  Singh 
on  the  other  which  extended  the  Sikh,  and 
hence  Indian,  frontiers  to  their  present 
international  boundary.  The  whole  of  Ladakh 
thus  became  a  part  of  the  Indian  territory.  An 
English  version  of  the  treaty  is  as  follows  : 
As  on  this  auspicious  day,  the  2nd  of  Assuj 


ZORAWAR  SINGH 


463 


ZORAWAR  SINGH  PALIT 


samvat  1899  (16th/17th  September  1842) 
we,  the  officers  of  the  Lhasa 
(Government),  Kalon  of  Sokan  and 
Bakshi  Shajpuh,  commander  of  the 
forces,  and  two  officers  on  behalf  of  the 
most  resplendent  Sri  Khalsa  ji  Sahib,  the 
asylum  of  the  world,  King  Sher  Singh  ji, 
and  Sri  Maharaja  Sahib  Raja-i-Rajagan 
Raja  Sahib  Bahadur  Raja  Gulab  Singh, 
i.e..  the  Muktar-ud-Daula  Diwan  Hart 
Chand  and  the  asylum  of  vizirs,  Vizir 
Ratnuii,  in  a  meeting  called  together  for 
the  promotion  of  peace  and  unity,  and 
by  professions  and  vows  of  friendship, 
unity  and  sincerity  of  heart  and  by  taking 
oaths  like  those  of  Kunjak  Sahib,  have 
arranged  and  agreed  that  relations  of 
peace,  friendship  and  unity  between  Sri 
Khalsaji  and  Sri  Maharaja  Sahib  Bahadur 
Raja  Gulab  Singh  ji,  and  the  Emperor  of 
China  and  the  Lama  Guru  of  Lhasa  will 
henceforward  remain  firmly  established 
forever  ;  and  we  declare  in  the  presence 
of  the  Kunjak  Sahib  that  on  no  account 
whatsoever  will  there  be  any  deviation, 
difference  of  departure  (from  this 
agreement).  We  shall  neither  at  present 
nor  in  future  have  anything  to  do  or 
interfere  at  all  with  the  boundaries  of 
Ladakh  and  its  surroundings  as  fixed  from 
ancient  times  and  will  allow  the  annual 
export  of  wool,  shawls  and  tea  by  way  of 
Ladakh  according  to  the  old  established 
custom. 

Should  any  of  the  opponents  of  Sri  Sarkar 
Khalsa  ji  and  Sri  Raja  Sahib  Bahadur  at 
any  time  enter  our  territories,  we  shall 
not  pay  any  heed  to  his  words  or  allow 
him  to  remain  in  our  country. 
We  shall  offer  no  hindrance  to  traders  of 
Ladakh  who  visit  our  territories.  We  shall 
not  even  to  the  extent  of  a  hair's  breadth 
act  in  contravention  of  the  terms  that  we 
have  agreed  to  above  regarding  firm 
friendship,  unity,  the  fixed  boundaries  of 
Ladakh  and  the  keeping  open  of  the 


route  for  wool,  shawls  and  tea.  We  call 
Kunjak  Sahib,  Kairi,  Lassi,  Zhon  Mahan, 
and  Khushal  Chon  as  witnesses  to  this 
treaty. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Suri,  Sohan  Lai,  '  Umdat-ut-Twarikh.  Lahore, 
1885-89 

2.  Hutchison,  J.,  and  J.Ph.  Vogel,  History  of  the 
Punjab  Hill  States.  Lahore,  1933 

3.  Charak,  Sukhdev  Singh,  Indian  Conquest  of  the 
Himalayan  Territories.  Pathankot,  1978 

4.  Smyth,  G.  Carmichael,  A  History  of  the  Reigning 
Family  of  Lahore.  Calcutta,  1847 

5.  Hasrat,  Biramajit,  Anglo-Sikh  Relations,  1799- 
1849.  Hoshiarpur,  1968 

C.L.D. 

ZORAWAR  SINGH  PALIT  (d.  1708),  generally 
known  as  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  adopted  son, 
was  born  to  Bhai  Natthu,  a  carpenter  of  Bassi 
Pathanah,  near  Sirhind.  His  mother,  Mai 
Bhikkhi,  served  in  the  Guru's  household  at 
Anandpur,  where  the  boy  spent  his  early 
childhood,  too.  He  was  about  the  same  age  as 
the  Guru's  third  son,  Zorawar  Singh,  and  both 
of  them  were  playmates.  Once  he  defeated  his 
Sahibzada  in  a  friendly  wresding  bout  in  the 
presence  of  Guru  Gobind  Singh.  The  Guru 
lovingly  remarked,  "  He,  too,  is  my  Zorawar 
(literally,  strong  or  mighty)  son,  "  and  he 
treated  him  as  such.  The  appellation  persisted 
so  that  his  real  name  is  totally  lost  to  history. 

At  the  time  of  the  evacuation  of 
Anandpur  on  the  night  of  5-6  December  1705, 
he  was  among  those  who  were  able  to  cross 
the  flooded  Sarsa.  He  was  however  stranded 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  rivulet  and  severely 
wounded  in  a  skirmish  near  Malikpur 
Rahghrah.  He  took  shelter  in  Kotia  Nihahg 
Khan  from  where  he  was  conveyed  by  a 
relation  to  the  village  of  Dadheri,  near 
Gobindgarh.  Here  an  old  lady,  Mat  Pupah, 
cleaned  and  dressed  his  wounds.  On  recovery 
he  rejoined  Guru  Gobind  Singh  at  Damdama 
Sahib,  Talvandi  Sabo,  but  returned  to  the  north 


ZORAWARSlNGH  PAL1T 


464 


ZOkAWAR  SINGH  PAl.1T 


before  the  Guru  left  on  his  travels  to  the 
Deccan.  Having  stayed  briefly  at  places  such 
as  Dhattiah,  Dadheri,  Ugarri  and  Bassi,  he 
settled  down  at  Khizrabad,  now  in  Ropar 
district.  But  he  travelled  southwards  again  and 
joined  Guru  Gobind  Singh's  camp  at 
I'tmadpur,  near  Agra.  He  died  along  with  19 
other  Sikhs  in  an  unexpected  skirmish  with 
local  soldiers  near  Chittorgarh  Fort  on  3  April 
1708.  Shrines  commemorating  him  exist  at 
Kotla  Nihahg  Khan,  Dadheri,  Ugani  and 
Khizarabad. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Padam,  Piara  Singh,  and  GianI  Garja  Singh,  eds., 
Guru  Iciari  Sakhian.  Patiala,  1986 

2.  Sainapati,  Sri  Gur  Sobha,  ed.,  Ganda  Singh. 
Patiala,  1967 

3.  Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj 
Granth.  Amritsar,  1927-35 

4.  Chhibbar,  Kesar  Singh,  Bansavalinama  Dasan 
Patshahian  Ka,  ed.,  Rattan  Singh  Jaggi. 
Chandigarh,  1972 

S.S.A. 


INDEX 


Abadan,  II :  46 

Abbotabad,  II :  252;  III :  409,  476 
Abbotsford,  II :  62,  485 

Abbott,  Sir  James,  1 :  1,  36,  171,  421,  447;  II :  378, 
550,  576 

Abchal  Nagar,  1 : 1-2, 194,  212,  219,  273,  324,  327, 
330,  353,  366,  374-75,  380,  488;  II;  277,  283, 
309;  III :  191 

'Abd  ul-Ahad  Khan,  1 :  97,  249,  344;  II :  299,  357, 
439;  III :  119 

'Abd  ul-Hanan,  Mufti,  III :  156 

'Abd  ul-Karim,  IV :  320 

'Abd  ul-Karim  Alvl,  IV :  373 

'Abdulla  Ahrar,  1 :  3 

'Abdulla,  Bhai,  1 :  2  ;  II :  233;  III :  209,  330;  IV : 
407 

'Abdullah  Khan,  III :  490 
'Abdullah  Khwaja,  1 :  2  ;  II :  342 
'AbdulJah  Kilawar,  Qazi,  II :  342 
•Abdullah,  Sayyid,  II :  301 
'Abd  ul-Latif,  IV :  438 
'Abdul  Qadir  Jilani,  1 :  249 
'Abdul  Rasul  Kashmiri,  1 :  2-3 
'Abd  ul-Razak,  III  :156 

'Abd  ur-Rahman,  Qazi,  III :  63;  IV :  266-67,  274 

'Abd  us-Salam,  Mufti,  III :  82 

'Abd  us-Samad  Khan,  1 :  3-4,  70,  207,  255,  400, 

401;  II :  14,  300,  306;  III :  40,  130;  IV:  319, 

327,  459 
Abhai  Pad  Pothi,  III :  85 
Abhai  Ram,  II :  3701 
Abhai/Abhay  Singh,  1 :  237,  461,  529 
Abohar,  1 :  405;  II :  248,  503 
Abu'l  Fazal,  I:  4  ;  II :  504 
Abul  Kalam  Azad,  Maulana,  II :  46;  III :  392 
Achal  Batala,  1 :  4,  28,  343;  II :  397,  502;  HI :  145; 

IV:  2,  124 
Achal  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  1 :  4-5 
Achchhar  Singh,  Jathedar,  1 :  5-7  ;  II :  212;  III :  399 


Adalatgarh,  II :  225;  III :  103 
Adali,  Bhai,  I  :  7,  466 
Adam,  Bhai,  1 :  7 
Adampur,  II  :  141  ;  III :  15 

Addan  Shah,  Bhai,  1 :  7 ;  II :  423;  III :  297,  299,  350; 

IV :  29,  51,  256,  262,  393 
Addan  Shahl  Sabha,  Patiala,  III :  350;  IV :  256 
Aden,  II :  276,  369;  III :  305,  478;  IV :  347,  460 
Adharka,  1 :  7-8  ;  IV :  31 
Adhyatam  Prakzsh,  IV :  262 
Adiala,  IV :  338 

Adi  Granth  —  see  Guru  Granth  Sahib 

Adlna  Beg  Khan,  1 :  8-9,  27,  402;  II :  223,  241,  299, 

355,  358,  401,  463,  495,  505;  III :  50,  107,  130, 

463-64,  504;  IV :  300,  395,  454 
Adinatha,  III :  5 

Adi  Sakhian,  1 :  9-10,  146,  232-33,  384-85;  III :  17, 

412;  IV:  180 
Adit,  1 :  10 
Advaita  Siddhi,  IV :  4 
Advaita  Vedanta,  IV  :10,  56,  361 
Adventures  of  An  Officer  in  the  Punjaub,  1 :  10-11; 

II :  280 

Afghan-Sikh  Relations,  1 :  11-14;  IV:  350 

Afridis,  II :  474 

Aftab-i-Hind  Press,  III :  503 

Aftob-i-Panjab,  1 :  295;  IV :  162,  252,  348 

Agamgarh  Fort,  III :  204 

Agampura,  I ::  14-15,  132;  II :  385 

Agaul,  1 :  15 

Agha  Khan,  III :  44,  45 

Aghar  Singh,  II :  15;  III :  156 

Aghori  -  Aghorpanthi,  1 :  15-17 

Aghoris  vara,  1 :  15 

Agia  Singh  Hakim,  II :  155 

Agnew,  Patrick  Alexander  Vans,  1 :  17,  170,  178;  II : 

1,  412;  III :  143 
Agra,  1 :17-18,  23,  62,  149,  242,  251;  II :  6,  14,  39, 

50,  65,  86,  91,  119,  138,  225,  295,  314-15,  320, 


INDEX 


466 


396,  406-07,  457,  485, 564;  III :  52,  66,  80,  101, 
225,  284-85,  345,  451,  478;  IV :  16,  25,  27,  30, 
83,  127,  274,  331-32,  413,  438,  464 

Agya  Kaur,  Bibi,  1 :  18  ;  IV  :  302 

Agya  Ram,  Bhai,  I  :  18 

Ahaiikar,  I  :  19,  142,  204,  215,  405;  II  :  30-32,  34, 
124 

Ahkam-i-Alamgiri,  I  :  222;  II  :  91 
Ahimsa,  I  :  19-21 
Ahla,  IV :  282 

Ahluvalia  Misl,  II :  33,  281,  355;  III :  23,  95,  96,  98- 
100  ;  also  see  Misls 

Ahmadlyah  Movement,  1 :  21-22  ;  IV  :  206 

Ahmad  Khan  Chattha,  1 :  345 

Ahmad  Khan  Shahahchibashl,  IV  :  100 

Ahmad  Khan  Sial,  1 :  197;  II:  23;  III :  461 

Ahmad  Khan  Sayyal,  Sir,  IV  :  371 

Ahmadnagar,  1 :  222;  II :  90,  91,  375,  526 

Ahmad  Shah  Batalia,  I ;  413;  IV  :  374 

Ahmad  Shah  Durrani,  1 :  22-25,  32,  58,  77,  95,  114, 
149,  249,  344,  402,  403,  413,  417,  443,  494, 
495,  555,  557,  558;  II :  16, 19,  43, 116-17, 119, 
131,  154,  223,  241,  250-51,  265,  279,  323,  34- 
43,  355-56,  359,  363,  401,  446,  448,  462-63, 
505,  525,  541,  545-46,  535;  III  :  50,  51,  95,  96, 
99-101,  103,  106-08,  110,  129-30,  145,  210, 
337,  346,  423,  437-38,  445-,  467,  480,  504,  507, 
511;  IV  :  2,  14,  20,  38,  62,  66,  79,  80,  98,  136- 
38,  166,  169,  173,  195-97,  204,  214,  262,  267, 
276,  299,  300,  311,  319,  327-28,  373-74,  386, 
395-97,  443,  453-54,  458 

Ahmad,  Shaikh,  I  :  25-26;  II  :  320  ;  IV  :  372 

Ahmad  Yar  Khan  Tiwana,  I  :  26 

Ahmedabad,  I  :  485 

Ahraura,  I  :  26-27 

Ahwkl-i-Dina  Beg  Khan,  1 :  27 

Ahwal-i-Firqah-i-Sikkhaii,  1 :  27-28 

Ahwal-i-Lachhman  Das  urf  Banda  Sahib,  1 :  273 

AI  Panth,  I  :  28 

Aitchison  Chief's  College,  Lahore,  III :  17,  305,  359, 

472;  IV:  170,  175-76,  281,  387,  445 
Aiyari,  II  :  375 
Ajab,  Bhai,  I  :  28-29 
Ajab  Singh,  I  :  29  ;  III :  39,  264 
Ajaib,  Bhai,  I  :  29 
Ajaib  Singh,  I  :  29,  III  :  39,  264 


Ajai  Singh,  1 :  274;  II  :  14 

Ajatpanthis,  I  :  29 

Ajat  Sagar,  1 :  29 

Ajk,  III  :  9,  165 

Ajit  Singh  Atari,  II :  244 

Ajit  Singh  (Palit),  I  :  31-32,  37,  417,  455;  II  :  265, 

300;  IV  :  245,  277 
Ajit  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  32-33,  167,  168;  II :  380;  III : 

31;  IV:  95,  221 
Ajit  Singh  (Revolutionary),  I  :  30-31,  316 
Ajit  Singh  Sahibzada,  1 :  31,  33-34,  69,  76,  247,  355, 

430;  II :  90,  203,  235,  307,  402,  530;  III  :  291, 

460;  IV:  143,  277,  380,  420 
Ajit  Singh  Sandhahvalia,  I  :  34-35,  211,  256,  434, 

577;  II  :  465,  543-44;  III  :  307;  IV :  109-13,  259 
Ajitta,  Bhai,  I  :  35,  297,  553;  IV  :  42,  234 
Ajmer,  II  :  12,  159,  166,  207;  III  :  206,  414;  IV :  392 
Ajmer  Chand,  Raja,  I  :  35,  128,  358,  431;  II  :  22, 

307;  III :  479;  IV  :  23,  194,  214,  439 
Ajmer  Singh  (alias  Ibrahim),  1 :  35-36 
Ajnala,  II :  71,  361,  438;  III :  78,  124.  419;  IV :  81, 

206,  280 
Ajneval,  1 :  29 
Ajrana  Kalaii,  1 :  36 

Ajudhia  Parshad,  Diwan,  1 :  36  ;  II  :  547;  W :  435, 
437 

Akal,  I  :  36-38,  55-56,  253,  542  ;  II  :  286,  288,  350, 
432;  III  :  153-54,  159-61,  195,  223,  264;  IV: 
88-90 

Akal,  Bhai,  1 :  38-39 

Akal  Buiiga  (Amritsar)  -  see  Akal  Takht 
Akal  Buriga  (Anandpur),  I  :  132 
Akal  Degree  College,  Mastuana,  IV  :  341 
Akalgarh,  II  :  434;  III :  102,  158,  165,  357,  449;  IV : 
82 

Akalgarh,  Gurdwara,  III  :  146 
Akali,  I  :  39-40,  IV  :  128 

Akali,  I  :  40-41  ;  II  :  227,  274;  III :  37,  502;  IV  :  66, 

164,  229,  280-81,  340 
Akaliaii  di  Chhauni,  1 :  41 
Akali  Dal,  Central,  I  :  41-43,  46,  92 
Akali  Dal,  Khara  Saudi  Bar,  I  :  43;  II  :  481 
Akali  Dal,  Shiromani,  1 :  39,  40,  41,  42,  43-49,  51, 
54,  133,  195,  225,  228-29,  423,  424,  464;  II : 
25-27,  54,  84,  103-04, 143, 188,  213,  227,  253- 
54,  293,  310,  327-28,  353,  361,  363,  430,  452- 


467 


INDEX 


54,  481,  487-88,  514-15,  537,  539  ;  III :  37, 
78,  117,  289,  306,  323,  369,  380,  392-96,  399, 
401,  455,  469,  494-98,  505;  IV :  8,  14,  39,  69, 
87,  108-09,  116-18,  202,  227,  229,  301,  306, 
313-14,  316-17,  334-35,  342,  346,  381,  383 

Akali  Movement,  1 :  49-53;  II :  154,  188,  310;  II : 
367,  309,  380;  III :  1 17, 126;  also  see  Gurdwara 
Reform  Movement 

Akall  Sahayak  Bureau,  1 :  53-55 

Akali  Shihidi  Dal,  1 :  475 

Akal  Takht  1 :  38,  39,  44,  50,  51,  56-60,  111-12,  288, 
328,  329,  350,  413,  423,  453,  475,  495,  511; 
II:  192,  211,  240-41,  247,  253;  III:  40,  156, 
305;  IV  :  8,  64,  65,  68,  86,  115,  137,  147,  245, 
247,  249,  254,  278,  301,  305-06,  334,  336-37, 
346,  359,  383,  424,  432 

Akal  Ustati,  I  :  9,  37,  39  60-61,  217,  516;  II  :  88, 
386;  III :  258,  450 

Akar,  I  :  61 

Akarpura,  IV  :  334-35 

Akbar.Jalal  ud-DIn  Muhammad,  1 :  62,  79,  88,  108, 
191-92,  268,  346,  412,  438,  484;  II :  138,  158, 
208,  239,  320,  448,  504,  545;  III :  29, 148,  451; 
IV:  38,  135,  174,  196,  213,  288 

Akbar  Khan,  Muhammad,  1 :  62-63;  II :  252;  III :  7 

Akbarpur  Khudal,  1 :  63 

Akhand  Path,  1 :  63-64;  II :  127,  152,  327-29,  523; 

III  :  20,  253,  317;  IV:  38,173,  248,  279,  306, 

443 
Akhara,  I  :  64 

Akh barat-i-Deorh i-i-Mah ara/a  Ranjit  Singh,  I  :  64- 
67 

Akhbarat-i-Singhan,  1 :  67-68 

Akhbar  Darbar  Lahore,  I  :  68 

Akhbar-i-Darbar-i-Maharaja  Ranjh  Singh,  1 :  68-69 

Akhbar-i-Darbai-i-Mu  'alia,  1 :  69-70 

Akhbar  Ludhiana,  I  :  71 

Akhbar  Sri  Darbar  Sahib,  IV  :  162 

Akhnur,  II  :  120,  262,  429;  III  :  81,  129;  IV :  324 

Akil  Das,  I  :  71-73 

Akol,  I  :  73 

Akola,  IV  :  65 

Akora,  I  :  290;  II  :  21,  324;  IV  :  183,  448 
Akram  Beg,  Mirza,  IV  :  452 
Akram  Khan,  I  :  174 
Akul,  Bhai,  I  :  73-74 


A/ahniari,  1 :  74-75 
Alam,  IV :  426 

Alam  Chand,  1 :  75;  II :  391;  IV  :  380 
Alam  Chand  Handa,  1 :  75,  232;  II :  416 
Alamgir,  1 :  75-76;  II :  392;  III :  120,  511 
'Alamgir  II,  Emperor,  IV  :  197,  300 
Alam  Khan,  1 :  75,  242,  244 
Alam  Khan  Ruhila,  1 :  486 
Alampur,  I  :  76 

Alam  Singh  Nachna,  1 :  76,  148,  408;  III :  264 
Ala  Singh,  Baba,  1 :  12, 13,  76-78,  95,  233,  299,  311, 
404,  451,  558,  588;  II :  16,  18,  19,  130-31,  251, 
392,  429,  435;  III :  100,  105-06,  204,  300-01, 
317-19,  436,  438,  51 1;  IV  :  138,  166,  169,  172, 
176,  214,  300,  373,  408,  458 
Ala  ud-DIn  Khilji,  1 :  229;  II :  165,  526 
Alexander,  alias  Muhammad  Sadiq,  1 :  78 
Alif  Khan,  1 :  78,  221;  II :  89,  512;  III :  155,  371;  IV  : 
23,  262 

'Aligarh,  II :  39,  48,  435,  439,  502;  IV :  8,  65,  196- 
97,  371 

'Aligarh  Movement,  IV  :  206 
'Aligarh  Muslim  University,  II :  502 
'AH  Haider,  1 :  283 
'Alim,  I  :  78 

'All  Mardan  Khan,  IV  :  374 

'AH,  Muhammad,  I  :  51,  54 

'All  Muhammad  Khan  Ruhila,  I  :  77;  III :  511 

'Alipur,  I  :  29,  118;  IV  :  95,  380 

'AH,  Shaukat,  I  :  51,  54 

'AH  Sher,  1 :  78-79 

AH  Singh,  I  :  79,  273 

'Ali  ud-Din,  IV  :  443 

'Alival,  I  :  308,  399;  II  :  107,  229,  562;  III  :6,  10,  488; 

IV:  184,  221,  320-21 
Allahabad,  1 :  79,  209,  272,  448,  475,  505  ;  II  :  123, 

299,  309,  431,  450,  457,  493,  504,  534;  III  : 

35,  51,  92,  236-38,  248,  344,  447,  467,  472  ; 

IV  :  107-08,  197,  218,  329,  360,  388 
Allahdad  Khan,  I  :  79-80 
Allard,  Achille,  1 :  80 
Allard,  Bannou  Pan  Dei,  I  :  80-81 
Allard,  Benjamin,  I  :  81 

Allard,  Jean  Francois,  I  :  36,  64,  80,  81-83,  143,  144, 
197,  198,  109,  598;  II  :  7,  101',  104,  285,  412. 
547-48  ;  III :  485;  IV  :  425,  441 


INDEX 


468 


Allayar,  1 :  83 

All-India  Akali  Conference  (1944),  III :  370 

All-India  An  ti-Untouchability  League  (1907),  1 : 396 

All-India  Bhatra  Union  (1943),  1 :  351 

All-India  Kisan  Conference,  II :  366 

All-India  Muslim  Conference,  IV :  388-89 

All-India  Ragi  Conference,  II :  367 

All-India  Sikh  League,  1 :  42;  II :  334 

All-India  States  People's  Conference,  III :  276-78 

All-India  States  Subjects  Conference  1928, 1 :  329 

All-Parties  Conference  (1928),  1 :  83-85,  471 

All-Parties  Sikh  Conference,  1 :  475 

All-Sikh  Conference,  1 :  475 

Almast,  Bhai,  1 :  85-86,  268,  412,  564;  III :  185,  209; 

IV :  377-78 
Alo  Harakh,  1 :  86 
Alsun,  1 :  86-87 
Alvarine,  I  :  87 

Alvars,  1 :  335;  II :  516;  III :  88 

Amar  Das,  Guru,  1 :  18,  62,  73,  83,  87-89,  91,  96, 
108,  119, 121-22, 127, 142, 148, 188,  203,  253, 
257,  261,  268,  282,  293,  296,  310,  328,  339, 
346,  351,  352,  353,  355,  373,  406,  412,  451, 
504,  604,  606  ;  II :  51,  52,  55,  58,  86,  95-99, 
104, 110,  111,  138, 168-77, 180, 195,201,239, 
265,  272,  375,  392,  4p3,  418,  430-32,  491-92, 
496,  517,  565,  573;  III :  4,  8,  16, 17,  21,  22,  27, 
28,  38,  42,  46,  61,  64,  68,  79,  112,  121,  138, 
147,  162-63,  179,  190,  207-08,  231,  273,  295, 
303,  328,  331,  336,  348^9,  372,  384,  431-32, 
488-59,  473,  478;  IV :  1,  5,  15,  24,  27,  34,  43, 
48.  70,  82,  94,  114,  126,  150,  152-53,  194,  196, 
215-16,  222,  233,  238-40,  244,  252,  266,  272, 
319,  323,  343,  349-50,  362,  368-69,  384,  393- 
94,  398-99,  407,  416,  418,  420,  427,  443 

— founding  of  Amritsar,  1 :  88 

— Compositions,  1 :  89 

Amargarh,  I  :  89 

Amar  Katha,  1 :  89-91 

Amar  Kosh,  IV  :  297,  376 

Amarkot,  1 :  62;  IV  :  225 

Amar  Nath,  Diwan,  1 :  91  ;  II :  298;  III :  486;  IV : 

218,  452-53 
Amar  Nath,  Pandit,  IV  :  455 

Amaro,  Bibi,  I  :  87,  91,  146,  296;  II :  134,  472,  500 
Amar  Pad,  I  :  91-92 


Amar  Siddhu,  1 :  92 

Amar  Singh  Ambalvi,  IV  :  178 

Amar  Singh  (Jhabal) ,  1 :  45,  84,  93-94,  423,  425  ; 

II :  360,  375;  III :  124;  IV  :  66,  201 
Amar  Singh  Khalsa,  Bhai,  IV  :  392 
Amar  Singh  Majithia,  1 :  94 

Amar  Singh  Majithia  (Khurd),  I :  94  ;  II :  143,  411; 

III  :  20 
Ama?  Singh  Man  1 :  94-95 

Amar  Singh,  Raja,  of  Patiala,  1 :  95,  249,  299;  II : 
19,  45,  132,  299,  357,  505,  561;  III :  106,  110, 
146,  204,  318,  341;  IV :  3,  22,  138,  169,  407-08 
Amar  Singh,  Raja,  of  Punchh,  1 :  449,  558 
Amar  Singh  Sher-i-Punjab,  1 :  6,  42,  43,  92-93;  II : 

476;  III :  309 
Amar  Singh  (Singhpuria)  rV  :  81,  208 
Amar  Singh  Thapa,  1 :  95-96, 196,  363;  II :  284;  III : 
483 

Amar  Singh  Wasu,  I  :  96 

Amaru,  Bhai,  1 :  96-97,  324;  III :  473 

Amavas,  I  :  97 

Ambala,  I  :  97-99,  164-65,  167,  171,  179,  229,  236, 
380,  403,  470,  538;  II :  1,  65,  107,  127,  224, 
249,  235,  273,  277,  315,  323,  361,  396,  457, 
477,  479,  523,  553,  568,  574-76;  III :  9,  102, 
104-05,  119,. 129,  199,  250,  301,  380-81,  436, 
478;  IV  :  93,  165,  213,  269,  326,  330,  332,  433 

Amba  Prasad,  Sufi,  1 :  30 

Amb  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II  :  565 

Amber,  II  :  91,  325,  504;  III :  69,  444,  471;  IV  :  331 

Ambi,  Mai,  III :  336 

American  Missionary  Press,  Ludhiana,  I  :  71 

Amherst,  Lord,  I  :  230,  310;  III*:  128;  IV :  182 

Amia,  Bhai,  I  :  99 

Amin,  1 :  374;  II :  408;  III  :  91,  464 

—Battle  of,  1 :  374 

Amingarh,  rV :  310 

Amin  Khan  Bahadur,  1 :  70,  151;  II :  300 
Amir  Chand,  I  :  99-100  ;  II :  408  * 
Amir  Khan,  Nawab,  1 :  290;  III :  471 
Amir  Nasir  Khan,  I  :  24 
Amir  Singh,  Akali,  I  :  100 
Amir  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  325 
Amir  Singh,  Giani,  1 :  100  ;  II :  77,  195,  322 
Amir  Singh  Sandhahvalia,  I  :  100-01,  211,  409;  II  : 
542 


469 


INDEX 


Amir  Singh  (Sheikhupura),  II :  69 
Amir  ul-Imla,  1 :  101-02 

Amloh,  II :  45,  221,  323,  427;  III :  96,  105-07,  156; 

IV:  80,  171-72 
Amolak  Singh,  I  •  248;  II :  463 
Amrik  Singh,  I :  ?48;  II :  463 

Ararik  Singh  (AISSF),  1 :  332;  II :  353;  IV  :  178,  423 
Amrik  Singh  (of  Maghiana),  I  :  102 
Amrit,  1 :  102-03;  II :  352,  385,  466,  519;  III :  20, 
263-66,  283 

Amrita  Sher-Gil,  1 :  103-07  ;  II :  399;  IV  :  289,  387 
Amritdhari,  1 :  107-08;  II :  484,  IV  :  204 
Amrit  Rai,  1 :  108  ;  IV  :  426 
Amrit  Sariskar  -  see  Pahul 

Amritsar,  1 :  30,  31,  108-16, 179,  185,  189,  197,  201, 
208,  216,  223,  235,  253,  258,  260,  268,  280, 
294,  316,  347,  348, '351,  374,  378,  385,  387, 
401-02,  413,  419,  426,  442,  444,  453,  455,  459, 
461,  466,  476,  488,  501,  509,  560,  579,  582, 
588;  II :  2-4,  7,  25,  42-43,  46,  48-51,  57,  65,  69, 
71,  77,  79,  81,  83,  94,  98,  105-06,  109,  113, 
115-16,  118-19,  121-25,  128,  130-31,  133,  135, 
163,  178,  193,  205,  227,  233-34,  2381-41,  244, 
248,  267,  272,  277,  283,  290,  311,  322,  325- 
26,  332-34,  343,  351-55,  358,  360,  363-64,  372, 
374-75,  386-87,  389-91,  393-95,  399,  409,  416, 
428-30,  435,  438-40,  451-52,  461,  468,  479-  82, 
487,  501,  503-04,  512-14,  526,  533,  538,  555- 
56,  563,  565,  567;  III :  1, 11,  20-25,  36,  39,  40, 
48,  49,  63,  76,  78,  84,  94-97,  100-02,  107-09, 
112, 115, 122, 130, 143, 156,  202-03,  213,  224, 
239,  267,  269-70,  284-86,  301,  304-06,  312-15, 
337-43,  353,  358-59,  368,  379-81,  403,  417, 
419,  436,  449,  463,  . 466-67,  481-83,  488,  492, 
501,  575;  IV:  3,  9,  14,  22,  46,  51,  53,  54,  59, 
97, 100, 109, 114, 118, 137, 146, 153, 165, 177, 
193,  204,  206,  210,  222,  227-29,  240-43,  252, 
254, 261, 263, 267-68, 272-73, 281-82, 288, 290, 
300,  309,  313,  315,  321,  329,  331,  333,  337, 
348,  350-51,  355,  360,  374,  378-79,  381,  386, 
394,  405,  408,  424,  426-28,  441 

—Treaty  of,  1 :  169,  230 

Amritsar  Khalsa  Piwan  -  see  Khalsa  Biwan  Amritsar 
Amritsar  Singh  Sabha,  IV :  168 
Amrit  Vela,  I  :  116-17 
Amsterdam,  IV :  445 


Anabhi,  1 :  117 

Anahata  -  Sabda,  1 :  117-18 

Anak  Singh,  1 :  118 

Anand,  1 :  118-19,  120,  142;  II :  151,  174,  217;  III : 

263,  265,  281,  317,  431 
Anand,  Baba,  1 :  119,  II :  98;  IV :  274 
Anandgarh,  1 :  355;  II :  346;  III :  238 
Anandghana,  Swami,  I  :  119-20  ;  II  :  10,  53,  212; 

IV :  52,  354 

Anand  Karaj,  1 :  120-26,  265;  II ;  151-52,  482,  569; 

III :  44,  144 
Anand  Karaj  Sathan,  Gurdwara,  II :  207 
Anand  Marriage  Bill/ Act,  1 :  121,  126-28  ;  463  :  II : 

415,  488;  III :  502;  IV :  210 
Anandpur,  1 :  128-33,  202,  221,  224,  245,  246,  248, 

302,  305,  346,  348,  358,  366,  409,  429,  431, 

433,  447,  508,  540,  572,  584,  587,  591;  II :  15, 
24,  88-90,  92,  118-19,  130,  136-37,  145,  153, 
155, 192,  204,  206-07,  209,  232,  236,  251,  271, 
282-83,  290-91,  295,  307,  315,  351,  368,  374, 
384-85,  397-98,  417-18,  426,  430,  443,  461, 
463,  467,  470,  479, 508,  514,  529-30,  557,  568; 
III :  5,  14,  22,  35,  38-40,  47,  88,  132,  146,  151, 
187,  190,  195,  197,  203,  219,  236,  238,  253, 
266,  282, 291,  302,  335,  337,  345, 352-58,  427, 

434,  450,  466,  479,  505;  IV :  4,  8,  19,  23,  24, 
39,  43,  53,  76,  83,  98,  116, 120,  137, 143,  180, 
194,  212,  214,  225,  237,  243,  277,  279,  301, 
307,  310,  331,  337,  348,  359,  376,  378,  380, 
412,  426,  433,  439,  451,  461,  463 

—Evacuation  of,  1 :  130,  500 
— First  battle  of,  1 :  102 
—Siege  of,  I ;  305 
Anandpur  di  Var,  I  :  133 

Anandpur  Sahib  Resolution,  1 : 49, 133-41 ;  II :  430- 
31 

Anand  Ram  MukJilis,  IV :  327 
Anand  Singh  Rai,  1 :  141  ;  II :  87;  III :  456 
Anandu,  1 :  141-42 
Ananta,  Bhai,  1 :  143 
Ananti,  Mata,  1 :  143  ;  II :  144,  III :  210 
Anantnag,  1 :  143 
AnarkaK,  1 :  143-44  ;  IV :  425 
Andamans,  IV  :  228,  381,  424 
Anderson,  Lt.  William,  1 :  17,  170,  179;  II :  1,  412; 
III :  143 


INDEX 


470 


Andretta  :  IV :  222 

Angad  Dev,  Guru,  1 :  146-49,  181,  204,  261,  262, 
263,  268,  296,  341,  348,  352,  374,  534,  604; 
II :  51,  98,  108,  114,  133,  148,  170-71,  173, 
177, 181, 195,  201,  208,  295,  340,  342-48,  351, 
386-87,  392,  407,  448,  455,  464,  491-92,  502, 
539,  564-65;  III :  4,  16,  17,  21,  23,  30,  61,  90, 
129,  182,  205,  208,  303,  335,  349,  387,  391, 
450-51,  457;  IV:  5,  59,  114,  126,  152-53,  196, 
215-16,  232,  238,  240-41,  273,  302,  365,  369, 
414,  416,  420-21 
Angitha  (Samadh)  Mata  Damodari  Ji,  1 :  506 
Anglo-Afghan  War  I,  1 :  218,  219,  308,  397 
Anglo-Afghan  War  II,  1 :  407;  II :  305,  576;  III :  382 
Anglo-Sikh  Relations,  1 :  149-51 
Anglo-Sikh  Treaties,  1 :  151-64,  309,  326 
Anglo-Sikh  War  I,  I:  32,  36,  164-69,  178,  292,  326, 
388,  398,  399,  408,  421,  442,  459,  465,  477, 
478,  481-82,  498,  536,  541;  II :  20,  22,  47-48, 
54,  82,  84,  106,  184,  211,  229,  231,  259,  279- 
82,  284,  295,  303,  344,  346,  370,  382,  390,  393, 
395-96,  409,  411,  542,  544,  551,  562, 564, 572- 
73;  III :  6,  10,  15,  20,  26,  31,  48,  76,  99,  127- 
28, 142, 145, 207, 216, 220, 245, 262,  366, 456, 
468,  470,  488,  491-92,  500;  IV:  17,  18,  102, 
134,  167,  169,  172-73,  218,  221,  287,  320-21, 
343-44,  435-37 
Anglo-Sikh  War  II,  1 :  68,  169-75,  196,  296,  325, 
371,  398,  399,  407,  409,  457,  477,  479,  490, 
599;  II:.  84,  106,  117,  122-23,  184,  220,  248, 
289,  367,  370-71,  390,  393-94,  408,  411,  463, 
525,  534,  550;  III  :  7,  127,  143,  145,  216,  365- 
66,  469,  492;  IV :  218,  222,  269,  320-21,  244, 
440 

Arigrezari  te  Sikkhan  di  Larai,  IV  :  180 

Am  Rai  (author  of  Jangnama)  I  :  175;  IV:  426 

An!  Rai,  Baba,  1 :  175-76  :  II :  234 

Anirudh  Chand,  1 :  230 

Anjufia,  1 :  176 

Anjuman-i-Punjab,  1 :  176-78,  1 :  217;  II :  372;  III : 

145,  274;  IV:  207 
Annexation  of  the  Punjab,  I  :  178-81 
Annexation  of  the  Punjab  and  Maharaja  Duleep 

Singh,  IV  :  252,  348 
Anokhi,  BIbi,  1 :  144,  181  ;  II :  134,  500 
Ansari,  MA,  1 :  84,  85 


Antoinette,  Madam,  IV  :  387-88 

Anup  Del,  Mata,  1 :  181  ;  II :  278 

Anupshahr  II :  261;  IV  :  198 

Anup  Singh,  III :  396,  402 

Anup  Singh  (grandson  of  Duni  Chand),  1 :  181 

Anup  Singh  Narangval,  1 :  260 

Anup  Singh  (Nishanahvali) ,  III:  105 

Apocryphal  Compositions,  1 :  181-82 

Appa  Khande  Rao,  IV  :  353 

'Aqil  Das,  IV  :  396 

AratJ,  1 :  120  182-84  ;  II :  421;  III :  241;  IV :  230, 
354 

Ardaman  Singh,  Bhayee,  I  :  184 

Ardas,  I  :  184-88,  545;  II :  109,  153;  III :  243,  265; 

IV:  249 
Argentina,  IV  :  342 
Argoud,  Benoit,  I  :  188 

Arjan  Dev,  Guru,  1 :  4,  7,  10,  19,  21,  26,  28,  29,  37, 
39,  40,  52,  55-57,  62,  73,  75,  108,  111-13,  115, 

118,  176,  182,  188-93,  203,  253-55,  262,  265- 
66,  268-69,  276-77,  279,  289,  294,  300,  312- 
14,  319,  322-23,  327,  341-43,  347,  351-55,  357, 
359,  360-61,  365,  368,  373-75,  380,  386,  390- 
91,  400,  406,  409-11,  426,  438-39,  450,  466, 
468,  497,  502,  506,  574-75,  581,  586,  604;  II : 
2,  44,  50,  52,  56-59,  71,  76,  85,  92-93,  95-98, 
100,  109-12,  126,  138-39,  145-47,  166,  170-78, 
194,  200-01,  205,  208,  212,  222-23,  225-26,  232- 
33,  235-36,  239-40,  264,  269-70,  315,  319-20, 
326,  329-30,  337,  351,  354,  364,  373-374,  378, 
387-88,  391,  393,  401,  403,  405,  412-14,  416- 
19,  422,  425-26,  435,  444-46,  448-50,  458,  461, 
491-92,  503-04,  507,  517,  520,  531-32,  535-36, 
540,  545,  557,  559,  565,  567-69,  573;  III :  4,  8, 
9,  17,  37,  47,  57,  59-64,  66,  68,  69,  77,  82,  84, 
85,  88,  90,  112-13,  121,  131,  137-38,  147,  149- 
50,  153,  160,  162,  168,  179-83,  189-90,  203- 
05,  208-10,  213,  225-26,  241,  243,  253,  260- 
61,  269,  282,  288,  295,  307,  317,  334,  336,  339- 
43,  345,  348-50,  355,  371,  387,  397,  409,  431- 
32,  442,  446,  449-54,  457,  473,  490,  498-99, 
504,  514;  IV :  1,  4-7,  14,  25-27,  30,  31,  34,  35, 
37,  39,  42,  45,  48,  60,  70,  75,  76,  78,  89-91,  94, 

119,  139,  141,  149,  151,  163,  176,  196,  203, 
215-16,  220,  232,  238-44,  250,  252,  255,  260, 
263, 268,  272,  274, 288,  294,  299-301,  303,  321- 


471 


INDEX 


22,  352,  354-56,  358,  360,  362,  369-70,  375, 
377,  379,  384,  386,  391,  394,  397,  399,  401, 
414,  416,  427,  432,  438 

Arjan  Singh,  Bava,  IV  :  162 

Arjan  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  194 

Arjan  Singh,  Bhayee,  1 :  184,  19-1-95,  462,  590;  II : 

83,  312;  III :  360  IV:  210,  270 
Arjan  Singh  Chahal,  Sardar  Bahadur,  7,  195  ;  II : 

2,  244 

Arjan  Singh  Gargajj,  1 :  195-96 
Arjan  Singh  Nalva,  1 :  196 
Arjan  Singh  Thapa  1 :  196 
Ark,  Baba,  IV  :  308 

Army  of  Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh,  1 :  196-200  ;  IV  : 
218 

Army  Paiichayats,  1 :  300;  IV :  185 
Arnault,  IV:  176 

Arur  Singh  (Duleep  Singh's  attendant),  1 :  200  ; 

III :  488 
Arur  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  201 
Arur  Singh,  Doctor,  1 :  200-01 
Arur  Singh,  Sardar  Bahadur,  1 :  201-02  ;  IV  :  114 
Arya  Kumar  Sabha,  IV  :  255 
Arya  Patrika,  II :  372 

Arya  Samaj,  1 :  21,  212,  562,  590;  II :  186,  372-73, 

463;  III :  44,  73;  IV  :  78,  120,  206 
'Arz  ul-Alfaz,  1 :  202 
Asa,  1 :  202-03  ;  IV :  224,  230,  239,  252 
Asaf  ud-Daula,  IV:  198 

Asa  ki  Var,  1 :  147,  202,  203-04,  260,  452,  453,  507; 

II :  157,  217,  386,  517;  III :  281,  461;  IV  :  103 
Asavari  - —  see  Asa 
Asceticism,  1 :  205-06 
Asia  Minor,  IV  :  371 
Asian  Relations  Conference,  1 :  31 
Asiatic  Researches,  TV :  218 

As  Kaur,  Rani,  1 :  206-07  ;  II :  438,  562;  III :  437, 

482;  IV :  22,  169 
Aslam  Khan,  IV :  408-09 
Asman  Khan,  1 :  207  ;  III :  267 
Asraja,  Tunda,  1 :  202-03 
Asrar-i-vSamadi,  1 :  207-08 
Astpadi,  1 :  208 
Asvamedha  Parva,  TV  :  297 
Atalgarh,  II :  228;  III  :  103;  IV :  3,  259 
Atal  Rai,  Baba,  I  :  109,  113,  208,  441,  II  :  234 


'Ata  Muhammad  Khan  Barakzai,  1:13,  208-09  ;  II  : 

19,  319  ;  III :  217;  IV:  99,  434 
Atari,  1 :  448  ;  II :  57,  323,  483;  III :  215,  221,  286; 

IV:  102,  107 
Atar  Singh  Atarivala,  1 :  209 
Atar  Singh  Atlevale,  Sant,  1 :  209-10 
Atar  Singh  (Faridkot),  IV :  174-75 
Atar  Singh  Kalianvala,  1 :  101,  210  :  II :  344;  III : 

365 

Atar  Singh  Kaiiijhla,  Bhai,  1 :  379 

Atar  Singh  Kuka,  1 :  209 

Atar  Singh  Majithia,  1 :  210-11 

Atar  Singh  Sandhanvalia,  1 :  34,  67,  211-12,  376-77, 

408,  409,  434,  457;  II :  120,  276,  465,  543-44  : 

III :  88,  213,  275;  IV :  109-10,  210,  357,  427 
Atar  Singh,  Sant  (Mastuana),  1 :  212-14,  304,  379, 

573;  II :  190,  213,  277,  425,  490;  III  :  10,  142, 

233,  352,  444;  IV  :  312,  338,  341 
Atar  Singh,  Sant  (Reru  Sahib),  I  :  214 
Ata  Ullah  Khan,  IV :  19 
Afi  Akhand  Pi  th,  1 :  214-15 
Atma,  1 :  215-16 
Atma  Purana,  IV  :  376 
Atma  Ram/ Atma  Singh,  1 :  216  ;  IV  :  103 
Atma  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  216 
Atta,  Chaudhri,  IV  :  358 

Attar  Singh,  Sir,  1 :  177,  216-18  ;  II :  186,  244,  372, 

468,  480-81;  III :  274;  IV  :  81,  207-10 
Attlee,  Clement  R.,  IV :  201 

Attock,  1 :  68,  172,  230,  290;  II :  19,  69,  252,  294, 
368-69,  371,  378,  395,  413,  532 ;  III :  50,  99, 
102,  129,  212,  218,  224,  262,  268,  311,  316, 
338,  356;  IV:  3,  99,  101,  107,  183,  192,  300, 
366,  434,  448 

Auckland,  George  Eden,  1 :  32,  163,  218-19,  230, 
297,  418;  II :  4,  40,  87,  279,  282,  543,  548;  III : 
6,  307,  353,  456;  IV :  101,  366,  386,  433 

Auckland  Papers,  I  :  219 

Aughar,  1 :  15 

Aurangabad,  I  :  219-20,  541;  II :  14;  IV :  36 

Aurarigabad  (Punjab),  rV:  454,  458 

Aurangzib,  Muhi  ud-Din  Muhammad,  'Alamgir,  I  : 
26,  35,  78,  128-29,  202,  219,  220-22,  251,  375, 
504,  549,  580,  584;  II :  14,  20,  90-91,  129,  203, 
255,  262,  271,  298-99,  301,  325-26,  346,  375, 
486,  502,  505,  516,  526,  545;  III  :  29,  50,  90, 


INDEX 


472 


92, 148-49, 155, 194-95, 197,  282,  461-62,  471; 
IV :  16,  25,  143,  194,  197,  226,  237,  273,  319, 
328,  331-32,  358,  375,  419,  439,  451 

Aurobindo  Ghose,  Sri,  1 :  393;  IV  :  449 

Avichalnagar  Mahatam,  TV :  273 

Avinash  Mani,  IV :  234 

Avitabile,  1 :  67,  222-23,  480,  545;  II :  7,  319,  409, 
547-48,  III :  383,  485;  IV :  183,  259,  352,  357, 
438,  441 

Avtar  Singh  Vahiria,  1 :  223-24;  II :  479;  III :  425 

Aya  Singh,  IV  :  207 

Ayodhya,  1 :  224  ;  II :  136 

Ayodhya  Singh  Upadhyaya  Hariaudh,  IV :  273 

Ayub  Khan,  1 :  229 

Ayurveda,  IV :  308,  379 

Azad  Beg,  IV :  342 

Azad  Hind  Fauj,  1 :  224-27  ;  III :  114  ;  see  Indian 

National  Army 
Azad  Punjab  Scheme,  1 :  42,  47,  227-29  ;  III :  370; 

IV:  109,  118,  313 
Anti-Azad  Punjab  Conference,  1 :  42 
Azam  Shah,  1 :  251 

'Azim  Khan,  Muhammad,  1 :  229  ;  II :  346 

'Aziz  ud-Din,  Munshi,  IV  :  229  ;  II ;  460 

'Aziz  ud-Din,  Faqir,  1 :  65,  66  229-31  ;  II :  256,  303, 

408,  525,  543,  547-48/550;  III :  245,  487;  IV. 

94,  183,  226 

B-40Janam  Sakhi,  I:  146,  232-33,  466;  III:  462; 

IV:  180, 
Baba,  1 :  233 

Baba  Adli,  Gurdwara,  1 :  466 

Baba  Ajapal  Singh,  Gurdwara,  III :  152 

Baba  Atal,  Gurdwara,  II :  82,  192,  247,  357,  396, 

430;  III  :305,  486;  IV :  66,  67,  132,  359 
Baba  Bakala,  1 :  233-34,  307;  II :  50,  55,  129,  145, 

190,  235,  256,  510,  512;  III :  86,  184-85,  210, 

227;  IV :  6,  74,  222,  330,  406 
Baba  Banda  Bahadur,  Gurdwara,  1 :  440 
Baba  Banda  Bahadur  Ghat,  Gurdwara,  III :  193 
Baba  Buddha  Bansavali,  TV :  80 
Babak,  1 :  235 

Baba  Naudh  Singh,  1 :  235-36  :  IV :  430 
Babar  Akali  Doaba,  1 :  237,  492;  II :  434,  524 
Babar  Akali  Jatha,  1 :  236-38,  281,  492,  II :  523 
Babar  Akali  Movement,  1 :  52,  236-38,  493;  II :  66, 


334,  434,  523-24;  III :  126,  198,  255,  276;  IV : 

49,  337,  381 
Babar  Sher,  TV:  337 
Babar  Vani",  1 :  238-41 

Babar,  Zahir  ud-Din  Muhammad,  1 :  238,  239,  241- 
43,  245,  274-75;  II :  6,  72,  294-95,  526,  561; 
III:  54,  92,  167,  171,  335,  375;  IV:  24,  174, 
$196,  319,  416 

Bachan  Sain  Loka  Ke,  1 :  243 

Babe  di  Ber,  Gurdwara  (Kartarpur),  II :  449 

Babe  di  Ber,  Gurdwara  (Sialkot),  1 :  304,  423;  II : 
258,  361,  454;  III :  36,  201;  IV :  50,  121,  298, 
337,  403,  423 

Bachchhoana,  1 :  243  ;  II :  87 

Bachitra  Natak,  1 :  217,  238,  243-45,  306,  320,  338, 
356,  451,  516,  540,  584;  II :  22,  89,  103,  118, 
135-36,  201,  236,  267,  270,  295,  385,  402,  414, 
512-13, 560;  III :  16,  60, 92, 165, 176, 190,  353, 
367,  372,  441  ;  IV :  16, 180,  212,  225,  237,  262, 
420 

Bachittar  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  131,  245-46,  355;  II :  346, 

530-31;  III :  39,  146,  264 
Bachittar  Singh,  Bhai  (Granthi),  1 :  246 
Bachittar  Singh  Malvai,  1 :  246  :  II :  290 
Bachittar  Singh,  Rai  Sahib,  II :  443 
Badali,  Bhai,  1 :  246-47 

Badan  Singh,  Giani,  II :  10,  79  ;  IV :  175,  273,  291; 

see  also  Faridkot  Tika 
Badaun,  II :  435 
Baddhal  Kotla,  1 :  247 
Baddoki  Gosaian,  II :  354 
Baddori, 1 :  247 

Baddoval,  1 :  28,  168,  308;  II :  §44;  III :  129,  488; 

IV :  19,  221 
—  Fort  of,  1 :  32 

Badhani,  1 :  361;  II :  370;  III :  100,  129 
Badhani  Khurd,  1 :  535 
Badri  Nath,  1 :  247 
Badr-ud-Din,  1 :  409;  III :  297 
Badrukkhan,  II :  276;  III :  107,  151,  438;  IV:  171- 
72,  355 

Bagariari,  1 :  184,  194;  II  :  83,  261;  III :  514 
Bagga  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  247-48 
Bagha  Purana,  279 
Baghar  Singh,  Bhai,  I  :  248 
Baghaur,  IV :  237 


473 


INDEX 


Baghdad,  1 :  248-49  ;  II :  66,  285  ,  433;  III :  167,  299; 
IV:  29,  222, 

Baghel  Singh  (of  Chhalaudi) ,  1 :  277 

Baghel  Singh  Julka,  III :  103 

Baghel  Singh  (Kirsevavale) ,  III :  137;  IV  :  23 

Baghel  Singh  (Karorsinghia) ,  I:  51,  149-50,  249- 
50,  531,  546,  549-50;  II :  359,  375,  557,  568; 
III :  51,  52, 103-04, 107,  512;  IV  :  19, 175, 197- 
98,  217,  279 

Bagh  Singh  Virk,  1 :  250 

Bahadurgarh,  1 :  250-51  ;  IV  :  25,  35,  331 

Bahadur  Shah,  Emperor,  1 :  31,  70,  78,  202,  221, 
251-52,  417,  550;  II :  14,  89,  91-92,  130,  136, 
203-04,  291,  300,  306,  336,  505;  III :  24,  87, 
92,  132,  149,  191-92,  298,  508;  IV:  17,  195, 
197,  237,  245,  277,  309,  328,  408-09,  439 

Bahadur  Singh,  1 :  252 

Bahawalpur,  I:  230,  266,  310,  481;  II:  1,  23,  44, 
250,  298,  377,  463;  III :  6,  100,  120,  381,  436, 
483;  IV :  193 

Baher,  1 :  253 

Bahilo,  Bhai,  1 :  253,  264,  327;  II :  139,  239,  256, 

262  ;  III :  30 
Bahilol,  Bhai,  1 :  253 
Bahir  Jachchh,  1 :  254 
Bahirval,  1 :  254  ;  III :  104 
Bahlol,  Faqir,  IV  :  205 
Bahlol  Lodhi,  II :  502 
Bahlul  Shah,  1 :  249 
Bahora,  Bhai,  1 :  254-55,  419;  II :  308 
Bahoru,  Bhai,  1 :  255 
Bahoru  (village),  IV  :  280 
Bahrampur,  IV :  289-90 
Bahra,  Shaikh,  II :  264 
Bahr  ul-Mawwaj,  1 :  255  ;  IV :  319 
Baihbal  Kalah,  I  :  255 
Badntan  Sher  Singh  Kian,  1 :  256 
Bairagis,  1 :  256-57 
Bairam  Khan,  III :  204 

Baisakha  Singh,  Diwan,  1 :  257,  376;  II :  368 

Baisakha  Singh,  Rai  Bahadur,  III :  155 

Baisakhi,  I:  257-58  ;  IV :  63,  135,  143,  180,  203, 

324,  380-81,  408 
Bajak,  1 :  258  ;  IV :  267-68 

Baj  Singh,  1 :  79,  258-59,  273-74;  III :  354,  464;  IV : 
214,  310 


Baj  Singh  (Nazim  of  Multan) ,  1 :  65,  66 

Bakapur  Divan,  1 :  259-60  ;  II :  552;  III :  476  ;  IV : 

210,  335,  338 
Baker,  George,  1 :  261 
Baker,  Herbe  rt,  IV  :  223 
Bakhshish  Singh,  1 :  261 
Bakhshish  Singh,  Giani,  1 :  378;  II :  315 
Bakhtavar  Singh,  IV  :  455 
Bakhtgarh,  IV  :  86,  87 
Bakht  Kaur,  Mata,  I  :  87,  261 
Bakht  Mall,  TV :  452 

Bala,  Bhai,  I:  148  261-62,  263,  266;  II:  99,  179, 
471,  539;  III  :  17,  34,  188;  IV:  2,  223,  410 

Bala,  Bhai  (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  1 :  262;  IV  :  26 

Balachaur,  1 :  262 

Bala  Divana,  II :  85;  III :  449 

Baiajanam  Sakhi,  1 : 16,  261,  262-65,  332,  343,  385, 
466,  537;  II :  194,  212,  222,  228,  340,  424,  451, 
559,  561;  III :  16,  34, 85, 187-88,  200,  270,  369, 
410-11;  IV :  2,  31,  180,  376,  435 

Balajhihgan,  1 :  265 

Balakot,  1:291;  IV:  109 

Balak  Ram,  Pandit,  II :  10;  III :  472 

Balak  Singh,  Baba,  1 :  265-66  ;  II :  409,  532-33;  III : 
465;  IV :  260 

Bala  Marvaha,  I :  266 

Bala  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  1 :  250,  549;  IV :  277 
Balbir  Singh,  Dr,  1 :  441;  II :  53 
(Dr)  Balbir  Singh  Sahitya  Kendra,  1 :  365  ;  IV  :  434 
Balbir  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  266  ;  II :  11,  216;  IV  :  175 
Baldev  Singh,  1 :  47,  266-68  ;  II :  453,  479,  488;  III : 

290,  309,  311,  392,  425;  IV :  128,  188-93,  292, 

313 

Baldev  Singh- Sikandar  Pact,  III :  370 

Balla  Chand,  Raja,  1 :  76;  IV :  380 

Balkh,  1 :  25,  242;  II :  462;  III :  200 

Bal  Lila  Maini  Sahgat,  Gurdwara,  III :  326-27,  462 

Ballu,  1 :  268 

Ballu,  Bhai,  1 :  268 

Ballu  Rio,  TV  :  95 

Baltistan,  IV  :  461-62 

Baluchistan,  1 :  25;  II :  158,  273;  III :  341-42;  III : 
104,  380 

Balu  Hasna,  1 :  268-69,  580;  II :  237;  III :  340;  IV : 
377-78 

Balvand  Rai,  Bhai,  I  :  146,  235,  269-70,  294;  II :  174, 


INDEX 


474 


200-01,  208,  500,  540-41;  III :  90,  179,  457-58; 

IV:  78,  301,  407 
Balvant  Singh  Canadian,  1 :  270-71 
Balvant  Singh  (Khurdpur),  I  :  325;  II  :  66;  III  :  80 
Balvant  Singh  Nalva,  I  :  605 
Bamba  Duleep  Singh,  1 :  103,  600;  III :  202 
Bambeli,  1 :  271-72 
Bambiha,  1 :  272 

Banaras,  1 :  170;  II ;  51,  121,  221,  243,  383,  403, 
404,  433,  457,  515,  521,  542;  III :  128,  143, 
167,  169,  245;  IV:  41,  107,  287-88,  309,  321, 
331;  also  Kashi,  Varanasi 

Banaras  Hindu  University,  IV :  341 

Banarasi  Das,  I  :  272 

Banarasi,  Mata,  I  :  272  ;  II  :  417,  564 

Ban  Bhatt,  IV  :  179 

Bandais,  I  :  272-73,  374;  II :  240;  III :  40,  186,  354; 
IV :  44,  63,  326-27 

Bandala,  1 :  288,  457;  IV  :  279 

Banda  Singh  Bahadur,  1 :  3,  31,  57,  69,  70,  77,  79, 
90-91,  98,  207,  252,  255,  258,  272,  273-75,  276, 
280,  330,  374,  400,  404,  442,  494,  509,  588; 

II  :  14,  17,  22,  27,  28,  47,  74,  91,  122,  194-95, 
223,  240,  281,  290,  299-301,  312-13,  336,  356, 
388,  401,  408,  428  486,  505,  545;  III :  1  27, 
40,  65,  91,  93,  94,  105,  132,  149,  186,  191, 
193,  255,  289,  353-54,  421,  442,  444,  464,  504; 
iV :  6,  15,  35,  36,  44,  54,  62,  63,  92,  106  "yj 
1  -37,  142,  169*  194,  197,  214,  218,  236,  245, 
254,  258,  310,  319-20,  326,  328-29,  355,  373- 
74,  439,  459 

Bandgi  Namal    IV  :  460 
Bandi  Bir,  1 :  275-76 
Bandralta,  IV :  259 

Bariga,  I  :  310;  II  :  52,  220,  344,  384,  539,  552;  III  : 

439;  IV  :  68,  233 
Barigar,  IV  :  331 

Baiigla  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  I  :  250,  549;  II  :  325,  513; 

III  :  471 
Bani,  I  :  276-77 

Bani  Badarpur,  I  :  277 
Bani  Bhagalan  Satik,  I  :  278 
Bani  Birdh  Pratap,  I  :  278 
Bani  Prakash,  I  :  278-79 
Bankhandi,  IV :  6 

Banno,  Bhai,  1 :  374,  439;  III :  269;  IV  :  242 


Bannu,  1 :  67,  71,  171,  172,  210,  247,  377,  483;  II : 
20,  22,  46,  65,  220,  260,  284,  289,  377,  390, 
550,  557,  571;  III  :  470,  484,  488;  IV :  20,  107, 
232,  259,  309,  345,  366 
Baiisavalinama  Dasan  Patshahian  Ka,  1 :  181,  261, 
279-80,  428,  455,  510,  512,  533;  II :  130;  III  : 
24,  203,  283,  429;  IV  :  180,  254,  332,  343,  426 
Banta  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  281 
Banta  Singh  Dhamian,  1 :  281-82 
Banta  Singh  Qhadrite,  1 :  200,  280-81 
Baniir,  II :  255,  505  ;  III  :  51,  96,  110  ;  IV  :  331 
Banvali,  Bhai,  I  :  282 
Baoli  Sahib,  II :  71,  98,  473,  510;  III :  47 
Baoli  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Ambala),  1 :  98 
Baoli  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Baurari  Kalan),  I  :  300 
Baoli  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Dalla),  1 :  496 
Baoli  Sahih  Gurdwara  (Pehova),  III :  330-31 
Baptist  Mission,  IV  :  206 
Barah  Maha,  1 :  282-88 
Baramaha  Bava  Ram  Das  Ji  Ka,  III :  450 
Baramanh  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  II :  343 
Baramula,  1 :  288 

Bara  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  288-89  ;  IV :  38 

Barath,  1 :  289-90  ;  IV :  234 

Bardoli  Agitation,  1 :  46 

Bareilly,  I  :  II :  513;  III  :  504;  IV :  320 

Barelavi,  Sayyid  Ahmad,  1 :  290-91  ;  II :  550;  III : 

483;  IV  :  425,  448 
Bargari,  I  :  291 
Barb,  I  :  291-92 
Barhe,  I  :  243,  292 
BarlDoab,  IV:  16 

Bari  Sahgat,  Gurdwara  (Burhanpur),  I:  417 
Bari  Saiigat  (Calcutta) ,  II  :  365;  III  :  241 
Bari  Sahgat  (Varanasi),  IV :  409 
Bari  Sangat  Sri  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  Ji,  1 :  312 
Barkatullah,  Maulawi,  1 :  331;  II :  64,  143;  III  :  67 
Bar  Khalsa  Diwan  -  see  Khalsa  Diwan  Khara  Sauda 
Bar 

Barki,  IV:  175 
Barlow,  I  :  292 
Barna,  I  :  292-93 

Barnala,  II  :  19,  43,  219,  460,  568;  III :  70,  106,  272, 
301,  317,  322,  334,  438,  511;  IV:  83,  89,  169, 
308,  396 

Baroda  Kant  Mitra,  IV  :  199 


475 


INDEX 


Barr,  William,  IV  :  182 
Barsi,  IV  :  365 
Barva  Mula,  IV  :  205,  392 
Bar  (Weekly),  IV:  163 
Basali,  1 :  246,  292  ;  IV  :  237 
Basantgarh,  IV  :  83 

Basant  (measure),  I  :  293-94  ;  IV :  239 

Basantki  Var,  I  :  294 

Basant  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  294-95  ;  IV  :  253 

Basant  Singh  Narangval,  1 :  260 

Basant  Singh,  Pandit,  I:  295 

Basant  Singh,  Sardar,  IV  :  120 

Basarke  Gillaii  I  :  :  91,  261,  296,  346,  401;  II  :  228, 

III :  112,  121,  451;  IV:  343 
Basava  Singh  (Bhasaur),  1 :  349;  II :  185 
Basava  Singh  (Sujoval),  1 :  296 
Basawah,  Shaikh,  1 :  296-97 
Basohli,  1 :  129,  II :  238,  482,  484;  IV  :  380,  439 
Bassian,  1 :  165 

Bassi  Pathanari,  1 :  253;  II :  232,  414,  500;  III :  196, 
434;  IV  :  332,  463-64 

Batala,  I ;  62,  141,  191,  274,  297-98,  326,  342,  419, 
437;  II :  27,  144,  224,  307,  322-23,  342,  359, 
439,  463-64,  502,  520-21;  III :  13,  19,  24,  84, 
102-03,  108, 121,  1*89, 107,  205,  260,  366,  381, 
419,  IV :  2,  3,  76,  109,  268,  283,  290,  334-35, 
344,  351,  374,  376,  379-80,  414 

Bathinda,  1 :  77,  358,  292,  298-99,  351;  II :  13,  25, 
44,  50,  51,  57,  97,  130,  263,  359,  387,  391, 
417,  513,  531;  III :  29,  30,  70,  106,  108,  144, 
208,  270,  322,  439,  441,  464,  506;  IV :  213 

Bathu,  I  :  299 

Battha,  Bhai,  I  :  299-300 

Battice,  I  :  300 

Bauraii  Kalan,  I  :  300 

Baval,  IV:  172 

Bavan  Akhaii,  1 :  300-02  ;  IV  :  7 
Bavanja  Kavl,  I  :  302-03 
Bazidpur,  I  :  303-04  ;  IV,  171 
Bkzigars,  I  ;  304 
Bechint  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  304-05 
Bedava,  1 :  305 

Bedi,  I  :  244,  305-06  ;  IV :  225 
Beerwah,  I  :  306 
Bega,  Bhai,  I  :  306 
Begam  Samru,  IV :  353-54 


Bela,  1 :  306-07 

Bela  Singh,  I  :  307,  325;II :  344 

Beli  Ram,  Misr,  1 :  66,  297,  307-08,  315;  II :  275, 

304,  547,  563;  III :  142;  IV :  183 
Bell,  Major  Evans,  IV  :  252,  348 
Benet,  1 :  308 

Bengal  and  India  Secret  Letters,  I  :  308-09 
Bengal  Secret  and  Political  Consultations,  1 :  309 
Bern,  Bhagat,  1 :  309,  312;  III :  53 
Beni,  Pandit,  1 :  309-10 

Bentinck,  Lord  William,  1 :  154,  230,  308,  310-11, 
457;  II :  125,  302,  314,  548,  551;  III :  6,  8,  128, 
218,  259«0,  287,  352-53;  IV :  101,  219,  433, 
441 

—  meeting  with  Ranjlt  Singh,  1 :  310 
Berhampore,  IV  :  353 
Berlin,  IV :  342 
Bernier,  IV :  363 

Ber  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  44,  499,  IV :  270 
Beta/'  jftaisa,  II :  456 

Bhadaur,  1 :  217,  311  ;  II :  372,  468,  482;  III :  300, 
437 

Bhadra,  I:  311  ;  IV  :  23 
Bhadsoh,  IV  :  171 
Bhagalpur,  I  :  312  ;  IV :  331 
Bhagata,  Bhai,  1 :  312,  327 
Bhagat  Bani,  I  :  312-14 

Bhagat  Bhagvan,  1 :  29,  315  ;  II :  261;  III :  187;  IV  : 

377-78 
Bhagat  Mai,  1  :  315 
Bhagatmal  (Nabhaji),  1 :  309;  II :  321 
Bhagat  Ram,  BakhshI,  1 :  315-16  ;  IV :  112 
Bhagat  Ram,  Pandit,  IV  :  283 
Bhagat  Ratnavali,  1 :  316 
Bhagat  Singh,  Dr.,  I  :  133 

Bhagat  Singh  (Shahid),  1 :  316-18  ;  III :  211,  477; 
IV  :  229,  381 

Bhagatu,  Bhai,  1 :  7,  273,  318-19,  332,  427,  558, 582; 
II :  18,  57,  97,  130,  239,  384,  413,  428,  450, 
528  ;  III  :  30,  335,  468;  IV :  176,  214 

Bhagatu,  Bhai  (Gum  Hargobind's  Sikh),  I  :  319 

Bhagaur,  IV :  95 

Bhagauti,  I:  244,  319-22,  419 

Bhagavad-gha,  TV :  354,  390,  449 

Bhagbhari,  Mai,  I  :  322  ;  II :  562;  IV :  255 

Bhagi  Bandar,  I  :  322 


INDEX 


476 


Bhagirath,  1 :  322-23 

Bhagirath,  Bhai,  1 :  265,  323,  497;  III :  44,  53;  IV : 
42 

Bhag  Mall  (Vakil) ,  1 :  141 

Bhago,  Mai :  281,  305,  323-24,  367;  II :  91,  375,  384, 

•568;  III :  14,  135-36,  216;  IV :  443 
Bhago,  Malik,  1 :  324;  II :  208,  561 
Bhagrana,  1 :  324 
Bhag  Singh,  1 :  324-25 

Bhag  Singh  Ahluvalia,  1 :  326;  II :  22  ;  III :  99  ;  IV  : 
173 

Bhag  Singh,  Bhai  (Bhikhivind/ Canada),  1 :  325 
Bhag  Singh,  Bhai  (Nankana  Sahib  martyr),  1 :  325 
Bhag  Singh  Chandra  Udaya,  1 :  326  ;  IV :  235 
Bhag  Singh,  Rai,  1 :  326 

Bhag  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  326,  344,  538;  II :  360,  562; 

575;  111:51,  107  ;  IV  :  171 
Bhag  Singh,  Sant,  1 :  327 
Bhagta,  1 :  327 
Bhagta  Ohri,  IV  :  42 
Bhagu,  1 :  327 
Bhagu,  Bhai,  1 :  328  ;  IV :  15 
Bhagvana,  Bhai,  1 :  328 
Bhagvan  Das,  Bhai,  1 :  328 
Bhagvan  Das  (Gah'ir  Gambhir) ,  1 :  43 
Bhagvan  Das  Gherar,  IV  :  235 
Bhagvan  Gir,  1 :  315;  II :  261 

Bhagvan  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  328  ;  II :  64,  143;  IV :  434 
Bhagvan  Singh  Lauftgovalia,  1 :  328-29  ;  III :  276, 
278 

Bhagvan  Singh,  Pandit,  1 :  365;  II ;  155;  III :  3,  4 
Bhagvan  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  329-30  ;  II  :  276;  III :  106, 
151 

Bhagvant  Singh  Bangesari,  1 :  330 
Bhagvant  Singh  Hariji,  Bhai,  1 :  330 
Bhagwan  Singh,  Gyanee,  1 :  330-331  ;  II :  77,  79 
Bhai,  1 :  331-32 

Bhaiana  Bhagatu,  Gurdwara,  1 :  319 

Bhai  Joga  Singh,  Gurdwara,  IV :  337,  384,  422 

Bhai  Mafijh,  Gurdwara,  II :  322 

Bhaini  Bagha,  1 :  333 

Bhaini  Sahib,  1 :  406;  II  :  138,  213,  273,  277,  533- 

35;  111:465-67 
Bhai  Pheru,  Gurdwara,  1 :  333 
Bhai  Pheru  Morcha,  1 :  334  ;  IV  :  116 
Bhairon,  Bhai,  1 :  334-35 


Bhai  Rupa,  1 :  195,  335  ;  III  :  514  ;  IV :  4,  244 
Bhai  Vir  Singh  Sadan,  IV  :  293 
Bhakti  and  Sikhism,  1 :  335-38 
Bhalan,  I  :  338 

Bhalendra  Singh,  Raja,  I  :  338-39  ;  III :  321;  IV  :  445 

Bhalh  Bhatt,  1 :  352,  see  Bhatt  Ban! 

Bhalla,  1 :  339 

Bhallan,  IV:  174 

Bhana,  1 :  339-40  ;  see  also  Will 

Bhana,  Bhai  (Baba  Buddha's  son),  1 :  340-41  ;  II : 

375-76;  III :  443;  IV :  394 
Bhana,  Bhai  (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  I,:  341 
Bhana,  Bhai  (Guru  Hargobind's  Sikh),  1 :  341 
Bhana  Mallan,  Bhai,  1 :  341-42  ;  III :  498 
Bhandara,  1 :  342 
Bhandara  Singh,  1 :  342 
Bhandari  Papers,  1 :  342-43 

Bharigani,  1 :  128,  244,  273,  343,  356,  358,  410,  438, 
516,  540;  II  :  22,  51,  89,  103,  118,  235,  267, 
345,  363,  385,  414,  467,  512;  III :  16,  76,  94, 
152,  154,  158,  190-92,  330,  434,  464;  IV :  45, 
95,  194,  376,  378,  386,  419-20 

Bhangarnath,  1 :  5,  343  ;  III :  363 

Bhanga  Singh  Karorsinghia,  1 :  150,  249,  344  ;  II : 
131,  438;  III :  102;  IV:  19,  198 

Bharigiari  di  Top,  I  :  344-45 

Bharigl  Misl  —  see  Misls 

Bhani,  Bibi,  1 :  87  ;  18,  268,  345  ;  II :  194,  239;  III : 

11,  47,  371,  451 
Bhano  Kheri,  1 :  346 
Bhan  Singh  (Ghadrite),  1 :  346-47 
Bhanu,  Bhai  (Bhagat),  I  :  347 
Bhanu,  Bhai  (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  1 :  347  ;  II :  520 
Bhanu,  Bhai  (Guru  Hargobind's  Sikh),  I  :  347 
Bhanu  Datt  Basant  Ram,  IV  :  77,  78 
Bharana,  I  :  387 

Bharatendu  Harish  Chandra,  IV  :  273 
Bharatgarh,  1 :  348  ;  II :  505  ;  III :  96,  110,  345;  IV  : 
350 

Bharat  Mata  Society,  I  :  30 
Bharatpur,  IV  :  195,  225 
Bharat  Sevak  Samaj,  IV  :  383 
Bharoana,  I  :  348  ;  II :  44 
Bharog,  1 :  403;  III :  99 

Bharoval,  1 :  348  ;  II :  69, 130,  229,  382-83,  571;  III : 
365,  488;  IV  :  199,  269 


477 


INDKX 


Bharpur  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  300,  330,  348-49,  409;  II  : 

126;  III :  106,  151-52;  IV:  172 
Bharu,  Bhai,  I  :  349  ;  III :  261 
Bhasaur,  1 :  350;  II :  3,  369,  415,  552;  III  :  36,  126; 

IV :  87,  102,  208,  211,  306,  335,  341 
Bhasaur  Singh  Sabha,  1 :  349-50 
Bhasin,  IV :  425 
Bhatiana,  1 :  298 
Bhati  Rao,  1 :  297 
Bhatner,  1 :  297;  III :  337 
Bhatras,  1 :  350-51 
Bhattacharjee,  S.P.,  IV  :  77,  78 
Bhatt  Bani,  I  :  351-52 
Bhattha  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  530 
Bhattls,  IV :  408 
Bhattu,  Bhai,  1 :  352-53 

Bhatt  Vahis,  1 :  353-54 ;  II :  110,  307,  500,  511;  III : 
47,  155,  238,  342;  IV :  76,  234,  243,  330,  332 

Bhau  Mokal,  Bhai,  1 :  353  ;  II :  104 

Bhavani  —  see  Bhagauti 

Bhavani  Das,  Diwan,  1 :  354;  II :  289,  433 

Bhavanigarh,  I  :  354-55,  II  :  122,  469,  474;  III  : 
332  ;  IV  :  169,  353,  408 

Bhera,  IV  :  341 

Bhera  Sri  Gobind  SinghJiKa,  1 :  355;  II :  294,  515, 

563;  III  :  101,  484 
Bhlkha,  1 :  353,  355  ;  III :  68;  IV :  244 
Bhikan,  1 :  312  355-56  ;  II :  380 
Bhikhan  Khan,  1 :  356,  410;  III :  423;  IV :  396 
Bhikhan  Shall,  1 :  356-57  ;  II :  553;  IV  :  122 
Bhikhari,  Bhai,  1 :  357  ;  II :  380 
Bhikhi,  I ;  357-58  ;  II :  49,  499;  III :  70;  IV ::  36 
Bhikkhi,  Mai,  IV  :  463 
Bhiloval,  1 :  274 
Bhimbar,  IV  :  300 

Bhim  Chand,  Raja,  1 :  35,  86,  126,  244,  358;  II :  22, 
137,  235,  467,  512;  III :  76,  155, 190,  357,  271, 
479;  IV  :  194,  420 

Bhim  Rao  Ambedkar,  IV :  64 

Bhindar  Kalan,  IV  :  283 

Bhirai,  Mai,  1 :  358-59  ;  III :  446 

Bhirai,  Mata,  I  :  359  ;  III  :  446 

Bhiva,  Bhai,  I  :  359  ;  III :  514 

Bhog,  1 :  359-61 

Bhola  Singh  Dhillon,  Bhai,  1 :  281, 
Bhola  Singh,  Sant,  IV  :  108 


Bholu,  Bhai,  1 :  361 
Bhora  Sahib,  Fatehgarh  Sahib,  II :  16 
Bhora  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  Baba  Bakala,  1 :  234;  IV : 
333 

Bhuchchar  Khurd,  IV :  336-37 
Bhulabhal  Desai,  1 :  227 
Bhulla,  Bhai,  1 :  361 
Bhullu,  Bhai,  1 :  361 

Bhuma  Singh,  1 :  361-62  ;  II :  250  ;  III :  100 
Bhundar,  1 :  362 
Bhunerherl,  IV :  421 
Bhuhgarni,  1 :  362 
Bhupal,  1 :  362 

Bhupal  Singh,  1 :  363  ;  II :  240 
Bhup  Chand,  Raja,  IV :  19 

Bhupinder  Singh,  Maharaja,  1 :  363-64,  568;  II :  44, 
83,  133,  216,  447,  469,  508,  560;  III :  45,  106, 
222,  238,  252,  277,  318,  320,  340,  490,  503; 
IV:  65,  88,  168,  170,  186-87,  261,  337,  347, 
445 

Bhup  Kaur  —  see  Bakhat  Kaur 

Bhup  Prakash,  Raja,  1 :  70;  II :  48,  509,  511;  III: 

125;  IV:  329 
Bhup  Singh,  Kahvar,  IV  :  171 

Bhup  Singh,  Sardar,  1 :  364-65  ;  II :  48,  509,  511; 

III :  125 
Bhuria,  Bhai,  I  :  365 

Bhyrowal,  Treaty  of,  1 :  169,  178,  179,  180,  210,  308, 

599;  also'  see  Anglo-Sikh  Treaty  (Bhyrowal) . 
Bianchi,  1 :  365  ;  II :  7 
Bibangarh,  Gurdwara,  II  :  17,  510 
Bibek  Bardhi,  1 :  365-66 
Bibeksar,  1 :  129;  II :  135 
Bibhaur  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  1 :  209,  366 
BIbipur  Khurd.  I  :  366 

Bidar,  1 :  129,  366-67  ;  II :  89,  384;  III :  43,  283;  IV : 
19,  25,  132 

Bidhi  Chand,  Bhai,  1 :  7,  143,  207,  255,  332,  367; 

II :  126,  234,  313,  363,  374 ;  III :  13,  26fr€7; 

IV:  1,  4,  278,  309 
Bihagre  ki  Var,  1 :  368-69  ;  III :  54 
Bihahgam,  1 :  182,  369 
Bihar!  Lai  Purl,  Lala,  IV :  77,  78 
BIjapur,  1 :  251;  II :  325;  III :  471 
Bijay  Binod,  I  :  369-70 
Bijay  Singh,  1 :  370-71  ;  IV  :  79,  277,  430 


INDKX 


478 


Bijlian  de  Har,  IV :  431 
Bijnore,  IV :  198 
Bijvara,  IV :  277 

Bikaner,  1 :  298;  II :  25,  526;  III :  250-51,  345,  444; 
IV:  407 

Bhikhlvind,  1 :  325;  II :  411;  III :  80 

Bikrama  Singh,  Karivar,  1 :  371,  589;  II :  185,  372, 

468,  497;  IV :  208,  210,  348 
Bikram  Singh  BedT,  Baba,  1 :  370,  371-72  ;  II :  193; 

IV:  110-11 

Bikram  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  266,  295,  372,  589,  600  ;  II : 
2,  10,  186,  480-81,  498,  504;  III :  221;  IV  :  175, 
210,  253,  273,  282,  291,  354,  440 

Bilaspur  (H.P.),  1 :  274,  373  ;  II :  90,  119,  155,  188, 
206,  216,  483;  IV:  43,  120,  194,  331,  461, 

BiiavaJ  fa"  Var,  I  :  373 

Bilga,  1 :  373-74 

Bimangarh,  Gurdwara,  II :  16-17 

Binod  Singh,  1 :  273,  374,  II :  195,  408;  III :  91,  354; 

IV:  44,  310,  323,  326 
Bir,  1 :  374  ;  II :  475 

Bir  Baba  Buddha  Ji,  Gurdwara,  1 :  375,  400,  454 
BIrbhan,  Sadh,  IV  :  77 
Bjr  Guru,  1 :  375 
Birji  Bai,  IV  :  426 
Birk,  1 :  375-76 

Birkenhead,  Lord,  1 :  83;  III :  214;  IV  :  202 
Bir  Mrigesh,  1 :  376 

Bir  Singh,  Baba,  1 :  212,  216,  257,  324,  327,  355, 
376-77,  477;  II :  42, 120,  275-76,  304, 458,  497, 
501,  544;  III :  15,  213,  275,  316;  IV :  351,  427 

Bir  Singh  (Faridkot),  IV  :  174 

Bir  Singh  Ranghreta,  1 :  401;  IV :  323 

Birs  of  the  Guru  Granth  Sahib  — see  Guru  Granth 
Sahib 

Bishambhar  Das,  1 :  377 

Bishambharpur,  IV :  31 

Bishan  Das,  Bhai,  1 :  377  ;  II :  413 

Bishan  Kaur,  I  :  377  ;  II :  435 

Bishan  Singh,  I  :  377-78 

Bishan  Singh  (d.  1868),  1 :  378 

Bishan  Singh  Ahluvalia,  1 :  303;  II :  435 

Bishan  Singh,  Giani,  1 :  378-79  ;  IV :  67,  354 

Bishan  Singh  (Kalsia),  IV  :  176 

Bishan  Singh,  Suba  (Kuka),  1 :  407;  II :  534 

Bishan  Singh  Nihahg,  Baba,  1 :  234 


Bishan  Singh,  Sant  (Kanjhla),  1 :  379  :  II :  425 
Bishan  Singh,  Sant  (Karsevavale) ,  1 :  379-80  ;  II : 
425 

Bishan  Singh,  Sai  dar,  1 :  259 
Bishan  Singh,  Zaildar,  IV :  50 
Bishnu,  Bhai,  I  :  380 
Board  of  Administration,  1 :  380-82 
Board  of  Control,  IV :  440 
Bodal,  1 :  382 
Bodala,  Bhai,  1 :  382 
Bodh  Gaya,  IV  :  331 
Bole  So  Nihal,  1 :  382-87 
Bopa  Rai,  IV :  283 
Bote  Singh,  1 :  387-88  ;  III :  56,  354 
Boundary  Commission,  IV :  193 
Bourquien,  Louis,  IV  :  353 
Boyle,  1 :  388 
Brahma,  IV :  58,  224 
Brahmakund,  Gurdwara,  1 :  224 
Brahmarid  Purana,  IV  :  273 
Brahman  Majra,  1 :  388-89 
Brahmasutra,  IV :  354 
Brahm  Buta,  IV  :  51,  379 
Brahm  Das,  Pandit,  1 :  389-90  ;  III :  69 
Brahm  Gian,  I  :  388 
BrahmgianI,  1 :  191,  390-91;  IV :  264 
Brahmo  Samaj,  I  :  391-96,  607;  II :  324;  IV  :  77,  78, 
206 

Brahmputra,  River,  IV :  331 
Brar,  IV :  174 
Breta,  IV  :  45 

Brijindar  Singh,  Maharaja,  1 :  396  ;  II :  11 
Brij  Raj,  1 :  396-97  ;  II  :  324-25  ;  III :  102;  IV  :  195 
British  Cabinet  Mission,  1 :  42;  III  :  289 
British  Library,  London,  IV:  112,  299,  320,  371, 
374,  440 

Broadfoot,  George,  1 : 17, 165,  397-98, 483;  II :  306, 

382,  576;  III :  500;  IV  :  199 
Broughton  Papers,  I  :  398-99 
Brown,  John,  I  :  399 
Buchcheke,  1 :  399 
Budapest,  IV :  387 

Buddha,  Baba,  1 :  57,  62,  87,  112, 191,  233,  261,  269, 
296,  340-41,  259,  375,  399-400;  II:  99,  109, 
138-39,  145,  194,  233,  239,  375-77,  389,  456, 
472,  494;  III :  112,  340,  460;  IV :  246-47,  329 


479 


INDKX 


Buddha  Dal,  1 :  247  255,  272,  400-04,  494,  588;  II : 
55„215,  342,  352,  360,  362,  376,  418,  429,  508, 
530;  IT! :  18,  70,  95,  96,  109,  227,  489,  506; 
IV :  58,  5523-24,  458 

Buddha  Jaui..ar,  II :  25 

Buddha  Singh  (d.  1718),  1 :  404 

Buddha  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  404-05;  II :  16;  IV:  169, 
214 

Buddhi,  1 :  405-06  ;  see  also  Bibek  Buddhi 
Buddhism,  IV  :  55,  390 
Buddho,  Bhai,  I  :  406 
Buddh  Singh,  I  :  406 

Buddh  Singh,  Baba  (Kuki),  1 :  209,  406-07  ;  II :  137- 

38,  534 

Buddh  Singh,  Bava,  I:  407-08  ;  III :  222 
Buddh  Singh,  Bhai,  I:  408 
Buddh  Singh  (Faizullapuria),  IV  :  321 
Buddh  Singh  Man,  I:  408-09 

Buddh  Singh  Sandhaiivalia,  I:  290,  409, 569;  11:324, 
550 

Buddhu,  Bhai,  I:  258,  409-10;  11:540,  557;  IV  :  260 
Buddhu  Divana,  IV  :  267 

Buddhu  Shah,  Pir,  1 :  273,356,  410;  II :  203,267;  IV,6 
Budge  Budge,  1 :  93;  11:143,  184,  274,  523,  527 
Budhlada  Mandi,  1 :  243,  292  ;  II :  19 
Budhmor,  1 :  411 
Bughiana,  1 :  428;  III :  281 
Bukhara,  I  :  230,  407 
Bula,  Bhai,  I:  411 

Bula,  Bhai  (Guru  Ram  Das'  Sikh),  I  :  411 

Bula  Dhir,  Bhai,  1:411 

Bulaka  Singh,  I  :  378,  411;  II:  215  ;  IV  :  424 

BulakI  Das,  I:  411-12 

BulaPandha,  1:412 

Buriga,  1:412-13 

Buhga  Akhara  Brahm  Buta,  1:415;  III :  369 
Buhga  Mastuana  Sahib,  1:501 
Buiigas,  1:413-16 

Burhanpur,  1:31,32,251,274,328,382,416-17; 

11:138,265,326,  459;  111:187;  IV:  65,275 
Buna,  1:153,  417;  111:96,  435;  IV :  51,  194,  324 
Burj  Baba  Ala  Singh,  III :  152 
Burj  Baba  Dip  Singh,  1 :  501 
Burj  Baba  Phula  Singh,  II  :  55;  III  :  338 
Burj  Gianiari,  IV  :  54 
Burj  Manaiivala,  111:438 


Burj  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  111:334 
Bur  Majra,  I:  417-18 
Burn,  1 :  418 

Burnes,  Sir  Alexander,  1:36,  418-19;  II :  87,  257,  548; 

III :  245;  IV:  101,  232,  366,  433 
Bur  Singh,  I:  419;  II:  188 
Bur  Singh,  Bhai,  1:419;  II:  188 
Butala,  I:  419-20;  II:  45,  46,  344 
Buta  Singh,  Diwan,  1 :  294-295,  420;  II:  549;  111:365; 

IV:  162,  208,  252,  254,  348 
Buta  Singh,  Lambardar;  IV  :  50 
Buta  Singh,  Sardar,  IV :  306 

Bute  Shah,  II:  239,  298;  111:93,  353,  480-86;  IV  :  254, 

373-74,  453 
Buder,  Sir  Harcourt,  1:364 
Buxer,  IV :  198 

Cabinet  Mission,  I:  47,  267;  III:  289-91,  308-09;  IV  : 

170,  190,  313,  446 
Cairo,  IV:  460 

Calcutta,  I:  188,  200,  222,  224,  270,  272,  316,  343, 
346,  351,  391,  439,  448,  470;  II:  39,  47,  64, 
120,  143, 184,  256,  273-74,  284,  299,  303,  307, 
314,  336,  366,  383,  400,  435,  450,  493,  523, 
537,  543;  IIJ:  6,  89,  143,  148,  215,  235,  259, 
308,  310,  320,  409,  501-02;  IV:  107,  110-11, 
130,  185, 196, 199,  219,  223,  228-29,  353,  361, 
387 

California,  IV :  424 
Cambridge,  IV  :  437,  441 
Cambridge  Mission,  IV :  206 

Campbell,  George,  I:  165,  172,  174,  196;  IV:  107, 
344 

Campbellpore,  IV:  14,  342 
Campbell,  William,  I:  421 
Canada,  IV:  227-28,  342,  346,  370 
Canal  Colonization  Bill  agitation,  I:  316 
Canora,  Francis  John,  I:  412 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  IV  :  221 
Caspian  Sea,  IV :  371 
Castle  Hill,  I:  421-22 

Catalogue  of  Khalsa  Darbar  Records,  IV:  217-18 
Caveeshar,  Sardul  Singh  —  see  Sardul  Singh 

Caveeshar 
Ceylon,  IV  :  24,  119 

Central  Akali  Dal  —  see  Akali  Dal,  Central 


481 


INDEX 


Changa  Bhatra,  1 :  351 

Channan  Singh,  Sant,  1 :  439-40;  II :  25,  43;  III : 
402 

Chappar  Chiri,  1 :  79,  258,  273,  440;  II :  22;  IV: 
106,  214,  439 

Charak  Samhita,  TV :  379 

Charan  Amrit  —  see  Pahul 

Charan  Kaval,  Gurdwara,  II :  508,  III :  5 

Charan  Pahul,  1 :  385,  II :  150 

Charan  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  440-41 

Charan  Singh,  Dr,  1 :  441-42;  IV :  428-29 

Char  Bagh  -  i  -  Panjab,  1 :  442 

Charhat  Singh,  I:  11,  13,  24,  210,  345,  402,  442- 
43,  569;  II:. 6,  23,  116, ,130,  223,  251,  294, 
356,  394,  433,  490;  III : :  13,  46,  95,  96,  110, 
262,  465,  480,  491,  507;  IV :  20,  118,  226,  299, 
324,  386,  396 

Charhat  Singh  (Faridkot),  IV :  174 

Charhat  Singh  (Nishanvali) ,  II :  323 

Charhat  Singh  (Sandhu),  1 :  444 

Charhadi  Kala,  1 :  444-45 

Charkhi  Dadri,  IV  :  225 

Char  Mahal,  IV :  395,  458 

Charpat  Nath,  1 :  445-46;  IV :  124 

Char  Sahibzade,  1 :  446 

Charyarf  Sowars,  1 :  446-47;  IV :  259,  357 

Chasma  -  i  -  Nur  Press,  TV :  54 

Chashma  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  rV :  381 

Chatar  Singh  Atarivala,  1 :  1,  171,  173-74,  179,  209, 
246,  372,  409,  421,  447-48;  II :  122,  280,  378, 
411,  550,  562;  III :  15,  81,  140,  316,  470,  492, 
515;  IV :  107,  185,  287,  321 

Chatar  Singh  Brar,  1 :  447 

Chatar  Singh  Collection,  I  :  448-49 

Chatthevala,  IV :  230 

Chatthiari  di  Var,  1 :  449  ;  TV  :180 

Chaturbhuj  Pothi,  1 :  449-50 

Chaturbhuj  Sodhi,  1 :  449-50;  II :  105,  238;  III :  84, 
351 

Chatur  Das  Kapur,  Bhai,  1 :  450 

Chatur  Das,  Pandit,  1 :  450-51;  II :  56 

Chaubara  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  47,  49,  113 

Chau,  Bhai,  1 :  451 

Chaubii  Avtaran  di  Pothi,  TV :  266 

Chaubis  Autar,  1 :  243,  451-52,  516 

Chaubole,  TV :  240 


Chaunki,  1 :  452-54;  II:  517 

Chauntra  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  27 

Chaupai,  1 :  454;  III :  263,  265 

Chaupa  Singh,  I  :  365,  454-55;  II :  179,  466;  III : 

264,  281;  IV :  85;  see  also  Rahitnama  Bhai 

Chaupa  Singh 
Chautha  Pad  —  see  Amra  Pad  and  Mukti 
Chelianvala,  1 :  172;  II :  84,  107,  117,  371,  411,  562; 

III:  15,  205,  216,  49-70,  492;  IV:  107,  185, 

222,  287,  320,  344-45 
_  Battle  of,  1 :  173,  308,  325,  372 
Chellaram,  Bhai,  1 :  455-56 
Chelmsford  Club,  IV :  223 
Chenab  River,  IV :  20,  194-95,  262,  324,  454 
Cherry,  George  Frederick,  rV :  199 
Chetan  Dev,  Pandit,  rV :  455 
Chetan  Math,  IV  :  408 
Chetanpura,  IV :  228 
Cheto,  1 :  456 
Chetramias,  1 :  456 
Chet  Singh,  1 :  456-57 

Chet  Singh  Bajva,  1 :  457 ;  II :  54,  438,  495,  563; 

III:  35,  212,  382;  IV:  259,  418 
Chet  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  457-58  ;  II :  26 
Chet  Singh  (Bhai  Rupa),  rV :  244 
Chet  Singh  Bhangi,  III :  100,  102;  IV :  3 
Chhachhrauli,  1 :  458;  II :  133,  562;  III :  2,  104; 

IV:  175 
Chhajju  Bhagat,  IV :  7 
Chhajju,  Bhai,  II  :  458 

Chhajju,  Bhai  (Guru  Hargobind's  Sikh),  I:  458; 

II :  387;  HI :  282 
Chhajju  Mall,  I  :  458-59;  III :  195,  445 
Chhajju  Singh  Bhatt,  IV :  95 
Chhalaudi,  IV:175 
Chhand  Vichar  Pingal,  TV :  262 
Chhaoni  Nihangan,  1 :  44 
Chhat-Banur,  IV :  439 
Chhatrasal  Bundela,  Raja,  1 :  31 
Chhattiana,  1 :  35,  459 

Chheharta  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  1 :  459;  II :  115;  III : 
272 

Chhina,  IV  :  267 
Chhoi,  1 :  265 

Chhote  Ghallughara,  1 :  402;  II :  119,  446,  460-62, 
555;  III :  101,  354,  423;  IV :  96,  267,  395,  448 


INDEX 


482 


Chhota  Marva,  1 :  461 

Chhota  Mirzapur,  1 :  461 

Chhota  Nankana,  Gurdwara,  IV :  213 

Chhoti  Saiigat,  Gurdwara,  Varanasi,  IV :  409 

Chicago,  IV :  341 

Chief  Khalsa  Dlwan,  1 :  44,  47,  92,  127,  195,  350, 
363,  422,  432,  461-65,  476-77;  II :  133,  156, 
191,  213,  277,  399,  414-15,  481-85,  488,  514; 
III :  117-18,  121-22,  232,  296,  309,  326,  426- 
27;  IV:  14,  53,  118,  146,  161,  163-64,  186-87, 
190,  202,  205,  210-12,  261,  335.36,  338,  340, 
347,  390,  429 

Chika,  1 :  465;  II :  45 

China,  IV :  111,  167,  345,  371,  424 

Chiniot,  IV :  3,  53,  287,  324,  438 

Chiragh  Din,  Faqir,  1 :  465 

Chitta  Baz,  1 :  465-66 

Chittagong,  1 :  466;  II :  209;  III :  345;  IV :  293,  331 
Chittorgarh,  IV :  464 
Chohla,  1 :  466 

Chola  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  74 

Chotala,  IV :  272 

Chou  En  Lai,  IV :  292 

Christ,  IV :  441 

Christianity,  IV:  119-20,  402 

Chritropakhian,  1 :  454,  467-68,  517;  III :  219,  271 

Chubaccha  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  449,  509;  IV :  213 

Chubara  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  99,  117 

Chuhar,  Bhai,  1 :  468 

Chuhar  Chakk,  II :  370  ;  III :  217;  IV  :  211 

Chuhar,  Chaudhari,  1 :  468 

Chuharkana,  IV :  2,  50,  86,  227,  286,  298,  423 

Chuhar  Mall,  IV:  408 

Chuhar  Singh,  1 :  468-69;  II :  474;  III :  92 

Chuharval,  1 :  469 

Chunar  Fort,  1 :  200,  408;  II :  221,  383;  III :  463 
Chung  Tong,  1 :  469 

Chunian,  1 :  310,  401;  II :  272-73,  396;  III :  104,  488; 

IV:  1,  80,  384 
Churaman,  IV :  195 
Church  of  Scotland,  IV :  206 
Civil  Disobedience  Movement,  IV :  66,  69,  202 
Civil  Marriage  Act  1872, 1 :  395 
Clerk,  Sir  George  Russell,  1 :  154,  219,  342,  469-70; 

II :  305-06,  576;  III :  344,  379;  IV :  94,  110-11, 

375,  433 


Cochin,  IV :  65 

Coimbatore,  IV  :  228,  381 

Coin  Collection  in  Northern  India,  TV :  137 

Cold  Tower,  IV  :  461 

Colebrooke  Award,  1 :  397 

Columbia,  IV :  341 

Combermere,  Lord,  I :  141;  II :  304 

Communal  Award,  1 :  228,  470-76;  II :  476-77,  487, 

494;  III :  215,  510;  IV  :  96,  118,  188,  202,  385, 

388-90 

Communist  Party  of  India,  IV  :  228-29,  342 
Comte  de  Boigne,  IV  :  83 

Constituent  Assembly,  1 :  48;  II :  293,  545;  III :  37, 

291,  306,  309-10,  494;  IV :  190-91,  446 
Constitutional  Reforms  of  1919,  1 :  476-77 
Constitution  of  India,  IV  :  392 
Cornwallis,  Lord,  1 :  150;  III :  89 
Cortlandt,  Henry  Charles  Van,  1 :  477-78 
Council  of  Regency,  1 :  163,  175,  179-80,  210,  478- 

79;  II :  512,  564;  III  :  245,  468,  488;  IV :  101 
Court  and  Camp  ofRunjeet  Sing,  1 :  479 
Court,  Caroline  Fezli  'Azamjoo,  1 :  479-80 
Court,  Claude  Auguste,  1 :  222,  480-81;  II :  7,  547- 

48;  III :  218,  383,  485 
Court,  Henry,  IV:  131,  146 

Cripps'  Proposal,  1 :  47,  266;  II :  399;  TV  :  188,  446 

Cripps,  Sir  Stafford,  IV  :  190,  385 

Cunningham, Joseph  Davey,  1 : 168, 481-S2;  II :  282, 

576;  III :  3,  94,  97,  170,  500;  IV  :  63,  130,  146, 

181-82,  199 
Cureton,  Brigadier,  IV  :  344 
Currie,  Sir  Frederick,  I  :  1,  159,  162,  169,  170, 

178-80,  482-83;  II :  107,  304,  383,  412,  550; 

III :  143,  470 

Dabistan-i-Mazahib,  1 :  385,  484-85;  II :  201,  233, 

316;  III :  79,  179,  185,  345,  436;  IV :  6,  254 
Dacca  —  see  Dhaka 
Dadehar,  IV :  424 
Dadheri,  IV :  463-64 
Dadri,  IV:  71,  171 

Dadu  Dial,  1 :  392,  393,  485-86;  IV :  54,  305,  307 

Dadu  Prakash,  I  :  485 

Dadu  Panth,  I  :  485;  II :  68;  III :  206-07 

Dadu  Dvara,  III  :  206;  IV  :  305,  351 

Dadu  Majra,  I  :  324;  III  :  470 


483 


INDEX 


Daggo,  Bhai,  1 :  486  ;  IV :  331 

Dagru,  I  :  487 

Dagshai,  II :  52;  III :  197 

Dakha,  1 :  295;  II :  23,  451;  IV :  19 

Dakhane,  1 :  487 

Dakhani  Rai,  1 :  488 

Dakkhani  Sikhs,  1 :  488-89  ;  IV  :  161 

Dakno,  Rani,  I  :  489 

Dakshineshvar,  IV :  361 

Oalbhanjanijot,  II :  456 

DalerKhilsa,  II :  456;  IV :  281 

3alhousie,  James  A.B.  Ramsay,  1 :  169-71,  175,  178- 
80,  380,  489-90  ;  II :  107,  282,  383,  525,  570- 
71;  III :  143,  372-73,  470;  IV  :  184-85,  199,  344 

Dalhousie  Muniments,  1 :  490 

Oalip  Singh,  I  :  490-91;  IV  :  423 

Dalip  Singh  Babar,  1 :  492-93 

Dalip  Singh,  Sant,  1 :  493 

Daljlt  Singh,  1 :  493-94 

Dal  Khalsa,  1 :  57,  77,  400,  402-03,  494-96,  557-58; 
II :  16, 17, 19,  22,  45, 119, 132,  221,  241,  250, 
342,  355-57,  359, 362-63, 428-30, 447, 474, 
505,  545,  556;  III :  93,  95-96,  98,  99,  105- 
07,  125,  144,  226,  289,  423,  437,  444-45, 
511;  IV:  92,  136-37,  154,  173,  214,  267, 
323-24,  373,  395-96,  458 

Dalla,  I :  97,  328,  496-97;  II :  51,  104,  375,  492,  565; 
III :  27,  28,  113,  156,  190,  205,  303,  372,  413, 
473;  IV  :  15,  68,  323,  368,  384 

Dalla,  Bhal,  1 :  497 

Dalla,  Bhai  (Dall  Singh),  1 :  83,  497,  500;  III :  531; 

IV:  217 
Dalleval,  IV:  311,  459 

Dallevalia  Misl,  II :  119,  380;  III :  95,  96,  98,  101- 

02,  482;  IV :  261,  311;  see  Misls 
Dallu,  Bhai,  1 :  498 
Dall-Van,  IV :  310 
Dalpati,  1 :  498 
Dal  Sihgar,  1 :  498 
Dal  Singh,  1 :  498 
Dal  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  498 
Dal  Singh  (Faridkot),  IV:  174 
Dal  Singh  Naherna,  1 :  210,  569;  IV  :  357 
Dal  Singh,  Sardar,  IV  :  82 

Damdama  Sahib,  1 :  210,  213,  350,  498-501,  588; 
II :  91,  98,  226,  322,  392,  434,  450,  500,  506; 


III :  40,  85,  108,  126,  157-58,  221,  253,  425, 
464,  468,  471,  489,  514;  IV:  216,  230,  335, 
346 

Damdama  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Chamkaur),  1 :  429 

Damdama  Sahib,  Dhubri,  IV  :  333 

Damdama  Sahib,  Thatta,  IV  :  350 

Damdami  Taksal,  1 :  500;  II :  79,  352 

Damodar,  Bhai,  1 :  501-02;  III :  387 

Damodari,  Mati,  1 :  502 ;  II :  135, 144,  234;  III :  205, 

267  ;  TV  :  26-27,  68,  428 
Dan  Singh  Brar,  1 :  504;  II :  240 
Dan  Singh  Dallevalia,  IV :  261 
Dan  Singh  Vochhoa,  1 :  1 :  93;  III :  124;  IV :  66 
Darapur,  III :  349-50;  IV  :  240 
Dara  Shukoh,  1 :  220,  504-05;  II :  262,  503;  III :  82, 

90,  195,  197,  354,  461;  IV:  196-97 
Darauli  Bhai  1 :  28-29,  505-06;  II :  67,  144-45,  234, 

305,  378;  III :  21,  24-25, 190,  267,  514;  IV  :  26- 

27,  46,  68,  69,  331,  351,  386,  397 
Darauli  (Jalandhar),  IV:  50 
Darauli  Kalaii,  III :  127 
Darbar,  1 :  5013-07 

Darbara  Singh,  Baba,  1 :  401,  507-08;  III :  234-35 
Darbara  Singh,  Bhai  1 :  508 

Darbara  Singh,  Diwan,  1 :  508-09;  II :  445;  III :  94, 
158 

Darbara  Singh,  Sant,  IV  :  303 

Darbari,  Bhal,  II :  237 

Darbar  Khan,  IV :  329 

Darbar  Sahib,  Baba  Bakala,  1 :  233 

Darbar  Sahib,  Amritsar  —  see  Harimandar 

Dard,  Abdul  Rahman,  1 :  22 

Dardandan  Dohavali,  IV :  273 

Dard,  Hira  Singh,  —  see  Hira  Singh  Dard,  GianI 

Dargaha,  Bhai,  1 :  509  ;  II :  541 

Dargaha  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  509 

Dargahi  Shah,  III :  151 

Dargah  Mall,  Diwan,  1 :  280,  509-10;  II :  192,  262; 

III :  68,  461 
Dargah  Tuli,  Bhai,  IV:  303 
Darid  Dulch  Dandan  Dohavali,  TV :  273 
Daroga,  1 :  510 
Darshan,  Bhagat,  IV  :  408 
Darshani  Deorhi,  IV :  359 

Darshan  Singh  Pheruman,  1 :  510-11;  II :  140  ;  III : 
290;  IV :  447 


INDEX 


484 


Dasa,  Bhai,  1 :  511 
Dasamdvar,  1 :  511-14 

Dasam  Granth,  1 :  37, 56, 100, 182-84, 217, 243,  276, 
295,  320,  330,  379,  433-34,  451,  467,  514-32, 
564;  II :  79,  95,  136,  153,  155,  271,  350,  409, 
474,  479,  485,  517;  III:  40,  59,  219,  227-28, 
233,  315,  364,  369,  499;  IV :  57,  72,  219;  239, 
283,  401,  407,  426,  450-51 

Dasam  Granth  Gosti,  1 :  184 

Dasam  Gur  Charitra,  1 :  441 

Dasam  Patshahi  Ji  Granth  ke  Sampardai  Prayai, 
III :  315 

Dasaundha  Singh,  1 :  531;  IV :  128 
Dasaundha  Singh,  Bava,  II :  253,  292 
Dasaundha  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  531-32 
Dasaundha  Singh  Gill,  IV :  2 
Dasaundha  Singh  Kot  Buddha,  IV  :  323 
Dasaundha  Singh  (Nishanvalia),  I  :  402,  531; 

III :  95,  105;  IV:  82,  92 
Das  Bhatt,  1 :  532;  see  Bhatt  Bani 
Das  Granthi,  1 :  532 
Das  Gur  Katha,  1 :  532-33;  IV  :  80 
Dashmeshgarh,  Gurdwara,  1 :  338 
Dashmesh  Library,  II :  351 
Dashmesh  Niwas,  Anandpur,  1 :  130 
Daska,  1 :  27,  46,  490;  II :  45;  III :  216-17,  483;  IV : 

108,  213 

Dasu,  Baba,  1 :  146,  533;  II :  133,  195,  500 

Dasuya,  II  :  454;  III :  345 

Dasvandh,  I  :  533-34 

Data  Ganjbakhsh,  II :  304 

Datarijot,  II :  455 

Datarpur,  1 :  316;  II :  323;  III :  102 

Datar  Singh,  Sir,  II :  479 

Datu,  Baba,  1 :  146,  534  ;  II :  133,  500 

Dau,  Bhai,  1 :  534-35 

Daudhar,  II :  257,  506,  521,  535;  III :  339;  IV :  108 
_dera,  1 :  535 

Daulat  Khan  Lodhi,  Nawab,  1 :  242,  535-36  ;  II : 

322;  III :  166,  184;  IV:  42,  270-71 
Daulatpur,  II :  434,  523 
Daulat  Rai,  Diwan,  1 :  536;  II :  557 
Daulat  Rai  Scindia,  II :  51,  284;  III :  52,  331 
Dauloval,  1 :  536-37 
Daultan,  1 :  537;  II :  228 
D.A.V.  College,  Lahore,  IV  :  309 


Daya,  1 :  537-38 
Daya  Chand,  1 :  538 
Daya  Kaur,  Mata,  1 :  538 

Daya  Kaur,  Rani,  1 :  538;  II :  458;  III :  316;  IV  :  20 
Daya  Kaur,  Rani  (Bhangi),  1 :  539 
Daya  Kishan  Kaul,  IV  :  337 

Dayal,  Baba,  I  :  209-10,  507,  539-40;  III :  234-35; 

IV:  154 
Dayal  Das,  Bhai,  1 :  221 
Dayal  Singh  Thakar,  IV  :  103 
Dayanand  Itihas,  ll :  373 
Dayanand,  Swami,  1 :  22,  562,  589;  IV :  78 
Daya  Ram,  1 :  540 
Daya  Ram  Abrol,  1 :  232 
Daya  Ram,  Bhai  (Sevapanthi),  IV  :  256 
Daya  Singh,  Bhai,  I:  76,  129,  219-220,  222,  273, 

540-41,  573,  584;  II :  89-90,  92,  134,  179,  375, 

526;  III :  5, 18, 193,  263,  281-82;  IV :  203,  243, 

426,  451 
Daya  Singh  (poet),  IV :  180 
Death,  1 :  541-43 
Debi  Prasad,  Pandit,  TV :  320 
Deccan  Khalsa  Diwan,  1 :  543;  II :  214 
De  Courcy,  1 :  543 
De  Facieu,  Henri  Joseph,  1 :  543-44 
De  Facieu,  Jean  Alexis,  1 :  544 
Defence  of  India  Rules,  II :  310,  333,  537;  IV  :  67, 

383 

Defence  of  India  Act,  II  :  260 
Degsar,  Gurdwara,  II  :  458 
Deg.  Tegh  Fateh,  1 :  544-45 
Dehlori,  1 :  545 

Dehra  Baba  Gurditta  Ji,  Gurdwara  (Kiratpur) ,  I : 

365;  II :  509-10 
Dehra  Baba  Zorawar  Singh,  II :  501 
Dehra  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Bassi  Kalan),  1 :  297 
Dehra  Sahib  (Lahore),  1 :  192  ;  II :  546;  III :  341 
De  La  Font,  Captain  Auguste,  1 :  545 
De  La  Roche,  Henri  Francois  Stanislaus,  1 :  545-46 
Delhi,  1 :  31-32,  62, 167-68,  207,  213,  220,  227,  233, 
238,  242,  249-52,  268,  274-75,  280,  290,  299, 
304,  339,  348,  378,  381,  425,  433,  455,  458, 
470,  495,  510,  532,  536,  546-51,  593  ;  II :  12- 
14,  22,  27-28,  44-45,  51,  65,  81,  87-88,  91,  107, 
113,  119,  122,  128-29,  140,  145-46,  165,  178, 
182,  189,  223,  227,  231,  241,  249,  254-55,  262, 


485 


INDEX 


265,  269,  271,  293-95,  300-01, 303-04, 320,  328, 
336,  353-55;  357,  359,  374-75,  389,  396,  408, 
428-29,  439-40,  445,  464,  467,  479,  486,  500, 
505,  511,  513,  523-24,  551,  553,  557,  561,  576; 
III :  24,  27,  40,  48,  50-52,  67-68,  79,  80,  98, 
101,  106-09,  117,  129-30,  185-86,  195,  203, 
216,  232,  248-50,  277,  279,  282,  290,  302,  306, 
320,  342,  348,  352,  354,  374,  379,  384,  392, 
394-95,  397,  436,  441,  444-45,  461,  464,  471, 
476,  482,  486,  495,  501,  572;  IV :  16,  23,  31, 
39,  66-67,  71,  76,  83,  92,  100,  165,  178,  180, 
195,  197,  202,  213-14,  222-24,  265,  277,  281, 
293,  300,  310,  317,  324,  326-28,  330,  332,  340, 
353,  376,  385,  388,  440,  447,  454,  459 
^elhi  Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act,  1971,  III :  324;  IV :  129, 
204 

Delhi  Sikh  Gurdwaras  Management  Committee, 

1 :  551-52 
De  Mevius,  Baron  1 :  552 
Deogaoft,  IV :  278 
Deoli  Camp  Jail,  IV  :  228 

Depressed  Classes  Mission  Society  of  India  (1906), 

1 :  396;  III :  509-10 
Depuis,  1 :  552 
Dera,  1 :  552-53 

Dera  Baba  Ajapal  Singh,  II :  409 

Dera  Baba  Gandha  Singh,  III :  301 

Dera  Baba  Virsa  Singh,  II :  191 

Dera  Baba  Nanak,  1 :  35,  119-20,  306,  507,  553-54; 

II :  71,  119,  212,  322,  448;  III :  101,  270;  IV : 

5,  18,  19,  234 
Dera  Baba  Ram  Rai,  III :  221,  240 
Dera  Bhai  Bhagatu  Ji,  II :  450 
Dera  Bhai  Ram  Kishan,  Patiala,  IV  :  51 
Dera  Chahal,  Gurdwara,  1 :  426 
Dera  GJiazi  Khan,  II :  251,  302,  343,  361,  463,  494; 

III :  100,  345,  483;  IV :  29 
Dera  Ismail  Khan,  1 :  67,  210,  247,  477,  536,  555, 

539;  II :  19-20,  251,  253,  343,- 390,  542,  557; 

III :   100;  127,  217,  240,  345,  382,  483;  TV  : 

232,  309 

Derajat,  II :  304,  343,  378,  462,  507;  III :  212;  IV : 
20 

Dera  Khalsa,  1 :  212;  III :  409 

Dera  Naulakkha,  1 :  446 

Dera  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  1 :  554-55,  IV :  119 


Dera  Vadbhag  Singh,  IV :  395 
Desaft,  Mai,  1 :  555 

Desan,  Mai  (wife  of  Charhat  Singh),  1 :  555;  II :  130; 
III  :  13 

Desa  Singh  Bhangi,  III :  100-01 

Desa  Singh  Majithia,  1 :  555-56,  606;  II :  184,  243, 

357,  372,  408,  542;  III :  84, 103,  240,  481,  488; 

IV :  3,  195 
Desa  Singh,  Sant,  1 :  589 

Desh  Bhagat  Parivar  Sahaik  Committee,  1 :  556-57; 

IV:424 
Deso,  Rani,  IV  172 

Des  Raj,  Bhai,  I  :  58,  253,  557;  II :  241,  447;  IV :  13 
Desu,  1 :  357,  558;  III :  110 

Desu  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  319,  405,  558  ;  II :  58,  131, 

413,  561-62;  III :  136;  IV:  166,  176 
Desii  Singh  Dallevalla,  II  :  380;  III :  102 
Deva,  Chaudhri,  IV  :  408 
Devaraja  Sharma,  IV :  246 
Deva  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  558-59 
Devi  Singh  Narotam,  Pandit,  1 :  559 
Deva  Singh  Nihang,  IV :  302 
Deva  Singh  (Ropar),  1 :  364 
Deva  Singh,  Sardar  Bahadur,  1 :  559-60 
Deva  Singh,  Sir,  1 :  560 
Devi  Chand(f/oMata  Khivi),  1 :  144 
Devi  Das,  1 :  560 
Devi  Das,  Diwan,  1 :  560-61 
Devi  Das,  Pandit,  1 :  561 

Devinder  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  330,  348,  561;  III :  106, 

151;  IV:  172 
Devno  Devi,  Rani,  1 :  562 
Dev  Samaj,  1 :  562-63;  IV :  206 
Dhadde,  1 :  563 
Dhadi,  1 :  563-S4 

Dhaka,  1 :  412,  564-65,  580;  II :  261,  290,  450;  III : 

113,  209,  345;  IV:  293,  331 
Dhakauli,  1 :  565 
Dhaleo,  1 :  565-66 
Dhamial,  IV :  266 
Dhamiaii  Kalaxi,  1 :  281,  492 
Dhammo  Majra,  IV :  423 
Dhamot,  1 :  566  ;  II :  302,  340 
Dhamtan,  1 :  486,  566-67  ;  II:  191,  495,  571;  III : 

69,  83,  146;  471;  IV :  76,  308,  331 
Dhanaura,  IV :  3 


INDEX 


486 


Dhand,  1 :  567 

Dhanna,  Bhagat,  1 :  183,  203,  312,  314,  355,  567; 

II :  106;  III :  53,  364,  447 
Dhanna  Singh,  1 :  567-68 
Dhanna  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  568-69 
Dhanna  Singh  Malvai,  1 :  246,  569;  II :  82,  291;  IV : 

303 

Dhanni,  IV:  103,  118,  345 

Dhanpat  Rai,  Diwan,  1 :  569-70  ;  II :  378 

Dhannuana,  IV :  280 

Dharam  Anant  Singh,  1 :  213;  IV  :  98 

Dharam  Arth  Board,  1 :  570;  II :  16,  554;  III :  154, 319 

Dharam  Chand,  1 :  306,  570-71;  III :  199 

Dharam  Chand,  Prince,  IV :  194 

Dharam  Das,  Bhai,  1 :  571  g 

Dharam  Dhuja,  1 :  571;  III :  20,  207,  221,  237-38, 

318;  IV  :  170,  315 
Dharamkot,  I  :  28,  32;  II :  539;  III :  96,  101,  104, 

129;  IV:  221,  261,  283 
Dharam  Prachar  Committee,  IV  :  98 
Dharamsala,  1 :  571-72;  IV  :  28 
Dharamsala  Guru  Ram  Das,  II :  546 
Dharam  Singh  Amritsaria,  IV  :  323 
Dharam  Singh,  Bhai,  I  :  129,  194,  219,  222,  273, 

541,  572-73,  584;  II :  20,  89,  90  526;  III :  193, 

263,  281-82;  IV :  203,  426,  451 
Dharam  Sihgli  (Bhai  Rupa),  IV  :  23 
Dharam  Singh  (Bundala) ,  1 :  573 
Dharam  Singh  (Buhga  Majithiah),  IV :  208 
Dharam  Singh  (Chitti) ,  I  :  572 
Dharam  Singh,  (Dallevalia) ,  I  :  572 
Dharam  Singh,  Sardar  Bahadur,  I  :  573-74 
Dharam  Yuddh,  II  :  353 
Dhara  Singh,  1 :  574 
Dhardeo,  IV :  52 
Dharma,  Bhai,  1 :  574;  IV :  379 
Dharma,  Bhai  (Malla),  IV:  428 
Dharo,  Bhai,  1 :  574 

Dharovali,  1 :  216,  248,  304,  441,  574;  II :  250,  259, 
267,  274,  301,  305,  308,  537-38;  III :  198,  206; 
IV  :  278,  286,  298,  422-23 

Dhattian,  IV  :  464 

Dhaul,  IV :  41 

Dhaula,  1 :  574-75 

Dhauhkal  Singh,  1 :  575 

Dhera,  Bhai,  1 :  575-76 


Dhianpur,  IV :  261 

Dhian  Singh  (Guru  Gobind  Singh's  Sikh),  I  :  576 

Dhian  Singh  (of  Majri),  I  :  576 

Dhian  Singh,  Raja,  I:  11,  34,  211,  256,  307,  370, 
408,  436-37,  447-48,  457,  470,  479,  576-77  ; 
II :  19,  24,  54,  121,  188,  275,  280,  381,  495, 
515, 543,  549,  563;  III :  20,  212,  220,  285,  287, 
£82,  487;  IV:  109-10,  112-13,  133,  232,  259, 
321,  357,  418-19,  427,  433 

DhillT  Mandal,  Bhai,  1 :  577-78 

Dhilloh,  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  1 :  227 

Dhilvah,  1 :  578 

Dhilvah  Kalan,  1 :  578;  II :  370,  461;  III :  226,  337; 
IV:  225 

Dhilvah  (Kapurthala),  IV:  174 
Dhihga,  Bhai,  1 :  578-79 
Dhingar,  Bhai,  1 :  579 
Dhihgarian,  1 :  295;  II :  523 
Dhira,  Bhai,  I  :  579 

Dhir  Mall,  1 :  579-80;  II :  145,  448-49;  III :  25,  190, 

210,  266;  IV :  114,  243,  330,  395 
Dhode,  IV  :  408 
Dhian,  1 :  580  ;  II :  97;  IV  :  377 
Dhubri,  1 :  580-81  ;  III :  187,  47;  IV :  331 
Dhudial,  IV  :  279 
Dhulkot,  IV :  408 
Dhuni,  1 :  581-82 
Dhupia,  1 :  582 
Diala,  Bhai,  1 :  324;  III :  7 
Dial  Das,  1 :  582 
Dial  Das,  Bhai,  I  :  582 
Dialpura  Bhai  Ka,  1 :  583  ;  IV :  355 
Dial,  Raja,  1 :  583  * 
Dial  Singh  (Baba  Balak  Singh's  father),  1 :  265 
Dial  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  583 
Dial  Singh  Kairori,  II :  44,  488;  III :  222 
Dikkh,  1 :  583-84 

Dilawar  Khan,  I  :  76,  244,  584;  II  :103,  136,  295, 

402;  III:  371;  IV:  332 
Dilbagh,  II :  313;  III :  266;  IV  :  309 
Dilbagh  Rai  Bakhshi,  Lala,  IV  :  120 
Dina,  1 :  221,  291,  311,  584;  II :  90,  91,  214,  458, 

566;  III :  9,  49,  194,  438;  IV :  303;  405,  451 
Dinanagar,  1 :  345;  II ;  359,  521;  III :  100,  107-08, 

120,  205 

Dina  Nath,  Diwan,  1 :  159,  162,  163,  316,  585;  II : 


487 


INDEX 


547,  549  ;  IV :  14,  111,  183,  357,  452 
Dina  Nath,  Pandit,  1 :  585-86 
Dina  Nath,  Raja,  1 :  91 
Din  -  i  -  Ilahi,  1 :  62 
Din-Ralp,  1 :  586 
Dipa,  Bhai,  1 :  586;  II :  473 
Dipa,  Bhai  (Dalla),  1 :  586-87 
Dipa,  Bhai  (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  1 :  587 
Dlpa,  Bhai  (Guru  Ram  Das,  Sikh),  1 :  587 
Dipalpur,  1 :  587;  II :  273,  343,  428,  497;  HI :  104, 

492;  IV :  459 
Dip  Chand,  Baba,  IV  :  287 
Dip  Chand,  Raja,  1 :  358;  IV :  331 
Dip  Singh  (Bhangani),  IV:  420 
Dip  Singh  Shahid,  1 :  499,  500,  515,  587-88;  II :  77, 

131,  194,  241,  250,  434;  III :  57,  95,  108-09; 

IV:  323 
Dirhba,  1 :  588-89 

Ditt  Singh,  Giani,  1 :  371,  589-90  ;  II :  155  186,  372, 

414,  482;  III :  4,  44,  73,  455;  IV :  30,  162-63, 

209-10,  253,  255',  291,  302 
Divali,  1 :  590-91;  II :  153-54,  240-41,  291,  358,  362, 

428,  447,  478,  549,  555;  III :  1,  40,  94^  965, 

267;  IV :  63,  324 
Divan,  1 :  591-92 

Divanas,  II :  85;  III :  28,  449;  IV  :  267 

Divan  Chand,  Misr,  1 :  198,  307,  592;  II :  184,  408, 

560;  III :  76,  456,  515;  IV :  222,  266,  269 
Divan  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  592-93;  IV :  221 
Divan  Singh,  Bhai  (Jaito  Morcha) ,  1 :  593 
Divan  Singh  Maftoon,  1 :  593-95 
Divan  Singh  Ramgarhia,  1 :  595  ;  III :  108 
Divine  Will  —  see  Hukam 
Diwankhana  Guru  Arjan  Sahib,  II :  546 
Ddaba  Region,  1 :  595-96;  II :  97, 120, 123, 258,  260, 

283,  300,  368-69, 483;  III :  29, 31,  42,  219,  345, 

419 

Doburji,  1 :  248;  II :  188 
Dod,  1 :  596 
Doda,  IV :  462 
Dodra  1 :  597 

Doraha,  1 :  597;  III :  96,  105,  460,  490 
Dost  Muhammad  Khan.  Amir,  1 :  14,  62,  170,  211, 
218-19,  296,  325,  398,  418,  597,  599;  II :  53, 
256-57,  324,  345;  III :  6,  316,  343,  492;  IV : 
111,  126,  266,  270,  366 


Dottenweiss,  1 :  598 

Dubuignon,  Robert  Walter,  De  Talbot,  1 :  598 
Duddhi,  1 :  277,  598;  III:  147 
Dudtiun  Ram,  1 :  598 
Dugar  Das,  Bhai,  1 :  598 
Dugghri,  1 :  599 

Dukh  Bhanjani  Beri  —  see  Amritsar 
Dukh  Bhanjan  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  567 
Dula  Singh,  1 :  599 

Dulcha  Singh,  III :  104-05,  119,  218,  455 

Duleep  Singh,  Maharaja,  1 :  3,  36, 93, 103, 156, 161- 
63,  169-71,  175,  178,  180-81,  189,  200,  217, 
252,  272,  294,  316,  369-70,  372,  398,  407,  419- 
22,  427,  447,  478,  489,  599-602;  II :  22,  48, 
110, 122, 127, 144,  186,  189,  211,  230,  252-53, 
275-76,  281,  306,  317,  327,  335-36,  365,  369- 
71,  381,  481,  5034)4,  520-21,  524-25,  534,  563; 
III :  82,  121,  204-05,  207,  219-21,  524-25,  534, 
563;  III :  82, 121, 2044)5, 207, 219-21, 245, 275, 
301,  304,  316,  365-67,  372-73,  394,  421,  468; 
IV :  69,  81,  102, 107,  112, 131,  199,  206,  226, 
253-54,  259,  287,  321,  347-49,  386,  427,  460 

Duley,  1 :  602-OS 

Dumeli,  1 :  603 

Dummna,  1 :  266 

Duni  Chand,  1 :  603 

Duni  Chand,  Masand,  1 :  181,  603-04  ;  II :  130; 
IV:  459 

Durga,  Bhai,  1 :  604  ;  II :  387;  IV  :  83 

Durga,  Pandit,  1 :  604 

Durgapur,  1 :  604-05 

Durli  Jatha,  1 :  605  ;  II :  522 

Dusanjh  Khuird.  1 :  605 

Dusanjh  (near  Moga),  II :  370 

Dvarka,  1 :  129;  II :  89;  III :  21,  129,  283,  432 

Dvarka  Das,  Baba,  1 :  605-06;  II :  55 

Dyal  Das,  II :  417 

Dyal,  Raja,  III :  155 

Dyal  Singh  College,  Lahore,  IV :  21,  223 
Dyal  Singh  Majithia,  1 :  606-07;  II :  121, 243-44, 469, 
558 

Dyal  Singh  Trust  Library,  Lahore,  rV :  374 
Dyre,  R.E.H.,  1 :  93,  201;  II :  333-35;  IV :  337,  381 

East  India  Company,  1 :  149,  151,  156,  161,  197, 
364,  380,  397,  469,  481,  575;  II :  39-40,  48, 


INbliX 


488 


256,  283,  346,  498,  551,  570;  III :  6,  51,  79, 
96,  98,  106, 186,  227,  248,  259,  274,  344,  445, 
481,  512;  IV :  146,  168,  199,  364,  387,  436 

East  Nimar  (Khandwa),  1 :  416 

Edinburgh,  IV :  231 

Edwardes,  Lt.  Sir  Herbert  Benjamin,  1 :  171,  178- 
79,  247,  377,  477,  483,  539;  II :  1,  20,  22,  107, 
289,  304,  550,  576;  III :  470 

Egan,  Dr.  Victor,  IV  :  289 

Egypt,  IV :  441 

Ekadasi,  II :  1-2 

Electrification  of  the  Golden  Temple,  II :  2-4 
Eliot,  Henry  M.,  1 :  180,  255 

Ellenborough,  Lord  Edward  Law,  1 :  164,  165,  231; 

II :  4-5,  229,  331,  382;  IIL;  344,  456;  IV :  111, 

259,  364 
Ellenborough  Papers,  II :  5 
Elliot  and  Dowson,  IV  :  327 
Elliot,  Sir  Gilbert,  III :  89 

Eminabad,  1 :  258,  324,  460;  II :  5-6,  116,  342,  354, 
490,  561;  III :  92,  110;  IV :  267,  374,  416,  448 
Engineer,  A.M.,  Ill :  45 
Engineering  College,  Roorkee,  IV  :  335 
English  Round  Table  Group,  III :  508 
Ernakulam,  IV :  65 
Essays  in  Sikhism,  IV  :  339 
Essentials  of  Sikhism,  III :  421 
Etawah,  II :  6  ;  IV  :  331 

European  Adventures  of  Northern  India,  II :  6-7,  54 
Events  at  the  Court  of  Ranjit  Singh,  II :  7-8 

Faisalabad,  II :  27,  385 

Faizabad,  1 :  224 

Faizullah  Khan,  III :  109 

Faizullapur,  II :  240,  428;  III :  100-01,  129,  210 

Faizullapuria  Misl,  II :  281,  395,  428;  III :  100-01, 

129,  210  ;  see  Misls 
Fane,  Henry  Edward,  II :  39-40,  547-48;  III :  245, 

486 

Fane,  Sir  Henry,  I  :  219  ;  II  :  9,  39;  III :  184,  285; 

IV:  357 
Farid  Khan,  1 :  77 

Faridkot,  1 :  266,  281,  295,  303,  372,  396;  II :  2-4,  9- 
10,  12-13,  118,  378,  481,  504,  506,  529,-553; 
III :  29,  31, 48, 129, 221,  262, 277-78,  285,  322- 
23,  326,  401,  437,  465,  504;  IV:  66,  167-68, 


174-75,  226,  253,  454-58 
Faridkot  Ilka,  1 :  176,  266,  350,  372;  II :  9-11;  IV : 

212,  273,  354 
Farid,  Shaikh,  1 :  116,  203,  299,  312,  314;  II :  11-13; 

III:  180,  253,  271,  387;  IV:  258 
Farris,  II :  14 
Farrukhabad,  IV :  197 

Farrukh-Siyar,  1 :  3,  70,  275;  II :  14-15,  27,  223,  300- 

01;  III:  148;  IV:  319,  326,  328 
Fatehabad,  II :  284;  III :  96,  99;  IV :  408 
Fateh  Chand  Maini,  Raja,  II :  15  ;  III :  326-27 
Fateh  Chand  of  Srinagar  —  see  Fateh  Shah 
Fateh  Chand  (Sevapanthi),  IV  :  44 
Fateh  Darshan,  IV  :  326-27 
Fateh  Din,  1 :  260  ;  II :  552 
Fatehgarh,  Fort  of,  1 :  32,  128 
Fatehgarh  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  1 :  68,  403,  421,  438; 

II :  15-18, 114,  322;  III :  29,  232,  322,  340;  IV : 

214,  347,  358 
Fatehgarh  (U.P.),  1 :  600;  IV :  112 
Fateh  Kaur,  1 :  77;  II :  18-19 
Fateh  Khan,  1 :  209,  229  ;  II :  19;  IV :  99,  434 
Fateh  Khan  Tiwana,  II  :  19-20;  280,  557;  III  :  36, 

275,  316 
Fatehnamah,  II :  20 

Fatehnamah  (by  Bhai  Dyal  Singh),  II :  20-21 
Fatehnamah  Guru  Khalsa  Ji  Ka,  II :  21 
Fatehpur,  IV :  355 

Fateh  Shah,  1 :  244,  343,  410;  II :  21-22,  51,  89,  137; 
III :  190 

Fateh  Singh  Ahluvalii,  1 :  66,  101,  151,  198,  326, 
343;  II :  22-23,  211,  272;  III :  52,  99,  220,  245, 
437,  481-82;  IV:  167,  173,  835,  255,  321,  359 

Fateh  Singh,  Bhai,  I  :  273;  III :  3 

Fateh  Singh  (s/o  Bhanga  Singh),  1 :  344 

Fateh  Singh  Chhachhi,  II :  23 

Fateh  Singh  Kalianvala,  1 :  198,  569;  II :  23-24,  544; 
III :  244,  278,  481 

Fateh  Singh  Man,  II :  24  ;  III :  491 

Fateh  Singh,  Raja,  IV :  171 

Fateh  Singh,  Sahibzada,  1 :  39,  II :  15,  17-18,  24, 90, 
114,  203,  385;  in :  108,  226,  229;  IV :  15,  106, 
142,  258,  347,  461  ;  see  also  Char  Sahibzade 

Fateh  Singh,  Sant,  1 :  6, 439;  II :  25-27,  293,  514, 539; 
III :  117-18,  397-402,  404;  IV  :  306,  314,  316 

Fateh  Singh  Virakt,  Baba,  IV  :  335 


489 


1NDKX 


Fattp,  Mai  -see  Fateh  Kaur 

Fatuhatnama/i  -  i  -  Samadi,  II  :  27-28;  TV  :  62,  443 
Fauja  Singh,  IV:  174 
Fauj-i-Ghair-A'in,  IV :  437 

Fauj-i-Khas,  I  :  82,  143;  II :  105,  302,  548;  III :  485; 
IV :  425,  436 

Fazaldad  Khan  Chib,  II  :  28-29 

Fazilka,  I  :  28;  II  :  27,  371;  III  :  381 

Feringhee,  II :  29,  336 ;  III :  337 

Ferozeshah,  Battle  of,  1 :  166-67,  292,  397,  471  ;  II : 
46,  84,  229,  295,  396,  514,  564,  573;  III :  48, 
256;  IV  :  102,  184,  221,  320-21,  343 

Fidal  Khan,  IV  :  25 

Fida  Muhammad  Khan,  III :  492 

FIroz  Din  Sharaf,  II :  180 

Firoz  Khan  Mewati,  1 :  70;  II :  408  ;  III :  164-67,  170- 
72,  179 

FTrozpur,  1 :  213,  218,  231,  303,  343,  480;  II  :  40, 
65, 87, 107-08, 127,  229-30,  248, 257,  273, 279, 
292,  308,  344,  451,  479,  514,  533,  548,  559, 
564,  571-73,  576;  III :  29,  31,  78, 102, 114, 120, 
209,  216-17,  381, 403,  419-20, 465-66, 476, 488, 
500;  IV  :  59,  94,  165,  185,  260,  302,  309,  343, 
346,  386,  433,  436,  460 

Fitzroy.John,  II :  29 

Five  Evils,  II :  29-34,  113,  267,  531,  573;  III :  5 

Five  Khands,  II :  34-35 

Five  Symbols,  II  :  35-39 

Five  Years  in  India,  II :  39-40  ;  III :  184 

Ford,  Matthew  William,  II :  40-41 

Forster,  George,  1 :  150;  II :  14,  153,  400;  III :  98  ; 

IV  :  194,  263 
Fort  Cavagnari,  IV  :  58 
Fort  Lockhart,  IV  :  58 

Fort  William,  I  :  179,  211;  II :  282;  III :  436 

Forward  Bloc,  IV :  66-67 

Foulkes,  R.,  II :  41 

France,  IV  :  425,  440 

Franchise  Committee,  III :  122 

Francis,  II ;  41 

Free  India  Centre,  1 :  225 

Friends  of  India  Society,  1 :  31 

Fukinaul,  Thomas,  II :  41 

Gadahar,  IV :  361 
Gadaila  Party,  II :  481,  498 


Gadial,  II :  42 
Gaga,  II  :  42,  87;  III :  26 
Gaggobua,  1 :  376;  II :  42 
Gahal,  II :  42-43 
Gahir  Gambhir,  II :  43 

Gahir  Gambhiri  Mat  ke  Svami  Bishan  Das  Yatiji  ka 

Jivan  Charitra,  II :  43 
Gajendra  Singh,  Kahvar,  1 :  396;  II :  2 
Gajjan  Bhai,  II:  43;  IV:  126 
Gajjan  Singh  (of  Ludhiana),  1 :  476;  II :  83;  III :  122; 

IV  :  187 

Gajjan  Singh,  Sardar  Bahadur,  1 :  424 

Gajja  Singh,  Mahant,  1 :  184;  II :  44-45;  III :  303 

Gaj  Mall,  II :  86 

Gajpat  Singh,  Raja,  II :  45,  299,  360,  381,  445;  III : 
51,  106-07,  III:  204,  437,  442,  479;  IV:  166, 
170-72 

Gaj  Singh,  Raja,  IV  :  407-08 

Gakkhars,  II:  116;  III :  351 

Galaura,  Bhai,  II :  45 

Galihan  (Doda),  IV  :  462 

Galloway,  Sir  Archibald,  IV  :  184 

Galotiah  Khurd,  II :  45 

Gamah  (Pahalvan),  III :  320 

Ganda  Singh  Bhangi,  III :  100-01;  IV:  425 

Ganda  Singh  (Butala),  II :  45-46 

Ganda  Singh,  Dr.,  1 :  378  ;  II :  46-48,  238-39,  342, 

346,  486;  III :  320,  382,  478;  IV  :  126, 181, 236, 

246,  292 

Ganda  Singh  Mashariqi,  II :  48-49 
Ganda  Singh,  Pandit,  IV  :  255 
Gandgarh,  II :  413;  III :  366,  456 
Gandhi-Irwin  Pact,  1 :  425;  III :  211,  509 
Gandhi,  Mahatma,  1 :  425  ;  IV  :  189,  388 
Gandhuaft,  II :  49 
Gandivind,  II :  519 

Ganesha  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  223;  II :  49-50;  IV  :  208 
Ganesh  Datt  (Kochvan),  1 :  67;  IV  :  218 
Gahga,  Bhai,  II :  50 

Gahga,  Mata,  1 :  175,  190,  233-34,  375,  466;  II :  50, 

135,  139,  232;  III :  87 
Ganganagar,  I  :  311,  439  ;  II  :  25;  III :  384,  403 
Gahga  Ram,  Diwan,  II :  51 
Gahga  Ram  (of  Bathinda)  ,  II :  50-51  ;  IV:  45 
Gahga  Ram  (son  of  Bibi  Viro),  II :  51;  IV  :  428 
Gahga,  River,  IV  :  194 


INDKX 


490 


Gaiiga  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  247 

Ganga  Singh,  Maharaja,  1 :  213;  III :  251 

Gang  Doab,  IV  :  194,  198,  300 

Garigsar,  Gurdwara  (Jaito)  II :  391,  428,  522;  III : 

11,  503;  IV:  279 
Gaiigsar,  Gurdwara  (Kartarpur),  1 :  499 
Gangu,  Bhai,  II :  51;  IV :  379 
Gangu,  Bhai  (Dalla),  II :  51-52 
Gangu,  Bhai  (Sahgal),  II :  52;  IV :  15 
Gangu  (Brahman),  II :  15, 90,  114;  IV  :  15,  258,  461 
Gangu  Shah,  II :  52 
Gangu  Shahis,  II :  52  ;  IV  :  254 
Ganjnamah,  II :  52-53;  III :  196 
Ganpat  Rai,  IV :  226 

Garabganjani  Tika,  1 :  120,  558;  II :  53;  III :  258; 

IV  :  52,  354,  376 
Gardner,  Alexander  Haughton  Campbell,  II :  53- 

54,  280-81,  295;  III :  54;  IV :  231-32 
Gargajj  Akali,  IV  :  337 
Gargajj  Akali  Diwan  1 :  195;  II :  54;  IV  :  337 
Gargajj  Akali  jatha,  II :  54-55  ;  IV :  337 
GarhdTvala,  II :  359;  III :  104,  108;  IV :  175 
Garhia,  Bhai,  II :  55-56  ;  IV :  44 
Garhi  Nazir  II :  56,  391;  IV :  36 
Garhi  Sahib,  Gurdwara^Chamkaur),  1 :  429-30 
Garhshankar,  1 :  299;  II :  42,  52,  377 
Garhval,  IV :  194 
Garlal,  Bhai,  II :  56 
Garja  Singh,  1 :  387 

Garja  Singh,  GianI,  1 :  353;  II :  210;  III :  47  ;  IV :  95, 
243-44 

Garna  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  IV  :  456 

Garu,  Bhai,  II  :  56;  III  :  297 

Gatha  1 :  192;  II :  57;  III :  339;  IV  :"240,  294 

Gau  Ghat,  Gurdwara,  II :  575  ;  III :  67,  325 

Gauhar  Singh,  II :  57;  III :  119-20  ;  IV  :  101 

Gaura,  Bhai,  II :  57-58,  97,  130 

GaurJ  ki  Var  (by  Guru  Ram  Das),  II :  58-59 

Gaun  ki  Var  (by  Guru  Arjan),  II :  59-60 

Gayand  Bhatt,  IV :  397,  399 

Gayatri  Mantra,  II  :  348;  III :  140 

Genda  Singh,  Subedar,  IV  :  50 

Gend  Sahib  Patshahi  Dasvin,  Gurdwara  (Bhano 

Kheri),  1 :  346 
Georgegarh,  IV:  353 
George  Thomas,  II :  7,  360 


George  V,  King,  IV :  223 
Ghadr  Ashram,  II :  62 

Ghadr  (journal),  II :  63-65,  457;  IV  :  228,  424 
Ghadr  Movement,  II :  60-67,  115,  184,  259-60,  273, 

316,  366,  434,  456-57,  III :  67,  197,  217,  491, 

513;  IV:  52,  164,  211,  228,  345,  380-81,  424 
Ghadr  Party,  1 :  331;  II :  273,  307,  311,  366,  456-57, 

464,  467,  519;  III:  148,  217,  476,  492,  513; 

IV :  186,  227-28,  342,  345,  424 
Ghaiba,  Tara  Singh,  1 :  95  ;  also  see  Tara  Singh 

Ghaiba 
Ghal  Kalan  ;  II :  67 
Ghallughara,  II :  43,  119 
Ghanaula,  II :  67 
Ghanaur  Jattah,  II :  67 
Ghanaiya  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  304  ;  II :  291 
Ghanaula,  IV :  332 

Ghani  Khan,  II :  67-68,  90,  117;  III :  5-6,  152 
Gharbara  Singh,  IV  :  204 
Gharibfctasias  II :  68 

Gharjakh,  II :  408,  454;  489-50,  543;  HI :  278;  IV : 
211 

Gharu,  II :  68-69 
Gharuaft,  II :  69;  III :  478 
GhasI  Ram  (Satnami),  IV  :  77 
Ghasita,  Bhai,  1 :  184, 

Ghaus  Khan,  1 :  198,  592;  II :  69;  III :  481;  IV :  269 

Ghavindi,  II :  70 

Ghazni,  IV  :  213,  354 

Ghoga,  Masand,  III :  199 

Ghorcharas  Khas,  II :  411;  III :  490 

Ghonari,  II :  70-71 

Ghudda,  IV :  267 

Ghukkevali,  II :  71-72,  205 

Ghulal,  II :  72 

Ghulam  Hussain  Khan,  IV  :  219 
Ghulam-  Mohiy  ud-Din  Shaikh,  II :  72 ;  IV  :  62,  374, 
443,  453 

Ghulam  Muhammad,  1 :  260;  II :  552 

Ghulam  Muhammad  Khan  Chattha,  I  :  449;  II  :  23, 

346;  III :  455 
Ghulam  Muhammad  Ruhila,  IV  :  198 
Ghulam  Murtaza,  Mirza,  II :  72-73 
Ghulam  Qadir  Ruhila,  II :  299  ;  III :  512;  IV :  197 
Ghulla  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  73 
Ghuman,  II :  73-74,  359;  III :  108,  161-62 


491 


INDEX 


Ghuram,  I  :  273,  356;  II :  553 

Ghurani  Kalan,  II :  74-75,  302;  III :  490 

Gian,  II :  75-76,  444' 

Giani  II :  76-77 

Giani  Sampradai,  II :  77-79 

Gian  Prabodh,  1 :  243;  II :  79 

Gian  Ratnavali,  II  ;  79,  351,  IV  :  121,  411 

Gian  Singh,  Bhai  (Naqqash),  II :  79-81 

Gian  Singh,  Giani,  II  :  78,  81-82,  155,  191-93  ; 

IV :  67,  208,  348 
Gian  Singh,  Giani  (historian),  II :  82-83,  228,  239, 

313,  455,  514,  568;  III :  39,  156,  237,  284,  289, 

320,  354,  435,  441,  444;  IV  :  31, 181,  209,  212, 

254,  297,  315,  372-73 
Gian  Singh  Rarevala,  II :  83-84  ;  III :  323,  392,  394; 

IV  :  456 

Giddarbaha,  1 :  459;  II  :  528  ;  IV  :  16,  351 
Gidwani,  A.T. ,  1 :  54 

Gilbert,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  II  :  84-85  ;  IV  :  107.  185 
Gill  Kalari,  II  :  85 

Gill,  Lachhman  Singh  — see  Lachhman  Singh  Gill 

Gillmore,  II :  85 

Gillot,  II :  85 

Gill,  P.S.,  III :  396 

Giranth  (of  Divanas),  II :  85 

Girdhari,  Bhai,  II  :  86 

Girdhar  Lai,  II :  86 

Girvari,  IV :  9-10 

Gobind  Dham,  Gurdwara,  II :  270 

Gobindgarh  Fort,  1 :  68,  95, 116,  153,  172, 179,  230; 

II :  86-87,  303-04,  456,  547;  III :  76,  143,  285, 

481;  IV:  101 
Gobindgarh  Mandi,  II :  86,  463 
Gobindgarh  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  489 
Gobind  Ghat,  Gurdwara,  II  :  270;  III  :  414 
Gobind  Jas,  Rai,  II :  87,  576 

Gobind  Nagar  Patshahi  Dasvin,  Gurdwara, 

Bathinda,  1 :  299 
Gobindpura  ,  I  :  319;  II :  87 
Gobind  Ram,  Bhai,  II :  87  ;  III :  382 
Gobind  Ram,  Pandit,  I  :  247 

Gobind  Singh,  Guru,  I:  17-18,  21,  29,  31-35,  37- 
39,  56,  59-61,  63,  69,  75-78,  86,  90,  97-99, 
108,  119,  129,  130-132,  175,  181-182,  185, 
202,  213-14,  217,  224,  232,  243,  245,  251,  253- 
55,  257-59,  261-62,  268,  272,  274-75,  280, 


291,  293,  299,  302-03,  305,  353,  355-58,  366, 
373-74,  377,  380,  382-84,  386,  388,  404,  410, 
417,  427,  428-31,  433-34,  437,  442,  446-47, 
454,  459,  461,  469,  488,  494,  497-500,  504, 
506,  508,  512,  515,  518,  532,  540,  546,  548, 
530,  561,  564,  572,  582,  596,  599,  601;  II :  15, 
17,  20-22,  24,  27-28,  37,  42,  51,  53,  67,  72,  76- 

79,  88-93,  96-98,  103,  109,  114,  117-19,  124- 
25, 127, 129-30, 134-37, 139-40, 142, 146,  148, 
150,  153,  155,  157,  178-79,  192-95,  197,  200- 
03,  20607,  209-10,  214-15,  222-23,  232,  236- 
38,  240,  255, 264-65,  267-68,  270-71,  281,  290- 
91,  295,  301,  307,  327,  336-37,  341,  343-45, 
349-50,  355-56,  358,  423-24,  426-28,  441-43, 
438, 458,  465-67,  470-71, 483, 500, 560-61, 563, 
566,  568,  574;  HI :  4,  5,  7,  11, 16-18,  22-24,  28, 
30,  33-35,  38-40,  47,  49,  50,  54,  60,  64,  76,  78, 

83,  88,  90,  92,  94,  105,  108-10,  125,  129,  132, 
135-37,  140,  149,  151-52,  155,  157-58,  171- 

80,  183,  185-88,  190-97,  199,  203-04,  216,  219, 
236,  238,  241,  244,  253-55,  258,  263-66,  281- 

84,  288-89,  291-92,  297-99,  302,  315,  329-31, 
345,  353-54,  364,  367-69,  371-73,  414,  424-29, 
433-34,  441-43,  455-56,  460-64,  468,  478-79, 
489,  491,  493,  499,  504-08,  513-14;  IV:  4-6, 
13,  15-17,  23;  24,  30,  31,  35,  36,  43-45,  53,  57, 
61,  68,  71,  72,  80,  81,  83,  92,  95,  98,  104,  106, 
108, 113, 120, 123, 130, 135, 137, 142-43, 147, 
149,  152-54,  158,  168,  174,  180-81,  194,  197, 
200,  203-04,  206,  212-14,  219,  222-23,  225, 
230,  23(5-39,  243-47,  262,  267,  269,  273,  277, 
281,  293,  297-99,  301-05,  307,  310-11,  331-33, 
339,  346,  349,  351,  355,  358-59,  367,  370-71, 
375-78,  384-86,  391,  397,  399,  400-02,  405, 
407-09,  412-13,  417,  419-20,  424-426,  429,  434, 
439,  447,  450-51,  459-61,  463-64 

God,  Concept  of,  1 :  245,  368,  390-91;  II :  34,  53, 
59,  60,  70,  71,  93-97, 197-98,  266,  288-89,  311- 

12,  331,  348-50,  386,  402,  404-06,  426,  446, 
474,  516-17,  532;  III :  45,  60-63,  71,  83,  112- 

13,  141,  159-60,  167-77,  180-82,  247,  295-96, 
499;  IV :  60,  61,  71,  72,  85,  104-05,  148,  215, 
220,  231,  263-64,  294,  301,  402,  460 

Godaria,  Bhai,  II  :  97 
Godavari,  River,  IV  :  194 
Godby,  Brigadier,  IV  :  221 


INDliX 


492 


Gohana,  III :  204 

Goind,  Bhai  (Ghel),  II :  97 

Goind,  Bhal  (Gonda),  II :  97,  98;  III :  338,  IV :  377 

Goind  Kukk,  Bhal,  II :  98,  100 

Goindval,  I  :  26,  62,  88,  188-89,  191-92,  220,  296, 
310,  346,  380,  533,  534;  II :  55,  86,  98-100, 
138-39,  145, 190,  194,  208,  262,  269,  407,  449, 
471,  490,  496,  565;  III :  11,  12,  21-24,  33,  47, 
66,  99,  112, 144,  213,  303,  349,  364,  366,  371, 
421,  452,  461,  477;  IV :  1,  5,  70,  82,  126,  240, 
272,  336,  375 

Gokha  Bhatt,  1 :  352 

Gokhu  Mahita,  Bhai,  II :  100 

Gokuljat,  IV:  195 

Gola,  Bhai,  II :  100 

Golak,  II :  100-01  ;  IV :  305 

Golden  Temple  —  see  Harimandar 

Golpur  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  1 :  461 

Gomez,  II :  101 

Gonabai,  III  :  161 

Gonda,  Bhai,  II :  101,  261 

Gonda,  Chaudhari,  II :  101-02  ;  III :  142 

Gondpur,  II :  102 

Gond,  Raja,  II :  174 

Goniana  Mandi,  II :  553;  III :  17 

Gopal,  Bhai,  1 :  246 

Gopal  Das,  Sant,  IV :  378 

Gopal  Das  Sevapanthi,  1 :  388 

Gopal  Pas  Udasi,  IV:  378 

Gopal  (pandha),  II :  102-03 

Gopal,  Raja,  II :  103,  245,  402,  III :  372;  IV :  43 

Gopal  Rao,  IV  :  196 

Gopal  Seth,  II  :  103 

Gopal  Singh,  Akali,  II :  103-04 

Gopal  Singh  Qaumi,  1 :  494;  III :  211,  304 

Gopi,  Bhai  (Dalla),  II :  104 

Gopi,  Bhai  (Brahman),  II :  104 

Gopi  Chand,  Bakhshi,  IV :  312 

Gopi  Chand  Vairag  Shatak,  IV  :  212 

Gopi  Mahita,  Bhai,  II  :  104 

Gorakh  Hatari,  IV:  124 
.Gorakh  Mata,  IV:  124 

Gorakh  Nath  IV  :  449 

Gorakhpur,  II  :  212;  III :  189;  IV :  387 

Goraisa  &atak,  IV:  450 

Gordon,  II  :  104-05  ;  IV :  146,  181 


Gordon  College,  Rawalpindi,  IV  :  339 

Gorkhas,  IV  :  435,  453 

Gosfari  Miharvan  JI  Kian,  II :  105 

Goshti  Bafaa  Nanak,  II :  105-06 

Gough,  Sir  Hugh,  1 :  165,  167-68,  172,  174$  178-79, 
378,  399  ;  II :  84,  106-07,  231,  564,  573;  III : 
6;  IV:  107,  183-85,  221,  321,  344,  440-41 

Gould,  John,  II :  108 

Government  College,  Lahore,  IV  :  22,  210,  217-18, 

261,  292,  341,  385,  437 
Government  of  India  Act  1919,  IV  :  187 
Government  of  India  Act  1935,  IV :  66,  202,  282 
Government  Training  College,  Lahore,  IV  :  28 
Govind,  Bhai,  II :  108 

Grace,  1 :  142,  191,  204,  294,  301,  369;  II :  96,  349, 

443-44  ;  III  :  152-54 
Granth  Gurbilas  Patshahi  6,  II :  108 
Grand)  Gw'U  Girarth  Kos,  TV  :  315 
Granthi,  II :  108-10,  245 

Granrh  Sri  Gurmat  Nirnaya  Sagar,  1 :  313  ;  II :  110; 

IV  :  315,  407 
Grant,  Sir  Hope,  1 :  167 
Great  Holocaust  —see  Vadda  Ghallughara 
Gregory  VIII,  Pope,  IV  :  135 
Griffin,  Sir  Lepel,  IV :  71,  146 
Gual  Das,  Bhai,  II :  110 
Guise,  Waller,  II :  110 
Gujan  ki  Var  Mahla  3,  II :  1 10-12 
Gujari  ki  Var  (Guru  Arjan),  II :  112-13 
Gujari,  Mata,  1 :  377  ;  II :  15-18,  24,  90, 113-14,  203, 

374,  449,  572,  553;  III :  125,  127,  325,  479; 

IV :  215,  258,  277,  330,  347,  358,  461 
Gujjar,  Bhai,  II  :  114 

Gujjar  Khan,  II :  552  ;  III :  124,  206,  224,  351 
Gujjar  Singh  Bhahgi,  1 :  345;  II :  57,  86,  116,  211, 

223,  413,  438,  541;  III :  13, 100,  220,  351,  415, 

507;  IV  :  20,  245 
Gujjar  Singh  (Ghadrite),  II :  115 
Gujjarval,  II :  116-17,  508 

Gujranwala,  1 :  30, 196,  213, 232,  238, 260, 438,  443, 
471,  490,  555;  II :  23,  45,  50,  116,  130,  144, 
185,  251,  253,  325,  347,  356,  371-72,  381,  385, 
396,  429,  489-90,  502,  543-44,  552;  IV  :  2,  101, 
183,  261,  324 

Gujrat,  1 :  68,  230,  448;  II :  21,  51,  53,  84,  107,  117, 
256,  283,  298,  325,  330,  369,  377,  396,  419, 


493 


INDEX 


479,  562;  III :  72,  87,  96,  107,  130,  146,  157, 
205,  216,  245, 467-70, 483,  491-92,  IV :  93, 100, 
172,  183,  185,  222,  283,  287,  320,  344-45,  441, 
454,  458 

Gujrat,  Battle  of,  1 :  174,  308,  372,  574 

Gulaba,  Masand,  II  :  117;  III  :  5-6 

Gulab  Chand,  II :  118;  IV :  420,  428 

Gulabdasias,  II :  118,  372;  III :  186;  IV  :  254,  421 

Gulab  Kaur,  Rani,  II :  118 

Gulab  Khan,  1 :  407 

Gulab  Rai,  II :  118-19,  129;  IV :  45,  £78 

Gulab  Singh  (Akbarpur  Khudal),  1 :  63;  IV  :  217 

Gulab  Singh  Arnauli,  IV  :  176,  326 

Gulab  Singh  Atarivala,  II :  122,  244 

Gulab  Singh  Bakhshi,  II :  122 

Gulab  Singh  (Bhagovali),  II :  121-22 

Gulab  Singh  Bhahgi,  1 :  444;  II :  119-20,  325,  395; 

III  ;  100-01;  IV:  19 
Gulab  Singh,  Commandant,  II :  120 
Gulab  Singh  Dallevalia,  1 : 402;  II :  119;  III :  95, 101; 

IV:  311 

Gulab  Singh  (Faridkot),  IV :  174 

Gulab  Singh,  General,  1 :  211-12 

Gulab  Singh  Gholia,  Sant,  II :  122-23,  447 

Gulab  Singh  Kabba,  1 :  66 

Gulab  Singh  Pahuvindia,  II :  22,  123  ;  ffl :  275 

Gulab  Singh,  Pandit,  II :  123-24;  IV :  9,  10 

Gulab  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  156,  159,  168-69,  316,  343, 
398,  434,  447-49,  457,  482  ;  II :  4,  24,  54,  120- 
21, 188,  229, 231,  275,  280,  304,  370,  382, 424, 
495,  520,  547,  550,  560,  562;  III :  79,  81,  120, 
142,  212,  268,  275,  285,  316,  365,  488,  491- 
92;  IV :  101-02, 109-10, 184, 232,  256,  259,  270, 
320,  343,  357,  364,  427,  462 

iulab,Sihgh,  Sant,  IV:  315 

Gulab  Singh  Sodhi;  IV :  120,  251 

Gulbagh,  IV :  309 

Gul  Bahar,  Begum,  II :  125;  III :  487 
Guler,  IV :  43 
Gulistah  Fort,  IV  :  58 
Gulmarg,  IV :  218 
Gulshan-i-Panjab,  TV :  320 
Gulzar  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  125,  240 
Gumtl  Kalan,  II :  340,  III :  337,  514 
Gunike,  II :  126 
Gun  van  ti,  II :  126,  532 


Gupala,  Bhai:,  II :  126;  IV :  1 
Guptsar  Gurdwara,  1 :  459 

Gurbachan  Singh  Khalsa,  II :  78,  127,  352,  514; 
IV  :  283 

Gurbachan  Singh  Nirahkari,  II :  353 
Gurbachan  Singh  Sandhanvalia,  II :  127-28,  144; 
IV  :  349 

Gurbachan  Singh  Talib,  II :  128-29 
Gurbakhsh,  I  :  129,  132  ;  II :  129;  IV :  378 
Gurbakhsh,  Bhai,  II :  129 
Gurbakhsh,  Bhai  (Masand),  II :  129;  IV  :  409 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  (Bhai  Bhagatu's),  1 :  299;  II :  130- 

31;  IV:  176 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  (Chahil),  IV:  455 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  Chhibbar,  II :  130 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  (courtier),  II :  132 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  (Kalal),  II :  130 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  Kalsia,  II  :  132;  IV :  175 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  Kanhalya,  1 :  458;  II :  132-33,  324, 

359;  III  :  13,  19,  102;  IV :  2 
Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Maj-Gen.,  1 :  133,  III :  403 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  (Roranvala) ,  II :  57, 116, 541;  III : 

100,  220;  IV :  101 
Gurbakhsh  Singh,  Sant,  II :  133 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  (Sau  Sakhi),  IV:  80 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  (Shahid),  1 :  58,  115;  II :  131-32, 

342  ;  III :  108 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  (s/o  Dharam  Chand),  1 :  280 
Gurbakhsh  Singh  Wazirabadia,  IV  :  118 
Gurbani  Viakuran,  IV  :  22 
Gurfaarisava/f,  II :  133-34 
Gurbilas  Baba  Sahib  Singh  Bedl,  1 :  134 
Gurbilas  Chhevin  Patshahi,  1 :  39,  56-57,  99,  175, 

208,  235,  276,  313,  368,  377,  400,  465,  555, 

570;  II :  134-35,  145,  179,  234,  369,  507,  558; 

III :  40,  41,  77,  86,  90,  205,  266-68,  270,  343; 

IV:  7,  240-41,  268,  278,  394 
Gurbilas  Dasvin  Patshahi,  1 :  18,  133;  II :  136-37; 

III :  357,  463;  IV :  53,  180,  254 
Gurbilas  Dasvin  Patshahi  Guru  Gobind  Singh 

Charitra;  TV:  273 
Gurbilas  Patshahi  10,  1 :  129;  II :  88,  89,  135-36, 

142,  474;  ffl  :  24,  157,  281,  283,  345,  479,  508; 

IV :  53,  180,  245,  332 
Gurcharan  Singh,  Giani,  II :  451;  III :  222 
Gurcharar.  Singh  (Kuka),  1 :  407;  II :  137-38,  534 


INDUX 


494 


Gurcharan  Siiigh  Tauhra,  1 :  133;  III :  402 
Gurdarshan  Prakash  Gurdwara,  II  :  127,  352 
Gurdas,  Bhai,  I:  62,  73,  116,  191,  193,  246,  248, 
264,  309,  312-13,  315-16,  323,  328,  332,  341, 
343,  349,  352,  357,  361,  367,  377,  382,  383, 
386,  400,  409,  411,  438,  450,  458,  496,  498, 
502,  571,  587;  II :  6,  10,  29,  37,  43,  94,  97,  99, 
104,  108,  135,  138-39,  145,  149,  152,  178-79, 
194,  222,  225-26,  233-34,  261,  264,  270,  307, 
317,  321,  326,  335,  337,  347,  351,  364-65,  375, 
385,  387,  392, 406-07, 413-14,  418,  421-22, 449, 
459,  464,  479,  492,  499,  507,  517-18, 520,  535, 
541,  559,  565,  569;  III :  10,  12,  13,  21,  28,  33,  34, 
38,  40,  46,  59,  77,  88, 112-14, 137-38, 140, 145, 
149,  156,  166-68,  188,  190,  203,  205,  213,  219, 
225,  236,  241,  258,  263,  269-70,  272-73,  282, 
307,  336,  340,  343,  345,  367,  371-72,  387,  413, 
446,  450-51,  473,  498,  513-14;  IV  :  25-27,  42, 
70,  180,  230,  240-42,  244,  285,  288,  290,  301, 
323,  325,  329,  354,  356,  360,  368,  371,  3,84, 
397,  399,  400,  402,  407,  409,  411-12,  427,  460 
Gurdas,  Bhal  II,  II :  139-40;  III :  64;  IV  :  246,  407 
Gurdas,  Bhai  (Bhai  Bahilo's  descendant) ,  II :  139 
Gurdas  Naftgal,  1 :  33,  79,  207,  258,  275;  II :  14,  27, 

122,  300,  408;  III  .327,  464;  IV :  319 
Gurdaspur,  I  :  275,  351,  400  ;  II :  14,  27,  73,  119, 
121,  144,  300-01,  359,  479,  489,  555;  III :  23, 
96,  102;  107-08,  132,  381,  419,  492,  512 
Gurdas  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  78,  187 
Gurdas  Singh  (Dall-Van),  IV  :  311 
Gurdial  Singh  Ajnoha,  Jathedar,  II :  514 
Gurdial  Singh  (Bhahgi),  II  :  120;  III  :  101 
Gurdial  Singh  Dhilloh,  II :  140-41 
Gurdial  Singh,  Jathedar,  II:  141-42 
Gurdit  Singh,  Baba,  1 :  271,  493;  II :  142-43,  184, 

213,  526-27;  III :  306  ;  IV  :  208 
Gurdit  Singh,  Giani,  II :  293 

Gurdit  Singh  (Guru  Gobind  Singh's  Sikh),  II :  142 

Gurdit  Singh  (of  Ladva),  1 :  32,  418 

Gurdit  Singh  Lamma,  1 :  357 

Gurdit  Singh  Majithia,  II :  143-44 

Gurdit  Singh  Nalva,  II :  144 

Gurdit  Singh  (Phulka)  III :  106,  151;  IV :  355 

Gurdit  Singh  Sandhahvalia,  II :  744;  IV :  348 

Gurdit  Singh  (Tabla  player),  IV  :  40 

Gurditta,  Baba  1 :  2,  84,  109,  143,  207,  268,  289, 


297-98,  389,  465,  506,  580;  II :  97,  126,  139, 
144-45,  234,  449-50, 508-09;  III :  210,  267, 338; 
IV  :  1,  27,  194,  234,  317-18,  380,  395 
Gurditta,  Bhai  (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  1 :  328;  II :  145 
Gurditta,  Bhai  (Baba  Buddha's  descendant), 

II  :  145-46,  376,  389  ;  III :  460 
Gurditta  Bhathiara,  II  :  146 
Gurdwara,  II  :  100-01,  146-48,  IV  :  247 
Gurdwara  Reform  Movement :  1 :  39,  43,  44,  50-53, 
185,  194,  216,  389,  329,  422,  511,  554,  585  ; 
II  :  157,  227,  253,  261,  290,  292,  305,  309,  317, 
334,  360-61,  363,  373,  384,  437,  449,  454,  470, 
515,  523*  537,  568  ;  III :  14,  18,  34,  37,  77, 
117,  126,  201,  209,  211,  232,  276,  461,  503; 
IV  :  22,  114,  143,  154,  186,  211,  229-30,  280, 
312-13,  322,  334,  337,  340,  346-47,  355,  360; 
see  Akali  Movement 
Gurdwara  Sevak  Dal,  1 :  44 
Gurgaop,  IV :  83 

Gurkha-War,  II :  360,  III :  55,  IV  :  172 
Gur  KiVat  Prakash,  II :  148,  IV  :  212 
Gurmantra,  II :  149-50 
Gurmat,  II :  150-52 

Gurmata,  II :  152-55,  279;  IV  :  63,  64,  154 

Gurmat  College,  Patiala,  rV  :  22 

Gurmat  Granth  Pracharak  Sabha,  1 :  515;  II :  155- 

56  ;  IV  :  67,  68,  209 
Gurmat  Granth  Sudharak  Committee,  II :  325 
Gurmat  Martand,  II :  156,  266,  410 
Gurmat  Prabhaiar,  II :  156;  410 
Gurmat  Pracharak  Lari,  II :  157  ;  IV  :  108 
Gurmat  Prakash  :  Bhag  Sanskar,  1 :  463;  II :  133;  III : 

426-27;  IV :  335-36 
Gurmat  Sanglt  I  :  441;  II  :  157-79 
Gurmat  Sudhakan  II :  156,  179,  410 
Gurmat  Trust  Society,  II :  179-80;  IV  :  165 
Gurmat  Updeshak  College,  Damdama  Sahib,  IV : 

230 

Gurmat  Vidyala,  Delhi,  II :  214 
Gurmat  Vidyala,  Gharjakh,  1 :  330 
Gurmil  Singh,  rV  :  178 

Gurmukh,  II :  180-81,  421;  III :  45,  62;  IV :  411-12, 
418 

Gurmukhi,  II :  181-84,  210,  212,  238,  278,  291,  337, 
385,  451,  464,  469,  472,  487,  506,  519,  536, 
540;  III :  16,  118,  188,  222,  258,  268-69,  274, 


495 


INDEX 


297,  328,  344,  388,  411,  478,  491,  495,  497, 

510;  IV :  228,  23d,  240,  253,  255,  262,  286, 

336,  338,  379,  422 
Gurmukhi  Akhbar,  IV:  162-63 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Baba,  II :  184-  85;  IV  :  342 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Bhai,  223,  590;  II :  185-87,  220, 

372,  410,  498,  504;  III :  73,  274;  IV :  162,  208, 

291,  302 

Gurmukh  Singh  Giani,  Bhai,  II :  78,  81,  187,  243, 

275,  304,  447,  507,  563;  III :  301;  IV :  54,  113 
Gurmukh  Singh  (Kahar)  II  :  184 
Gurmukh  Singh  Lamma,  II :  187-88 
Gurmukh  Singh  Musafir,  II :  26,  188-89,  293;  III : 

290,  352,  440 
Gurmukh  Singh  (of  Tung)  II :  184 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Sant,  II :  190-91;  IV :  103 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Sant  (Karsevavale),  1 :  97,  329;  II : 

189-90;  IV :  59,  213,  310,  322 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Sardar,  Bahadur,  1 :  363 
Gurmukh  Singh,  Sepoy,  IV :  59 
Gurnam  Singh  (chief  minister),  1 :  48, 133;  II :  539- 

40 

Gurne  Kalah,  II :  191 
Gurpad  Prem  Prakash,  1 :  302 
Gurplah  Patshahi  Dasmi,  Gurdwara,  :  299 
Gurpranalls,  II  :  134,  155,  191-94;  IV:  74 
Gurpurb,  II :  194-95 
Gurpurb  Nirnaya,  II :  436 
Gur  Pur  Prakash,  II :  195-96 
Gur  jRatan  Mai,  IV :  23,  80,  304^)5 
Gur  Sevak  Sabha,  II :  196,  253;  IV  :  339 
Guru,  I  :  142,  205-06,  515  ;  II :  196-208,  266;  IV : 
301 

Guru  Angad  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Bharoval) ,  I  :  348 

Guru  Bhavarth  Dipika,  Tika,  TV  :  354 

Guru  Chakk,  II :  50;  III :  156,  451 

Guru  Chaunkijhira  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Basal!) ,  1 : 293 

Guru  Datt,  Pandit,  II :  372 

Gurugarh  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Ropar) ,  I  :  365 

Guru  Gobind  Singh  Foundation,  IV :  447 

Guru  Granth  Girarath  Kos,  II :  82,  202,  216;  III :  237 

Guru  Gobinda,  II :  202-03 

Guru  Gobinda  Singha  (by  Basant  Kumar), 
II :  203-04 

Guru  Gobinda  Singha  (by  Jogendranath  Gupta), 
II :  204 


Guru  Gobinda  Singha  (by  Tinkari  Banerjee)  II:  204 

Guru  Granth  Sahib,  1 :  20,  26,  28,  37,  56,  58,  62-65, 
67,  74,  121-22,  127,  130,  132,  148,  176,  184- 
85,  188,  190-92,  202-03,  208-09,  212-14,  221, 
224, 234,  238,  242-43,  246,  260,  262,  265,  276- 
78,  280,  283,  291-95,  297-98,  300-01,  309,  312, 
314,  319,  342,  350-51,  355,  360,  362,  373-74, 
379,  386-87,  396;  II :  9,  10,  13,  29,  38,  43,  44, 
57-59,  68,  70,  73,  74,  76,  78,  79,  82,  85,  87,  91- 
93,  96,  99,  104-05,  108-13,  117,  123-24,  126- 
28,  134-36,  138,  143,  146-54,  156,  158,  166- 
67,  170-78,  180,  186,  189,  192-94,  196-202, 
.  204,  208-10,  216,  237,  245,  265-67,  286,  288, 
297,  307,  312,  321,  327-28,  347,  362,  382,  395, 
401,  403,  405-07,  409,  415,  425,  441,  448,  471, 
473-75,  479-81,  517,  527,  531-32,  540,  552, 
569;  III :  1-5,  11,  12,  19,  40,  61,  91,  108,  112, 
119, 139,  147,  150, 160-62,  164,  168,  179,  186- 
87,  191,  223,  233,  253,  257-59,  261,  264,  268, 
281,  288,  294-96,  302-03,  305,  314-15,  317, 
328,  339,  342,  355-56,  369,  387,  392,  406-08, 
416-17,  422-23,  426,  428,  431,  441-42,  447, 
453,  457,  462,  465,  472,  477,  515;  also  see  Sri 
Guru  Granth  Sahib 

Guru  Har  Sahai,  IV  :  225 

Guru  Har  Rai  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  1 :  437 

Guru  Jike  Sutan  ki  Katha,  II :  204-05 

Guru  ka  Bagh  Morcha  1 :  40,  41,  45,  52,  54,  96,  145, 
194,  423;  II :  71,  103,  188,  205-06,  253,  310, 
327, 361,  436, 455, 537  ;  III :  78, 123, 144, 198, 
280,  358;  IV  :  28, 164,  227,  259,  337,  342,  383, 
424,  432 

Guru  ka  Bagh,  Patna,  IV :  333 

Guru  ka  Khuh  ,  I  :  506  ;  IV :  321,  323 

Guru  ka  Lahore,  II :  206-07,  385;  III :  266 

Guru  ka  Lahgar,  1 :  88,  130,  132-33,  192,  303,  307, 
342,  366,  372,  420,  503,  535;  II :  3,  49,  50, 101, 
147-48,  207-10,  272,  376,  441,  496,  500,  553; 
III:  163,  175,  191,  194,  218-19,  273;  IV:  1, 
41,  42,  84,  85, 159,  179,  274,  302,  305-06,  375, 
394 

Guru  ke  Mahal  (Amritsar),  II :  243,  333 

Guru  ke  Mahal  (Anandpur),  IV  :  333 

Guru  Khalsa  Darbar,  1 :  475 

Guru  Khalsa  Ji  Ka  Fatehnama,  IV  :  218 

Gurulciari  Sakhian,  1 :  18,  76,  118,  181,  221-22,  230, 


INDKX 


496 


358,  447,  509,  511;  II  :  92,  146,  210,  224,  255- 
56,  307,  471;  III ;  27,  66,  139,  146,  195,  216, 
231,  264,  281;  IV:  114,  225,  287 

Guru  kl  Dhab,  II  :  210-11 

Guru  kl  Haveli,  IV  :  235 

Guru  kl  Kolhari,  Gurdwara,  1 :  466 

Guru  ki  Maslt,  IV  :  235 

Guru  Kotha  Chhevin  Patshahi,  Gurdwara,  IV  :  438 

Guru  Mangat,  II :  211 

Gurumukhl  Din  Patri,  II :  211-12 

Guru  Nanak  Ashram,  Chakar,  II :  464 

Guru  Nanak  Ashram,  Patiala,  III :  233, 

Guru  Nanak  Bans  Prakash,  II :  212 

Guru  Nanak  Bishram  Ghar,  Bidar,  1 :  367 

Guru  Nanak  Dev  University,  Amritsar,  IV  :  9 

Guru  Nanak  Foundation,  IV  :  447 

Gum  Nanak  Education  Society  (USA) ,  IV  :  424 

Guru  Nanak  Khalsa  College,  Gujrariwala,  IV  :  22 

Guru  Nanak  Prakash  Press,  II :  212-13 

Guru  Nanak  Sarb  Sampradai  Conference,  II :  213 

Guru  Nanak  Vidya  Bhandar  Trust,  II :  213-14 

Guru  Nanak  Vidyak  Society,  II :  214 

Guru  Pad  Prem  Prakash,  IV  :  273 

Guru  Rani  Dasjatha,  1 :  45 

Guru  Ram  Das  Nivas,  IV  :  383 

Gurusar,  Gurdwara  (Bajidpur),  1 :  303 

Gurusar  Mehraj,  Gurdwara,  III  :  77 

Gurusar  Patshahi  X,  Gurdwara,  II :  215 

Gurusac  Sadhar,  Gurdwara,  II :  451 

Gurusar  Sarovar,  1 :  499 

Gurusar  Satlani,  Gurdwara,  II :  215,  473 

Gurushabad  Ratanakar  Mahan  Kosh,  II :  215-17, 

238,  335,  410;  III :  21,  156,  164,  196,  320;  IV : 

212,  359 
Guru  Sikhya  Prabhakar,  IV  :  10 
Guru  Tegh  Bahadur,  Gurdwara  (Bani  Badarpur), 

I;  217 
Guthrie,  II  :  217 

Gutka,  II  :  217;  III  :  281,  317,  348 
Gval,  IV  :  427-28 

Gwalior  I  :  25,  597;  II  :  51,  74,  139,  159,  166,  217- 
18,  233,  277,  320,  374,  526  ;  III :  51,  187,  340, 
343,  354,  410,  444  ;  IV  :  83,  194,  197,  344,  427 

Habibullah  Khan,  Amir,  II  :  53 
Habrii,  II  :  455 


Hadiabad,  II ;  219 
Hadiaya,  II  :  219 
Had!  Beg,  II :  72 
Hafiz,  II  :  469 
Hafizabad,  II :  220  ;  III :  8 

Halizabad  Janam  Sakhi,  1 :  233;  II :  220;  III :  411-12 

Hafiz  'Abdullah,  II ;  66 

Hafiz  Ahmad  Khan  1 :  26 

Hafiz  Barkhurdar,  1 :  283 

Haft  Gvlshan-i-Muhammadshahi,  IV :  328 

Haibatpur,  II :  505 

Hahnemann,  Dr,  II :  285 

Hailey,  Sir  Malcolm,  1 :  53;  II :  329 

Haji  Muhammad  Maskin,  II :  277 

Hajipur,  IV :  319 

Haji  Ratan,  1 :  299 

Hakam  Singh  (Lahuke),  II :  437 

Hakam  Singh,  Mahant,  II :  213 

Hakimpur,  II :  220 

Hakim  Rai,  Diwan,  1 :  210  ;  II :  220-21,  378,  521 
Hakim  Rai,  Hakim,  1 :  230 
Hakumat  Singh,  1 :  210  ;  III :  18 
Halat-i-Panjab,  IV :  112 
Halim  Khan,  1 :  355 

Hal  Mukhtsir  Ibtida-i-Firqa-i-Sikkhan,  II :  486 

Haindard-i-Kiia7sa,  IV:  163 

Ham  Hindu  Na/im,  II :  221,  410;  IV :  209,  338 

Hamira,  Bhai,  II :  268 

Hamlr  Singh,  Giani,  II :  83 

Hamir  Singh,  Raja,  II :  132,  221-22,  360;  III ;  106: 

151,  437;  IV:  166,  172 
Hamir  Singh  Sahskriti,  II :  10 
Hamja,  Bhai,  II :  222 
Hamza  Ghaus,  rV  :  121 
Hamza  Jajja,  Bhai,  1 :  266 
Handi  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III  :  327 
Handur,  II :  235 
Hanipha,  II  :  222 

Hahsi,  II :  12,  323;  III  ;  J  01-02,  204;  IV  :  353 
Hahsli,  II:  241,  391;  III:  369 
Hans  Ram,  II :  222 
Hanumant,  IV  :  43 
Hapur,  1 :  344;  II :  439;  IV :  8,  65 
HaqfqaH'-B/na-c-'Uruj-i-Firqa-i-Siihari,  II:  222-23 
Haqiqat  Rah  Mukam  Raje  Shivnabh  Ki,  1 :  351,  439; 
II :  224;  III :  269,  316;  IV  :  119 


497 


INDEX 


Haqlqat  Rai,  1 :  256;  II :  224-25,  262;  III :  272;  IV : 
142 

Haqiqat  Singh  Kanhaiya,  II :  225,  324;  III :  92,  102- 
03,  488 

Harappa,  II :  225,  267;  III :  199 
Harbaris,  II :  225-26;  III :  206 
Harbaris  Lai,  Bhai,  IV  :  178 

Harbans  Singh  Atari,  1 :  51,  463;  II :  483;  III :  202; 

IV:  115,  202 
Harbans  Singh,  Baba  (Karsevavale),  1 :  288 
Harbaris  Singh  Dumeli,  Sant,  1 :  271 
Harbaris  Singh,  Mahant,  1 :  297 
Harbaris  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  177;  II :  244,  483;  III :  145; 

IV :  207,  344 
Harbaris  Sirigh  Sistani,  1 :  41A2,  546 
Harbhagvan,  Bhai,  IV  :  16 
Harbhagvan  Das,  IV  :  386 
Harbhajan  Sirigh,  Giani,  IV :  429 
Harbhaj,  Bhai,  II :  87;  III :  468 
Harbilas,  Sadhu,  1 :  330 

Harchand  Sirigh  Jeji,  1 :  63;  III :  26,  146;  IV  :  446 
Harchand  Sirigh  Laurigoval,  Sant,  1 :  49,  II :  226- 
27,  354 

Harchand  Sirigh  Ra'Is,  1 :  401,  424;  II :  227;  III : 

37,  501;  IV:  280,  346 
Harcharian  Das,  II :  227 

Harcharan  Sirigh,  Hudiara,  1 :  48;  II :  539;  III :  402 

Hardas,  Baba,  II :  228;  III :  451 

Har  Dayal,  Lala,  1 :  30;  II :  61;  III :  410;  IV :  228 

Har  Dei,  Mata,  II :  184 

Har  Devi,  Rani,  II :  228 

Hardial,  Pandit,  II :  228;  II ;  166 

Hardinge  Papers,  II :  228-30 

Hardinge's  Proclamation,  II  :  230 

Hardinge,  Sir  Henry,  I  :  156,  159,  161-62,  165,  168- 
70,  178;  II :  5,  106,  228,  230-31,  259,  282,  382- 
83,  468,  542,  570-71,  573;  III :  216,  500;  IV: 
184,  321,  343,  364 

Hardit  Sirigh,  Bhai,  II ;  231 

Hardit  Sirigh  Malik,  II :  84,  231-32,  479;  III :  250, 

396,  399 
Harganari,  II :  232  ;  III  :  449 

Hargobind,  Guru;  1 :  38,  39,  41,  56,  57,  73,  76,  77, 
86,  92,  98,  99,  108-09,  112-15,  143,  145,  175, 
184, 190, 192-93,  207-08,  233-35,  247,  255,  268- 
70,  279,  286,  288-89,  297,  322,  328,  335,  341, 


347,  357-58,  362,  468,  484,  486,  502,  505-06, 
510-11, 538, 544, 554-55, 564, 566, 578-79, 591, 
596-97;  II :  18,  42,  45,  49-51,  55,  67,  74,  85, 
86,  92,  97,  98,  102-03, 108, 116,  118,  126, 129- 
30, 134-35, 138-39, 144-48, 193,  201,  204,  208, 
210-11,  215,  217-20,  232-35,  240,  260,  265, 
268,  286,  290,  302,  312-13,  315,  317,  320,  326, 
335,  340,  346,  351,  363-64,  374-76,  378,  384- 
85,  416,  418,  421-22,  425-26,  433,  435,  442, 
445,  448-50,  458-60,  473,  491,  501,  507-11, 
521,  524,  535-36,  545-46,  558,  566-68,  572, 
574  ;  III :  4,  8-10, 12, 16, 17,21,  27,  30,  34,  38- 
40,  46,  47,  67-69,  77,  82,  83,  86-90,  113,  132, 
146, 150, 152-53, 156, 159,  169, 183, 189,  203, 
205-06,  208-10,  213,  215,  261,  266-67,  271-72, 
303,  329,  331,  333,  336,  340,  342-43,  345,  353, 
413,  436,  444,  460,  471,  489-90,  493,  504,  514; 
IV :  1,  4-6,  27,  31,  35,  37,  68,  69,  74,  76,  80, 
94,  95,  108,  120,  122-23,  147,  153,  174,  194, 
197,  199,  203-05,  222,  233-35,  238,  241,  243, 
256,  260-61,  272,  275,  278,  286,  289-90,  301, 
303-04,  309,  320,  329-31,  349-51,  355-56,  360, 
369-70,  377-80,  386,  392,  394-95,  397,  401, 
411,  428,  438 

Hariana,  1 :  249-250  ;  II :  41;  IV :  175 

Hariaft,  Mai,  IV  :  405 

Harlan  Velari,  Gurdwara,  II :  235 

Haribaris,  Bhatt,  1 :  352 

Haribhagat  Niiranjania,  1 :  71-72;  II :  57,  231,  272; 

IV:  325 
Hari,  Bhai  II :  235 
Hari  Chand,  Bhai,  II :  236  ;  III :  184 
Hari  Chand,  Misr,  IV  :  126 
Hari  Chand,  Raja,  II :  235-36,  385  ;  III :  188 
Hari  Das,  II :  236-37 
Hari  Das,  Bhai,  II :  237 
Haridas,  Bhai  (Soini),  II :  237 
Haridhan  Sirigh  Bagariari,  1 :  369 
Haridvar,  1 :  268,  304  ;  II :  133,  309,  440,  505,  572, 

542;  HI :  19,  20,  38, 165, 167,  236-38,  240,  369, 

435.  473;  493;  IV :  315,  428,  462 
Harijas  Granth,  II :  237-38,  529 
Hariji,  1 :  57;  II :  105,  237,  238,  340,  461;  III  :  40, 

84,  88,  351;  IV;  265-66,  400 
Harike,  1 :  146,  166  ;  II :  471,  568-69;  III :  335;  IV  : 

379 


INDEX 


498 


Hari  Lai,  Bhai,  II :  238-39 

Harimandar,  1 : 12, 29, 50, 56-58, 109, 112, 115, 145, 
185, 188-89, 191,  201,  253,  258,  279,  394,  400, 
413,  415;  II:  2-4,  8,  25,  55,  77-81,  109,  138, 
143,  145,  147-48,  163,  186-87,  190,  192,  194, 
226,  234,  239-48,  253-54,  267,  277,  310-11, 
322,  334,  353-54,  356-58,  360-61,  367,  372, 
374,  393,  416,  446-47,  454,  461,  475,  481,  483, 
494,  498,  514,  517,  560;  III :  25,  63-65,  82,  88, 
90,  105,  108-09,  156,  180,  201,  224,  253,  301, 
340,  359,  383,  435,  450,  481;  IV:  31,  53,  68, 
70, 80, 103, 153, 177,  240-43,  282,  300-01,  337, 
359,  378-79,  386,  391,  404 

Harimandar,  Electrification  of, II :  2-4 

Hari  Narain  Mathur,  IV :  453 

Harinder  Singh,  Rap,  1 :  396;  II :  11,  553  ;  IV :  175, 
455 

Harioh  Khurd,  IV  :  49 

Hari  Parbat,  IV  :  255 

Haripur,  IV  :  82,  118,  324 

Haripura,  II :  248 

Haripur  (Guler),  IV:  194 

Haripur  (Jalandhar),  IV:  422 

Hari  Ram  Gupta,  II :  249  ;  III :  275  ;  IV :  181 

Hari  Singh  Basra,  I  :  213 

Hari  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  249-50 

Hari  Singh,  Bhai  (of  Thothian),  II :  250 

Hari  Singh  Bhangi,  1 :  13,  345,  402  ;  II :  116,  250- 
51,  377  ;  III :  95,  100  ;  IV  :  81,  324 

Hari  Singh  Buria,  IV  :  51 

Hari  Singh  Dallevalia,  1 :  364;  III :  102 

Hari  Singh  Kaharpuri,  Sant,  I  :  130;  II  :  251 

Hari  Singh  Nalva,  1 :  195,  198,  211,  222,  230,  247, 
290,  376,  477,  597;  II :  19,  144,  251-52,  257, 
336,  345,  371,  378,  408-09,  544;  III :  14,  36, 
69,  136,  157,  218,  279,  366-67,  481,  483,  492; 
IV :  126-27,  137,  183,  270,  357,  392,  414 

Hari  Singh  (Pandori),  II :  249 

Hari  Singh,  Sant,  IV  :  230 

Harkishan  Das,  II :  252-53 

Harkishan  Singh  Bawa,  II :  196,  253-54;  III :  290, 
392 

Har  Krishan,  Guru,  1 :  186,  299,  429,  510,  549;  II : 
129,.  140, 145,  201,  254-56,  262,  325,  503,  509, 
511;  III  :  4,  17,  25,  39,  68,  83,  179,  210,  281- 
82,  444,  461,  471  ;  IV :  95,  108,  114,  153,  197, 


222,  238,  256,  330-31,  353 
Harlan,  Josiah,  II :  7,  256-57,  IV  :  441 
Harnam  Kaur,  Bibi,  1 :  330;  II :  257-58  ;  IV  :  302 
Harnam  Singh  Advocate,  IV :  190 
Harnam  Singh,  Baba,  II :  258;  IV :  198 
Harnam  Singh,  Bhai  (Chakk  38)  II :  258-59 
Harnam  Singh,  Bhai  (Shahkot),  II ;  258 
Harnam  Singh,  Kanvar,  IV  :  206 
Harnam  Singh  (S.S.F.),  IV:  178 
Harnam  Singh  Tundilat,  II :  62-64, 259-60,  316, 457 
Har  Narain,  IV:  162 
Harpalpur,  II  :  260 

Har  Rai,  Guru,  1 :  89,  186,  220-21,  271,  315,  319, 
334-35,  341,  362,  413,  431-32,  437,  454,  484- 
85,  487,  505,  510,  536,  605  ;  II :  43,  45,  58,  69, 
101,  140,  145,  201,  210,  220,  235,  254,  261- 
63,  325,  375,  387,  497,  503,  509-12,  516,  528, 
541,  565 ;  III :  4,  17,  25,  30,  39,  68,  83,  90, 
179,  209-10,  271,  275,  330-31,  333,  335,  436, 
461-62,  514  ;  IV  :  30,  40,  44,  95, 108,  153, 174, 
197,  238,  256,  289,  330-31,  350,  368 

Harris,  W.A.,  IV :  291 

Harsa  Chhina,  II :  140  ;  III :  124;  IV  :  342 

Har  Sahai,  IV:  311,  408 

Harsaran  Das,  II  :  263 

Harsa  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  208 

Harsa  Singh,  General,  II :  263 

Harsha  Charitra,  IV  :  179 

Harsukh  Das,  1 :  65 

Harsukh  Rai,  General,  II :  263-64 

Haru,  Bhai,  II  :  264 

Harvard,  IV :  341 

Harvey,  II  :  264;  IV  :  218 

Haryal,  IV:  312 

Hasan  Abdal,  II :  116,  252,  413,  436-37;  III  :  101, 
279,  351,  358,  484,  507  ;  IV :  28,  99,  183,  435 
Hasan  'All,  IV  :  127 
Hasanpur-Qabulpur,  II :  264 
Hasna,  Rai,  IV  :  58 
Hasham,  IV :  21 
Hassu,  Bhai,  II :  264 
Hastinapur,  I:  129  ;  II ;  89;  III :  283 
Hastings,  Warren,  1 :  150 
Hathayoga,  rV :  54 

Hathayoga  Pradipika,  W  :  285,  449-50 
Hathi  Singh,  1 :  32,  417;  II :  265 


499 


INDEX 


Hathur,  1 :  218;  II :  265 

Hathu  Singh,  II :  265 

Hatt  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  IV :  271 

Haumai,  1 :  405  ;  II :  32,  33,  197,  265-67,  441-42, 

444;  III  :  72,  295;  IV :  151-52,  362 
Hayat  Khan  1 :  245,  410;  II :  267,  512-13;  IV :  420 
Hayat  Shah,  IV  :  21 

Hazara,  1 : 171-72,  209,  211, 247,  308,  372,  398,  421, 
447-48,  477,  559  ;  II :  40,  252,  294,  345,  378, 
515,  550  ;  III :  15,  79,  88,  102,  120,  128,  142, 
217,  256,  268,  275,  304,  456,  483-84,  488,  492, 
505  ;  IV :  3,  107,  118,  184,  269^  321,  366,  427 

Hazara  Singh  (Aladinpur),  1 :  51;  IV :  278,  323 

Hazara  Singh  Bahibalpur,  IV  :  50 

Hazara  Singh,  Bhal,  II :  267 

Hazara  Singh,  Giani,  1 :  441,;  II :  77-79,  216,  267- 

68;  III  :  4  ;  IV  :  429,  431 
Hazara  Singh,  Sant,  IV  :  200 
Hazara  Siri<rh,  Sant  (Sevavale),  IV  :  310 
Hazar  Namah,  1 :  182;  II :  268 
Hazro,  1 :  265-66  ;  II :  409,  532;  III :  466;  TV :  260 
Hema,  Bhal,  1 :  254;  II :  269 
Hema,  Bhai  (Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's  Sikh),  II :  269 
Hema  Kapahi,  Bhal,  II :  269 
Hem  Kunt  Sahib.Gurdwara  Sri,  1 :  244;  II :  269-70 
Hemu£oini,  Bhal,  II :  270 

Herat,  1 :  25;  II :  398  ;  III ;  345,  467  ;  IV :  366,  374 

Hest,  II :  270 

Heuin  Tsang,  IV  :  213 

Hikayat,  I:  517;  II :  271 

Himmat  Chand  Handuri,  1 :  389 

Himmat  Khan.  IV  :  417 

Himmatpura,  IV :  433 

Himmat  Singh,  Bhai,  I  :  129  ;  II :  89,  271;  III :  263, 

282  ;  IV  :  203 
Himmat  Singh  Jallevalia,  II :  271-72 
Hindil,  Bhai,  1 :  263  ;  II :  272  ;  III :  231,  297 
Hindalia  Sect,  1 :  71,  263-64;  II :  272;  III :  231 
Hindi  Pacific  Association,  IV :  228 
Hindu  Maha  Sabha,  1 :  84,  225,  470 
Hindur,  IV:  19,  194,  324 
Hindu  Sikh  Nationalist  Party,  II  :  317 
Hindustani  Workers  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  IV  :  228 
Hindustan  Socialist  Republican  Association,  1-317 
Hiradaslas,  IV:  254 
Hira  Ghat,  Gurdwara,  II :  192 


Hira  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  274 
Hira  Singh,  Colonel,  IV  :  178,  437 
Hira  Singh  Dard,  GianI,  II  :  274-75;  III :  352 
TV:  165 

Hira  Singh  Dogra,  1 :  255,  257,  307-08,  369-70,  376- 
77,  536,  600;  II :  22,  54,  132,  181,  227,  229, 
275-76,  304,  317,  331,  370,  381,  392-93,  395, 
458,  507,  520,  522,  542-44,  547,  563;  III :  20, 
48,  76,  142-43,  213,  224,  275,  285,  301,  316, 
383,  421,  468,  487-88,  492,  500,  515  ;  IV :  102, 
113,  133,  259-60,  269,  357,  427 

Hira  Singh  (Ghadrite).  II :  273 

Hira  Singh  Kalal,  II :  276 

Hira  Singh  Kuka,  II :  273 

Hira  Singh,  Mahant,  TV :  256 

Hira  Singh,  Maharaja  Sir,  1 :  98,  194,  300,  316,  408, 
419,  436,  447,  478-79;  II :  85,  123,  276,  327, 
340,x  410,  480;  III :  2,  77,  106,  136,  151,  502; 
IV:  168,  172,  217,  413 

Hira  Singh  Nakai,  1 :  402  ;  II :  272-73;  III :  95,  104; 
IV :  324 

Hira  Singh  Riigi,  Bhai,  II :  276-77;  IV :  359 
Hira  Singh,  Sant,  II :  277 
Hisab-i-Afwaj-i-Maharaja  Ranjit  Singh,  II :  277-78 
History  and  Philosophy  of  Sikh  Religion,  TV :  181 
History  of  India  as  told  by  its  own  Historians,  TV  : 
327 

History  of  Hindustan  Ghadr  Party,  TV:  229 
History  of  the  Punjabfanon.),  II :  278-79 
History  of  the  Punjab  (Latif),  TV  :  181-82 
History  of  the  Reigning  Family  of  Lahore,  II :  279- 

81;IV:182 
History  of  Sikhs  (Cunningham),  TV  :  181-82 
History  of  the  Sikhs,  (M'Gregor)  II :  281-82;  IV  : 

182 

Hobhouse,  Sir  John  Cam,  1 :  219,  398  ;  II :  282 

Hodson's  Horse,  rv  :  101 

Hogg,  Sir  James  Weir,  IV  :  364 

Hola  Mohalla,  II :  282-83;  IV :  68 

Holgarh  Fort,  1 :  128,  131;  II :  283,  385 

Holkar,  Jasvant  Rao,  1 :  58,  151,  326  ;  II  >  23,  154, 

211,  283,  284,  360,  486;  III :  52,  344,  437,  481- 

82  ;  IV:  63,  171,  219 
Holmes,  John,  1 :  78  ;  II :  283-84 
Holroyd,  W.R.M.,  IV  :  209 
Home  Miscellaneous  Series,  II :  284 


INDliX 


500 


Hommus,  II :  284 

Honigberger,  Dr.  John  Martin,  1 :  80,  197;  II :  284- 

86  ;  III :  383  ;  IV  :  352 
Hoshiarpur,  1 :  172,  236,  351,  362,  372;  II :  46,  369  ; 

III :  103,  107,  126,  157,  413  ;  IV :  48 
Hoshnak  Rai,  II :  434  ;  III :  165 
Hugel,  Baron  Charles.IV :  363,  425 
HukamJ  :  340  ;  II :  35, 96, 111-12, 197, 286-89, 348  ; 

IV  :  150-51,  264,  362-63,  404  ;  see  also  Will 
Hukam  Chand,  Dlwan,  II :  289 
Hukamnama,  1 :  56,  57;  II :  47,  233,  289-91,  299, 

345,  370,  473-74,  485,  538  ;  III :  105,  254,  317, 

345,  424,  462,  464,  477 ;  IV :  246,  293,  301, 

400-01 

Hukam  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  291 

Hukam  Singh  Malval,  1 :  165  ;  II ;  291,  344 

Hukam  Singh,  Sardar,  II ;  292-94;  III ;  392,  396, 

403-04,  496;  IV  :  64,  178 
Hukam  Singh  (Sukkarchakkia),  IV:  221 
Hukam  Singh  (Vasau  Kot),  1 :  51  ;  IV :  278,  323 
Hukman,  Mai,  IV  :  22 
Hukman,  Rani,  IV  :  408 
Hukma  Singh  Chimni  1 :  133;  II :  294;  II :  481 
Hulas  Chand,  IV  :  293 

Humayun,  Naslr  ud-DIn  Muhammad,  1 :  56,  57,  62, 
147  ;  II :  294-95,  526  ;  III :  375  ;  IV :  174,  196 
Hunter  Educational  Commission,  IV :  78 
Hurbon,  II :  295  ;  III :  128 
Hureleek,  II :  295 
Husaini,  Battle  of,  IV  :  212 

Husain  Khan,  II ;  89,  103,  136,  295-96,  402  ;  III : 

371-72;  IV :  43 
Hyderabad,  1 :  212,  267;  II :  159  ;  III :  80,  148,  191, 

339,  369,  503  ;  IV :  160,  226,  353,  360 

Ibn  Batuta,  III :  373 

Ibrahim  LodhI,  1 :  238;  III :  375  ;  IV :  93 
Ibrahim,  Rai,  IV:  173 
Ibrahim  Shaikh,  II  :  297  ;  IV  :  220,  258 
lbratnamah  (Ali  ud-Din),  II :  298,  362  ;  IV :  443 

—  Harisi,  II :  299-300 

—  Kamraj,  II :  298-300 

—  KhaiY  ud-Din,  II :  299 

—  Muhammad  Qasim,  II :  301 
Ichhhar  Singh,  Bhai,  II  :  301 
Ichogil  Canal,  III :  403 


Iftikhar  Khan,  1 :  221;  II :  88,  510  ;  IV ;  332 

Ikk  Inqalkb  Ikkjivani,  IV  :  229 

Ik  Orikar,  IV  :  400  ;  see  also  Oankar 

Ikulaha,  II  :  301-02  ;  IV :  345-46 

Ilahi  Bakhsh,  1 :  197-98  ;  II :  302  ;  IV  :  452 

Ilaj-i-Vaham  Ditt  Singhian,  W  :  255 

Ilyas,  Rai,  II :  562  ;  III :  129  ;  IV  :  19 

Imad  us-Sa'adat,  II :  302-03;  III :  186 

Imam  Shah,  II :  303 

Imamud-Din,  Faqlr,  1 :  65, 66,  230,  307  ;  II :  87,  303- 

04,  547,  564;  III :  487 
Imam  ud-DIn  Khan.  Nawab,  III :  48 
Imam  ud-DIn,  Shaikh,  II :  220,  304,  412,  507  ;  III : 

275 

Imperial  Legislative  Council,  1 :  127  ;  III :  502 

Inayat  Khan.  II  :  131 

Indar  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  305 

Indar  Singh,  Bhai  (Akali),  II  :  305 

Inderjlt  Singh  Bhandari,  Rai,  1 :  342 

Indian  Council  of  Sports,  IV  :  447 

Indian  Council  of  World  Affairs,  IV  :  292 

Indian  Councils  Act  of  1892,  1 :  470,  471 

Indian  Historical  Records  Commission,  IV  :  218 

Indian  History  Congress,  IV  :  218 

Indian  Independence  League,  1 :  225, 

Indian  National  Congress,  IV  :  66,  69,  171,  191-93 

201,  313,  342,  383 
Indian  Olympic  Association,  IV  :  445-46 
Indian  Reforms  Association,  I  :  394 
India  Office  Library,  IV  :  112,  368,  371,  374 
India  Secret  Proceedings,  II :  305-06 
Indore,  IV :  433 

Indira  Gandhi,  II :  26,  226  ;  III :  118,  403-04,  440  ; 

IV :  292,  457 
Indo-American  National  Association,  II :  61 
Indo-Pakistan  War,  1965,  II :  473,  496;  III :  402-03 
Indus,  River,  IV :  441,  448 
Indri,  1 :  249  ;  III :  102-03 
Ipoh,  IV  :  230 
Iqbalnagar,  II :  399 
Krvine,  William,  IV  :  332 
Irwin,  Lord,  IV  :  201-02 
Irwin-GandhI  Pact,  II :  519,  537 
Isa  Khan  (Mahjh),  1 :  67,  207;  II :  306-07,  428,  529  ; 

IV  :  174 

Isa  Kliel,  II :  220,  320;  III :  13,  111 


501 


INDEX 


Isapur,  IV :  20 

Isar,  II :  307 

Isar  Singh,  II :  307 

Ishar  Das,  Baba,  1 :  261  ;  III :  305 

Ishar  Das,  Bhai,  II :  138 

Ishar  Kaur,  Rani,  II :  307  ;  III :  35 

Ishar  Singh  (Ghadrite)  II :  307-08 

Ishar  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  308 

Ishar  Singh  Havildar,  IV :  58,  59 

Ishar  Singh  Granthi,  Bhai,  II :  308 

Jaba/a  Upanisad,  IV  :  450 

Jabbar  Khan,  1:297 

Jabboval,  IV :  423 

Jacquemont's  Journal,  II :  314-15 

Jaccjuemont,  Victor,  II :  314-15  ;  III :  245,  379  ;  IV : 

94,  363 
Jadavpur,  II :  47 
Jado  Rai,  Bhai,  1 :  269 

Jagadhri,  1 :  403,  417,  458  ;  II :  315,  342,  380;  III : 

96,  435  ;  IV  :  260,  324 
Jagana,  Bhai,  II :  315 

Jagannath,  1 :  19,  182;  II :  89,  271,  321 ;  III :  283  ; 

,    IV :  361 
Jagata,  II :  315-16 

Jagatjit  Singh,  Maharaja,  II :  316,  495;  III :  322;  IV : 

173-74,  270 
Jagatpur,  IV :  347 
Jagat  Rai  Vaid,  IV :  237 

Jagat  Singh  (alias  Jai  Singh),  II :  66,  260,  316,  457 

Jagat  Singh  (Ghadrite)  II :  66,  260,  316,  457 

Jagat  Singh  Man,  II :  316-17 

Jagat  Singh  (Munder),  1 :  282 

Jagat  Singh  Narag,  II :  317;  IV  :  118 

Jagat  Singh  Rai,  1 :  428 

Jagat  Singh,  Sant,  I :  379 

Jagdish  Kaur,  Maharani,  III :  401,  502 

Ja'far  Beg,  IV:  311 

Jagga,  Bhai,  II :  317 

Jaghera,  II :  317-18;  IV :  122 

Jagiasi,  II  :  318 

Jagirdari,  II :  318-19 

Jagjit  Singh  Kalsia,  IV  :  176 

Jagjivan  Das  Satnami,  IV ;  77 

Jagjot  Singh,  Kahvar,  II :  212-13 

Jagraoh,  1 :  403,  427,  535;  II :  23,  57  127,  265,  392, 


422,  426,  431,  514,  521,  539  ;  III :  10,  49,  99, 
129,  301,  488-89;  IV :  19,  123 
Jagsi,  Bhai,  II :  319 

Jahandad  Khan,  1 :  209,  230  ;  II :  69,  319-20  ;  III : 

262,  483;  IV  :  99,  434,  448 
Jahangir,  Nur  ud-Din  Muhammad,  1 :  25,  26,  62, 

143, 192,  438;  II :  146,  212,  233-34,  237,  320, 

504,  529,  545  ;  III :  82,  345,  371;  IV :  38,  194, 

196,  371-72,  438 
Jahan  Khan,  1 :  12,  24;  II :  116,  223,  356,  446  ;  III : 

50,  108-09,  130  ;  IV  :  300,  395,  443 
Jahman,  II :  321 

Jaidev,  Bhagat,  1 :  312;  II :  106,  238,  321;  III :  364 

Jai  Dev,  Bhai,  II :  97;  III :  398 

Jaimal  Singh,  II :  225,  494;  III :  35,  92,  103,  107 

Jaimal  Singh  Bhurivale,  Sant,  II :  322 

Jaimal  Singh  Randhava,  II :  322 

Jai  Prakash  Narayan,  IV :  317 

Jaipur,  IV :  196 

Jai  Ram,  Bhai,  1 :  535  ;  II :  322-23;  III :  166,  184, 

216;  IV  :  270 
Jaisal,  IV:  168,  174 
Jaisalmer,  IV :  168 
Jai  Singh,  II :  323 
Jai  Singh  Ata  rivala,  II :  324 

Jai  Singh,  Doctor,  1 : 295  ;  II :  324-25;  IV :  120, 209- 

10,  253 

Jai  Singh  Kaliirivala,  II :  23,  439 
Jai  Singh  Kaimla,  II :  325 

Jai  Singh  Kanhaiya,  1 :  101,  402,  458,  498  ;  II :  114, 
132,  225,  323-24,  358  ;  III :  13,  19,  92,  95, 
102-03,  107,  304,  465,  488;  IV:  1,  101,  172, 
195,  324 

Jai  Singh  Man,  II :  325 

Jai  Singh  Miirza,  Raja,  I  :  221  ;  II :  20,  255,  262,  325- 

26;  III :  444,  471 
Jaita,  Bhai  (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  II  :  326 
Jaita,  Bhai  ('warrior) ,  II :  326 
Jaita,  Bhai,  1 :  18,  99,  128,  355,  431;  II :  326,  389, 

570,  557;  III :  151,  204;  IV :  310,  332,  376;  also 

see  Jivan  Singh,  Bhai 
Jaita  Seth,  II :  326 

Jaito,  1 :  214,  327;  II :  73,  210,  327,  391,  566  ;  III : 

11,  27,  28,  115,  456;  IV:  87,  116,  173,  259, 
267,  279,  346,  432 

Jaito  Morcha,  1 :  54,  92,  194,  291,  316,  334,  493, 


INDEX 


502 


593,  605;  II :  142,  231,  327-29,  361,  367,  371, 
428,  521-22  ;  III :  11,  28,  209,  338,  370,  503 
Jaitsarl  Mahala  5  Var  Slokan  Nali,  II :  329-31 
Jajau,  Battle  of,  1 :  525,  573  ;  III :  91,  95,  306 
Jakko,  Bhai,  IV  :  303 

Jalalabad,  II :  4,  8,  306,  331  ;  III :  7,  231,  344;  IV :  381 
Jalal  Din,  1 :  388 
Jalalpur,  IV :  297 

Jalal  ud-DIn  (Guru  Tegh  Bahadur's  executioner), 

1:273 
Jalal  ud-Din,  Pir,  1 :  367 

Jalandhar,  1 :  172,  229,  236,  380;  II :  3,  52,  65,  72, 
.  113,  128,  145,  275,  280,  283,  294,  300,  306, 
333, 341,  353,  364,  433,  479,  505, 513-14, 523, 
537,  539,  558  ;  III :  15,  £4,  101,  126-27,  129- 
30,  224,  370,  380-81,  439,  483,  490,  501  ;  IV : 
9,  17,  69,  165,  395 

Jalandhar  Doab,  IV :  19,  54, 184,  311, 324,  344, 395, 
397,  454 

Jalandhar  Shah,  1 :  150 

Jalap  Bhatt,  1 :  352 

Jalesar,  IV :  453 

Jalla,  Pandit,  1 :  256,  369,  478  ;  II :  54,  275-76,  285, 
332,  370,  381,  392,  507,  542  ;  III  :  20,  213, 
275-76,  383;  IV :  102,  259,  427 

Jallianvala  Bagh  Tragedy,  V'.  40,  50,  116,  144,  201, 
422,  491;  II :  81,  141,  188,  253,  272,  332-35, 
453,  545,  475,  485,  493,  523;  III:  115,  198, 
210;  IV :  114,  164,  211,  249,  337,  342,  381-82 

Jallo,  Bhai,  II :  335 

Jamal  Mian,  II :  335 

Jamal  ud-Din,  Sayyid,  II :  335 

Jamatullah,  IV :  19 

Jambar  Kalan,  II :  273,  335-36,  429;  III :  104 ;  IV  : 
257 

James,  II :  336 
Jamgarh,  Fort  of,  1 :  409 
Jamiat  Rai,  II :  336 
Jamiat  Singh,  II :  336,  345 

Jammu,  1 :  207,  250,  316,  354,  408  ;  II :  5,  24,  54, 
116,  120-22,  138,  212,  225,  262,  275.  323-24, 
367,  371,  377, 381-82,  392, 411, 549, 562  ;  III : 
13, 15, 72, 81, 100, 102, 110-11, 120, 157,  188, 
205,  218,  366,  371,  385,  455,  471,  483,  491, 
500  ;  IV :  101-02, 113, 195,  257, 270,  300, 320, 
329,  443,  459,  462 


Jammu  and  Kashmir,  IV :  184,  255,  364 

Jammu  and  Kashmir  Gurdwara  Prabandhak  Board, 

1 :  306;  III :  69;  IV :  205 
Jamrud,  1 :  62,  94,  569  ;  II :  7,  105,  252,  257,  283, 

322,  336,  345,  371-72,  390,  544  ;  III :  14,  36, 

218,  492  ;IV:  126-27,  414 
Jamshaid  Khan,  II :  91,  336-37,  556 ;  III :  191  ; 

TV:  439 
Jamu,  II :  337;  391 
Janaki  Prasad,  1 :  273 
Janam  Asthan  Baba  Gurditta  Ji,  1 :  506 
Janam  Asthan,  Gurdwara,  (Nankana),  1 :  216,  248, 

289,  408,  433,  440-41,  498  ;  II :  190,  250,  258, 

274,  301,  305,  309,  369,  386,  424,  437,  455, 

465,  470,  502,  523,  537-38,  540;  III :  18,  36, 

126,  198-201,  278,  469  ;  IV :  40,  50,  116,  227, 

278,  286,  298,  336,  384,  422-23 
— (Basarkel,  I:  296 
— (Lahore),  1 :  294;  II :  546;  IV :  253 
Janam  Sakhi,  II :  147,  152,  155,  196,  337-40,  401, 

460;  III :  3,  5  ;  IV  :  121 
Jandali,  II :  340 

Jandiala,  1 :  26,  71  ;  537  ;  III :  148  ;  IV :  206,  227 
Jandiala  Guru.  II :  272;  III :  96,  99,  231,  446  ;  IV : 
325,  396 

Jandiala  Sher  Khan,  II :  310  ;  IV  :  462 
Jandiala  Tibba,  II :  531 

Jand  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Chamkaur),  II :  340-41 
Jand  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Gumti  Kalan),  II :  340 
Jand  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Virevala),  II :  341 
Jand  Sahib  Patshahi  VII,  Gurdwara  (Lahila  Kalan), 
II  :  541 

Jand  Sahib  Patshahi  10,  Gurdwara  (Pakka  Kalan), 

III :  270 
Jandu  Singha,  II :  341 
Janetpura,  IV :  432 

Jandsar,  Gurdwara  (Bhagi  Bandar) ,  1 :  322 
Janga  Singh,  Jathedar,  IV  :  455 
Jang  Bahadur  Singh,  42;  II :  383 
Jang-i-Azadi,  1 :  195,  IV  :  229 
Jangnama  Bhangani,  IV  :  419 
Jahgnamas,  II :  341-46;  IV  :  62,  169 
Jangnama  Shah  Muhammad,  TV  :  418 
Jang  Singhan  te  Firangian,  II :  346 
Jani,  II :  346  ;  III :  83 
Jani  Khan,  IV  :  15,  461 


503 


INDEX 


Janjghar,  Gurdwara,  1 :  496 

Jan  Muhammad  Chattha,  II :  347 

Jan  Sahib,  II :  347 

Japa,  Bhai,  II :  347  ;  III :  72 

Japu,  1 :  37,  38,  55,  120 ;  II :  3,  4,  76,  81,  126,  217, 
233,  237,  286,  347-49,  351  ;  III :  2,  45,  85, 
149,  153,  241-42,  263,  265-66,  281-82,  297, 
315-17,  350,  367,  427,  431  ;  IV :  17,  61,  140, 
224,  239,  250,  252,  273,  275,  306,  354 

Japu,  1 :  217,  515-16  ;  II :  88,  217,  349-50, 444  ;  III : 
241-42,  263,  265-66,  281,  317,  367,  427 

Japa,  Bhai  (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  1 :  487;  II :  351 

Japu  Bhai,  (Guru  Nanak's  Sikh),  II :  351 

Japu  Paramarath,  II :  351 

Jarg,  1 :  508  ;  II :  351-52,  465 

Jarnail  Singh  Bhindranvale,  Sant,  II :  78,  352-54 

Jaspat  Rai,  1 :  460  ;  II :  354-55,  446,  462,  555  ;  IV  ■ 
267,  448 

Jasrota,  II :  256,  III :  482,  492,  515  ;  IV :  101-02, 

262,  453 
Jassa  Mall,  II :  355  ;  563 

Jassa  Singh  Ahluvalia,  1 :  24,  95,  113,  326,  402-03, 
443,  495,  545  ;  II :  22,  45,  48,  154,  241,  323, 
342,  355-57,  359,  362,  426,  447,  462v  505 ; 
III :  50,  95,  99,  102,  106-09,  130,  437,  444, 
511;  IV:  136,  166,  169,  173-74,  195-96,  255, 
267,  277,  395-96,  425,  458 

Jassa  Singh  Naushahra  Nahgli,  II :  357-58 

Jassa  Singh  Ramgarhia,  I:  4,  95,  115,  402;  II:  73, 
120,  223,  323,  358-59,  395;  III :  13,  36,  95, 
102, 107-08, 161, 463,  512;  IV :  2, 194-95, 198, 
321,  324 

Jassi,  II :  359-60;  III :  270 

Jassi,  Mai,  I  :  17;  III  :  465 

Jasvan,  II :  103,  402,  467;  III :  96,  484  ;  IV  :  324,  380 
Jasvant  Rao  Holkar  —  see  Holkar,  Jasvant  Rao 
Jasvant  Singh,  Raja,  II :  222,  323,  360  ;  III :  106,  151, 

437;  IV :  172 
Jasvant  Singh,  Rana,  IV  :  462 
Jaswant  Singh,  Bhagat,  II :  361 
Jaswant  Singh  Jhabal,  1 :  42;  II :  360-61,  375;  III  : 

124;  IV:  66 
Jaswant  Singh  Mokal,  1 :  26 
Jaswant  Singh  Nakai,  IV  :  178 
Jaswinder  Singh  Brar,  I  :  133 
Jatauli,  II :  361-62 


Jatha,  II :  362-63 

JatI  Mall,  II :  363 

Jatindarnath  Samaddar,  IV :  142 

Jatpura  II :  36:5-64,  416,  422,  566 

Jatt  Singh  Sabfaa,  IV :  120 

Jattu  Bhai  (of  Jaunpur),  II :  364 

Jattu,  Bhai  (Tivari),  II :  364 

Jattu,  Bhai  (warrior) ,  II :  364 

Jattu  Bhandari,  II :  364  . 

Jattu  Bhiva,  Bhai,  II :  364 

Jattu  Chaddha,  Bhai,  II :  364-65 

Jaunpur,  II :  129,  162,  259,  364-65  ;  IV :  409 

Jauriah,  IV :  376 

Javalarnukhl,  II :  496  ;  III :  155,  482 

Javala  Das,  Pandit,  TV :  283 

Javala  Das,  Sant,  TV :  108 

Javala  Das,  Bhai  Sahib,  1 :  184,  447  ;  II :  367 

Javala  Singh  (Ghadrite),  1 :  282  ;  II :  61,  64,  311, 

366;  IV  :  381,  424 
Javala  Singh  (of  Raja  SansI),  II :  365—66 
Javala  Singh  (of  Sujoval) ,  II :  '.>67 
Javala  Singh  Padhania,  II :  3d7-68;  III :  111 
Javala  Singh,  Sant  (Dhamia-,),  1 :  297;  II :  368 
Javala  Singh,  Sant  (Langeri),  II :  368-69 
Javanda,  Bhai,  TV :  5 
Javand  Singh,  II :  369 
Javand  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  369 
Javand  Singh  (Ghadrite).  I:  200 
Javand  Singh  Mokal,  II :  369-70 
Javehari  Mall,  Bhai,  II :  370  ;  TV :  409 
Jawaharlal  Nehru,  1 :  3,  47,  85,  227,  267,  268  ;  III : 

392  ;  IV :  39,  191,  228,  292,  313,  316-17,  446, 

455-56 
Jawahar  Singh,  II  :  370 

Jawahar  Singh,  Wazir,  1 :  165,  419,  448,  536  ;  II :  54, 
229,  264, 275-76,  332,  344,  370-71,  378,  381- 
82,  392,  409,  562-64;  III :  38,  157,  316,  383, 
488,  492,  515  ;  IV :  259 

Jawahar  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  371 

Jawahar  Singh  (Bharatpur)  1 :  403;  IV  :  195-96 

Jawahar  Singh  Nalva,  II :  144,  371 

Jawahar  Singh  Randhava,  II :  372 

Jawahar  Singh  (Sarhali) ,  II :  371 

Jawahar  Singh  Sevapanthi,  1 :  100 

Jawahir  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  294,  589  ;  III :  186,  372- 
73,  482  ;  III :  73;  IV  :  130,  209,  253 


INDEX 


Jesus  Christ,  IV :  135 

Jetha,  Bhai  —  see  Ram  Das,  Guru 

Jetha,  Bhal  (Bahil),  II :  374 

Jetha,  Bhai  (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  II :  373-74 

Jetha,  Bhai  (Guru  Ram  Das,  Sikh),  II :  373 

Jetha,  Bhal  (Masand),  II :  374 

Jetha  Bhai,  (warrior),  II :  374 

Jetha  Singh,  II :  374-75 

Jhabal  Kalah,  1 :  235,  249,  305,  531;  II :  308,  360, 
375,  429,  435,  567;  III :  130;  IV  :  66,  69,  175, 
204,  459 

Jhanda  Badhi,  Bhai,  1 :  466;  II :  401  ;  IV :  132 

Jhanda,  Bhai  (Guru  Amar  Das'  Sikh),  II :  375  ;  492 

Jhanda,  Bhai  (Guru  Har  Rai's  Sikh),  II :  375-76 

Jhanda  Kalah,  II :  376  <j 

Jhanda  Ramdas,  1 :  400;  II :  376-77,  389;  III :  460 

Jhanda  Sahib  Chhevin  Patshahi,  Gurdwara,  1 :  428 

Jhanda  Singh,  Bhai,  IV :  162 

Jhanda  Singh  Bhahgi,  1 :  24,  149  ;  II :  377, 413;  III : 

100;  IV:  101,  174,  195,  425 
Jhanda  Singh  BuUlia,  II :  378 
Jhanda  Singh  (d.  1833),  II :  378 
Jhanda  Singh,  Giani,  IV  :  291 
Jhanda  Singh  (of  Sultinvind),  II :  377-78 
Jhandeana,  II :  378 
Jhahgar  Shah,  IV  :  290 
Jhanjhu,  Bhai,  II :  378-79 
Jhansi,  IV :  437 

Jhar  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  1 :  469;  II :  412 
Jhatka,  II :  310,  379-80 

Jhira  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Baddhal  Kotla),  1 :  247 
Jhira  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Kanjhla),  1 :  379;  II :  425 
Jhivar  Hep,  II  :  380 
Jhorar  II :  380  ;  III :  199 

Jind,  1 :  213,  403  ;  II :  8,  45,  82,  190,  261,  299,  360, 
373,  380-81,  445,  493,  495-96,  513,  551,  562, 
575  ;  III :  2,  20,  30,  46,  51,  89,  96,  105-06, 
111,  120,  152,  183,  204,  237-38,  377-78,  322, 
326,  331,  337,  370,  421,  437,  442,  504  ;  IV  : 
19,  21,  66,  71,  87,  166-67,  170,  218,  226,  322, 
353,  355  456 

Jind  Kaur,  Maharani,  1 :  161,  163,  170,  179,  419-20, 
448,  478,  483,  585,  599,  600;  II :  54,  132,  188, 
211,  229,  275-76,  280,  332,  344,  368,  370-71, 
381-82,  392,  542,  549,  562-64,  571;  III  :  20, 
38,  181,  221,  245,  316,  365,  468,  470,  478- 


79  ;  IV :  21,  102,  287,  321,  347,  443 
Jindval,  II :  384 
Jindvari,  II :  384 
Jinnah,  M.A.,  IV  :  188-89,  192 
Jinwada,  II :  384-85;  III :  43 
Jit  Mall,  II :  51,  118,  236,  385;  IV  :  45,  428 
JItoji,  Mata,  II :  24,  385,  402,  500  ;  III :  255,  263, 

283;  IV :  461 
Jiun  Singh  Parupkari,  Bhai,  II :  385-86 
Jiva,  II :  386 
JIva,  Bhai,  II :  386-87 
Jivan,  Bhai,  II :  387 

Jivanda,  Bhai  (Guru  Ahgad's  Sikh,)  II :  387 

Jivanda,  Bhai  (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  387 

Jivan  Mukta,  II :  387-89  ;  444;  III :  135;  IV  :  363 

Jivan  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  389-90,  510  ;  III  :  8 

Jivan  Singh  Chhachhi,  II :  390 

Jivan  Singh,  Colonel,  II  :  390 

Jivan  Singh  Karsevavale,  Baba,  II  :  390-91,  442, 

-147;  III:  192,  331  ;  IV  :  122,  349 
Jiwan  Singh  Umranahgal,  I  :  133  ;  III  :  400 
Jizya,  I  :  62,  70,  220 
Jhandeva,  IV :  25 
Jodha,  Bhai,  II :  391-92;  III  :  336 
Jodha,  Bhai  (Masand),  II :  391 
Jodhari,  II  :  392  ;  III :  120 
Jodha  Ram,  II :  392;  IV  :  357 
Jodh,  Bhai,  II  :  392;  IV  :  368 
Jodh,  Bhai  (Guru  Ahgad's  Sikh),  II :  392 
Jodh,  Bhai  (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  II :  393 
Jodh,  Bhai,  (Kot  Kamalia)  II  :  393 
Jodh,  Rai,  IV  :  4 

Jodh  Singh  Atarivala,  I  :  47  ;  lit:  157 

Jodh  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  51, 96,  212,  260,  332,  378,  581  ; 

II  :  133,  152,  213,  329,  394-95,  483,  552  ;  III : 
202,  280,  290,  352,  392,  394,  396  ;  IV  :  143, 
146,  163,  202,  210,  261,  318,  390 

Jodh  Singh  Chashmavala,  II  :  395 

Jodh  Singh  (Colonel),  II  :  393-94* 

Jodh  Singh  (Faridkot),  IV  :  174 

Jodh  Singh  Kalsia,  I  :  418  ;  III  :  104  ;  IV  :  175 

Jodh  Singh  (Kot  Kapura),  I  :  95 

Jodh  Singh  Ramgarhia,  I  :  382,  595  ;  II  :  395-96; 

III  :  108 

Jodh  Singh  (Rariala),  II  :  393 

Jodh  Singh  Rasulpuria,  II  :  396  ;  III  :  279 


505 


INDEX 


Jodh  Singh  Rosa,  II :  396 

Jodh  Singh  (of  Wazirabad) ,  1 :  95  ;  II :  130,  303, 

396-97;  III :  216 
Joga,  II :  397 
Joga  Singh,  II  :  397-98 

Joga  Singh,  Bhai,  Gurdwara  (Peshawar),  1 :  458 
Jogendra  Singh,  Sir,  1 :  266,  475  ;  II :  213,  398-99, 

479,  486  ;  III :  123,  202,  279  ;  IV  :  14,  65,  109, 

282 

Joginder  Kaur,  IV  :  235 
Jones,  II :  400 

Joti  Bigas,  II :  400  ;  III :  195-96 

Joti  Sarup,  Gurdwara,  II :  16,  17,  114;  IV :  358 

Jot  Prakash,  Munshi,  1 :  207 

Journey  from  Bengal  to  England,  II :  400-01  ; 
IV :  194 

Journal  of  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  TV  :  232 
Jugavali,  II :  401-02 
Jujhar  Singh  Hada,  II :  402 

Jujhar  Singh,  Sahibzada,  1 :  33,  244,  355,  430  ;  II : 
90,  402  ;  see  also  Char  Sahibzade 

Ka'ba,  III :  513 

Kabir,  1 :  117,  183,  203,  278,  293,  300-01,  312,  314, 
336,  392-93  ;  II :  13,  111,  173,  238,  266,  403- 
05,  408;  III :  53,  58,  87,  170,  180,  350,  364, 
407, 447;  IV  :  25, 54-56, 250, 285, 352-53, 365, 
391,  403,  418 

Kabir  Chaura,  II :  406 

Kabir  Das,  II :  403 

Kabirpanthis,  1 :  484 ;  II :  405-06;  III :  185,  288, 
455 

Kabir  ud-DIn,  Maulawi,  III :  148 

KabittSavaiyye,  II :  139,  406-07 

Kabitt  Sukkha  Singh  Ke,  II :  563 

Kabul,  1 :  23,  25,  83,  188,  218,  229,  251,  255,  261, 
281,  297,  325,  341,  368,  419,  421,  505,  545; 
II :  8,  19,  21,  24,  28,  39,  40,  53,  56,  69,  72,  87, 
101, 137,  255-57,  261,  294,  316,  324, 330,  347, 
360,  369,  378-79, 407, 457,  501, 515, 525, 572, 
576;  III :  7,  34,  89,  100,  127,  229,  231,  338, 
344-45,  375,  382,  456,  480,  492,  498  ;  TV :  4, 
7,  36,  98,  99,  111,  126,  172,  182-83,  232,  300, 
309,  342,  366,  374,  381,  433-34,  448 

Kabuli  Mall,  II :  541  ;  III :  284 

Kabul,  River,  III  :  119 


Kabul  Singh,  II :  524 

Kabul  Vali  Mai,  II :  407 

Kachchh,  II :  38,  90 

Kachiguda,  III :  191 

Kadivind,  TV :  318 

Kafi,  II :  172,  175-77,  407-08 

Kafiristan,  IV  :  232 

Kalian  Chand,  Bhagat,  II :  558 

Kaharpur,  II :  251 

Kahla  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  259  ;  II :  552 
Kahlon  Kotli,  III :  233 

Kahlur,  1 :  35,  128,  358  ;  II :  234-35,  291,  307,  467, 
508,  512  ;  III :  76,  155,  357,  371-72,  479,  483; 
TV  :  194,  243,  324,  439,  461 

Kahna,  II :  269,  387  ;  III :  102-03 

Kahna,  Bhai,  II :  262 

Kahna  Kachha,  II :  265 

Kahn  Chand,  II :  408 

Kahngarh,  ][][ :  223  ;  III :  103 

Kahn  Singh,  III :  303 

Kahn  Singh  Atarivala,  II :  410-11 

Kahn  Singh,  Baba,  II :  408  ;  III :  91,  366  ;  TV :  44, 
323,  326-27,  428 

Kahn  Singh  (Banga),  II :  344,  348 

Kahn  Singh  (Bhikkhivind) ,  II :  411 

Kahn  Singh  (Chakk  46),  II :  54 

Kahn  Singh  Chamiarivala,  Bhai,  1 :  257 

Kahn  Singh  (Fatehabad),  II :  409 

Kahn  Singh  (Gharjakh),  II :  408-09,  544  ;  III :  278 

Kahn  Singh  (Kalasvala),  II :  409 

Kahn  Singh  (Kanhaiya),  II :  408 

Kahn  Singh  Majithia,  II :  411 

Kahn  Singh  Man,  1 :  170  ;  II :  411-12  ;  III :  143 

Kahn  Singh  Nabha,  Bhai,  1 :  215,  311,  330,  332;  II : 
44,  83,  152,  179,  155-56,  213,  216,  221,  238, 
266,  335,  409-10,  480  ;  III :  1-4,  21,  117,  156, 
164,  196,  284,  320,  502  ;  IV :  14,  209-10,  212, 
297,  407 

Kahn  Singh  Nakai,  III  :  105 

Kahn  Singh  Rosa,  II :  412 

Kahn  Singh  Shergil,  II :  357 

Kahnuvan,  1 :  460  ;  II  :  555  ;  III :  423  ;  IV  :  448 

Kahuta,  III :  67,  219,  351 

Kailoh,  Prince,  II  :  306 

Kairon  II :  412,  483-84,  488;  III :  222,  303  ;  rV :  211 
Kairoh  Partap  Singh  -  see  Partap  Singh  Kairon 


INDEX 


506 


Kaithal,  1 :  254,  293,  485  ;  II :  8,  19,  45,  53,  56,  130, 
261,  391,  413,  428,  442,  486,  561-62,  576; 
III :  31,  89,  102,  319,  331  ;  IV:  21,  52,  166- 
67,  169,  174,  176,  350,  376 

Kaka  Ram,  Pandit,  IV :  423 

Kakar  Vichar,  1 :  182 

Kaka  Singh  Sadhu,  Bhai,  IV :  254 

Kakrala,  IV :  102 

Kakru,  Bhai,  II :  565 

Kakuzo,  Okakura;  III :  409 

Kala,  II :  23 

Kala,  Bhai,  II :  413  ;  III :  156  ;  IV :  350 
Kaladhari,  Baba,  1 :  299,  316 
Kala  Gola,  III :  187 
Kalal  Majra,  III :  220 
Kalalvala,  II :  497 

Kalanaur,  1 :  62,  207,  274  ;  II :  119,  225  354,  359, 

521,  546,  554  ;  III :  103,  108,  515 
Kala  (Phulka),  III :  336 
Kalaram  Aghori,  1 :  15, 
Kala  Singh,  II :  413-14 
Kala  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  295 
Kala  Singh,  Pandit,  TV :  44 
Kalasvala,  II :  390,  409,  455 
Kalat,  II :  342 
Kalau,  Bhai,  II :  414 
Kalaur,  II :  69,  92,  414  ;  III :  196 
Kaleke,  II :  18,  370,  390;  III :  87 
Kale  Khan,  I ;  410,  II :  414 
Kalerari,  II :  258 

Kalghidhar  Diwan,  Maiaya,  II :  414-15,  485 
Kalhana,  IV  :  179 

Kalha  Rai,  II :  416,  566;  III :  433;  IVV:  200 

Kalha,  S.S.,  III :  403 

Kalh  Bhatt,  1 :  351 

Kaliana,  Bhai,  II :  416-17 

Kaliana,  Bhai  (Bindrao),  II :  416 

Kalian  Chand,  Bate,  II :  192,  322,  417;  III :  166, 

184;  IV  :  119,  366 
Kalian  Singh,  II  :  417 
Kalian  Singh,  Baba,  IV  :  272 
Kalian  Sud,  II  :  417 
Kalidasa,  III :  48  ;  IV  :  251 
Kalika,  II  :  140;  IV  :  361 
Kalima,  II :  348,  379  ;  III :  140;  IV :  315 
Kali  Vein,  IV  :  270 


Kal  Jhirani,  II  :  417-18 

Kallar,  II :  188,  447;  III :  117,  157,  352 

Kallar  Kohar,  IV  :  309 

Kallu  Pahilvan,  II :  508 

Kalmot,  II :  42,  418;  IV :  237,  380 

Kaloke,  II :  428 

Kalpi,  Rishi,  III :  492 

Kalsia  (state),  II :  8,  132;  III :  20,  31,  96,  104,  221, 
278,  285,  322,  437,  502  ;  IV :  19,  66, 167, 175- 
76,  456  ;  see  Sikh  States 

Kalsia  (village),  II  :  132 

Kalu  Baba  —  see  Kalu  Mahita  and  Kalian  Chand, 
Baba 

Kalu  Bammi,  Bhai,  II :  418 
Kalu,  Bhai,  II :  235,  418 
Kalu  ka  Kotha,  III  :  199 

Kalu,  Mahita,  II :  102,  133,  228,  236-37,  417,  564  ; 

III:  53,  199,  201,  432-33,  446 
Kalu  Nath,  II :  418;  III :  208 
Kalyana,  Bhai,  III :  239  ;  IV :  331 
Kalyan  Chand,  Raja,  II :  234 
Kalyan  Mall,  Bhai,  IV :  409 
Kalyan  Singh,  II :  307 
Kalyan  Singh,  Rai,  II :  244 
Kalyan  Singh,  Sant,  1 :  212 
Kam,  II :  30,  32,  124,  419 
Kamadeva  —  see  Kam 
Kamagata  Maru  da  Dukhant,  TV  :  229 
Kamal,  II :  420-21 
Kama/a,  II :  398 
Kamala,  Bhai,  III :  47 
Kamal,  Bhai,  III :  421 
Kamal,  Bhai  (Kashmiri),  II :  421,  335 
Kamalia,  IV :  44,  334 
Kamal  (Pakpatan),  II :  297 
Kamalpur,  III:  217 
Kamalpur  (Ludhiana),  II:  422 
Kamalpur  (Sangrur),  II :  422 
Kamarivala  Theh,  III :  337 
Kam  Bakhsh,  1 :  252 
Kamboval,  II :  226  ;  III :  39,  40 
Kamraj,  II  :  298 
Kamran,  Prince,  1 :  229, 
Kamrup,  II :  532  ;  III :  244 
Kamwar  Khan,  IV  :  328-29 
Kanakval  Kalan,  II  :  49,  422 


507 


INDEX 


Kanauj,  II :  295;  III :  375 
Randaghat,  II :  187;  IV  :  88 
Kandhan  Bol  Paiari,  II :  189 
Kandola,  II :  184;  III :  205 
Kandu,  Bhai,  II :  422 
Kanech,  II  :  423 
Rang,  III:  101;  IV:  311 
Ranganpur,  II :  423 

Kanganval,  II :  273,  429;  III :  104  ;  IV :  459 
Kangar,  II :  458,  566;  III :  49  ;  IV :  4,  309 
Kangar,  Rai,  III :  337 
Rangha,  II :  37,  39,  90 

Rangra,  1 :  152-53,  196,  207,  354,  459,  489  ;  II :  22, 
89,  132-33,  182,  211,  296,  336,  359,  377,  408, 
430,  445,  505,  507,  512,  542  ;  III :  19,  38,  84, 
96,  102-03,  107, 155,  256,  371,  374,  438,  482- 
84  ;  IV  :  3,  43,  47,  194-95,  300,  309,  324,  419, 
452 

Ranhaiya,  Bhai,  1 :  7  ;  II :  423-24;  III :  203,  299; 

IV  :  13,  51,  62,  310,  408,  413 
Kanhaiya,  Chaudhari,  III :  333 
Kanhaiya  Lai,  II :  424  ;  III :  194,  486;  IV  t  453 
Kanhaiya  Lai,  Lala,  II :  317 
Kanhaiya  Lai  (Munshi),  III :  490 
Kanhaiya  Misl,  II :  73,  220,  250,  281,  323-24,  356- 

57,  359,  377,  392,  395,  408,  439  ;  III :  13,  92, 

95,  96,  98,  100,  102-03,  108,  483  ;  IV :  3,  311; 

see  Misls 
Ranhaiyapur,  II :  425 
Kanhaiya  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  424 
Kanhaiya  Singh  (Thattian),  II :  250,  366 
Ranipha,  II :  424-25 
Raniska,  III :  375 

Ranjhla,  II :  39,  48,  65,  270,  302,  371,  425,  431 

Kankhal,  I  :  509;  III :  20,  46  145,  236-38 

Ranpur,  1 :  317;  II :  425  ;  IV :  331,  373 

Kanre  ki  Var,  II :  425-26 

Kanshi  Ram,  Ravi,  1 :  302 

Ranshi  Ram,  Pandit,  II :  63 

Rahs  Tilla,  III :  67 

Rantnagar,  II_:  558 

Rahval  Raur,  II :  521 

Rahval  Nain  Sodhi,  II :  461 

Ranya  Maha  Vidyala,  IV :  211 

Raorike,  II  :  426,  521-22  ;  III :  21 

Rapalika,  I  :  15  ;  II :  461 


Kapal  Mochan,  1 :  262,  373  ;  II :  315,  426;  IV :  6 
Kapil  Muni,  II :  30,  526  ;  III :  406 
Kapilnagar,  IV :  262 

Kapura  Baiirar,  Chaudhari  -  see  Kapur  Singh 

(Kapura) 
Kapur  Dev,  Bhai,  II :  426-27 
Kapurgarh,  Hi :  221,  427  ;  IV :  172 
Kapuri,  II :  353 
Kapur  Singh,  Baba,  III :  291 
Kapur  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  428 

Kapur  Singh  (Kapura),  II :  306-07,  427-28,  529  ; 
III:  135  ;  IV.:  174 

Kapur  Singh  (Lohianvala) ,  III :  358 

Kapur  Singh,  Nawab,  1 :  77,  113,  401-02,  403,  406, 
494-95  ;  II :  119,  154,  225,  240,  323,  355,  362, 
428-30;  III :  401-02  ;  IV :  173,  350,  373 

Kapur  Singh,  Sirdar,  1 :  133;  II :  20,  430-31;  III : 
401-02 

Kapur  Singh  Zaildar,  III :  37 

Kapurthala,  1 :  236,  281,  326,  403  ;  II :  23,  44,  51, 
104, 185, 219,  258, 292-93,  316,  322,  355,  357, 
373,  468,  495,  497,  523  ;  III :  31,  99,  101, 152, 
245,  277-78,  285,  322,  437,  477  ;  IV  :  66,  167, 
172-74,  208,  235,  255,  270,  348,  350,  456 

Kara  (symbol),  II :  38,  39 

Kara  (town),  II :  481-32,  536;  II :  29 

Karachi,  1 :  31,  212,  455;  II :  40,  66;  III :  44,  211, 
219,  358;  IV  :  367 

Karah  Prasad,  II :  153,  432-33,  475  ;  III :  54,  426; 
IV :  5,  64,  241,  305,  307,  335,  391 

Raraman  Baii,  III :  364 

Raram  Chand,  II :  233,  433;  III :  490;  IV :  235 

Karam  Chand,  Dlwan,  II :  433;  IV :  309 

Karamgarh  Satran,  IV  :  279 

Raram  Raur,  II :  226 

Karam  Kauir  (Hadall),  III :  77 

Karam  Kauir  (Paddhar),  II :  463 

Raram  Kauir,  Rani,  1 :  344 

Raram  Khand,  II :  349  ;  III :  474 

Karam  Nariiin,  II :  433-34 

Karam  Singh  (Babar),  II :  434-35,  523 

Raram  Singh,  Bhai  (Bhai  Rupa),  1 :  273 

Raram  Singh,  Bhai  (Raithal),  II :  562 

Raram  Singh,  Bhai  (Pahja  Sahib),  II:  436-37, 

III :  280,  358  ;  IV  :  28 
Karam  Singh,  Bhai  (Nankana),  II :  437 


INDEX 


508 


Karam  Singh  Bhaftgi,  1 :  101 

Karam  Singh  Chahal,  II :  438 

Karam  Singh  Chima,  II :  519 

Karam  Singh  Daulatpur,  1 :  236  ;  II :  189 

Karam  Singh  Dullu,  II :  438 

Karam  Singh,  Giani,  1 :  228, 

Karam  Singh  Historian,  1 :  96,  232  ;  II :  46,  341, 
435-36  ;  III :  320  ;  IV :  181 

Karam  Singh  Historian  dt  Itihasak  Khoj,  II :  436 

Karam  Singh  (Jhingan),  1 :  236,  II :  434,  523-24 

Karam  Singh  Kalsia,  III :  104 

Karam  Singh,  Maharaja,  1 :  207,  250,  254,  299,  324, 
344,  509 ;  II :  16,  17,  53,  82,  148,  219,  422, 
438,  442,  567;  III :  46,  106,  140,  151,  207, 
319, 334,  341, 444, 482,  489  ;  IV :  52, 169,  212, 
224,  298,  308,  384 

Karam  Singh  Man,  II :  438 

Karam  Singh  Manko,  1 :  237 

Karam  Singh  (Marahka),  II :  434,  568 

Karam  Singh  (Nirmala),  II :  359,  439, 568  ;  III :  236 

Karam  Singh  Nishanahvali,  III :  105 

Karam  Singh  Pahuvindia,  II :  123 

Karam  Singh  (Paijgarh),  III :  103 

Karam  Singh  Ranghar  Nanglia,  II :  439 

Karam  Singh,  Sant  (Hot!  Mardan),  1 :  214, 2$),  343  ; 
11:251,369,439-40 

Karam  Singh  (Sehna),  II :  277 

Karam  Singh  Shahid,  III :  108-09 

Kararn  Singh  Siddhu,  II :  440 

Karam  Singh,  Subedar,  II :  82 

Karam  Yoga,  III:  119 

Karam  Mall,  III :  84 

Karam  Sher  Singh,  IV  :  176 

Kar  Bhet,  II :  441 

Kargil,  IV:  462 

Karhaie,  I:  37,  56 ;  II :  441-42 

Karhali,  II :  322,  442 

Kama  Sahib,  II :  391,  442 

KarJcha  Guru  Gob'md  Singh  Ka,  III :  197 

Karkhe  Patshahi  Dasvin  Ke,  II  :  442-43 

Karial,  1 :  210;  II :  396 

Kariala,  II :  110,  130  ;  III :  68,  342 

Karim  Bakhsh,  1 :  258-60;  II :  551-52;  III :  476 

Karlm  Dad  Khan,  IV :  458 

Karir  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  572 

Karma  Chhlna,  IV  :  267 


Karma,  The  Doctrine  of,  II :  388,  443-44;  III :  133- 

35;  IV :  157,  361-62 
Karmo,  II :  445 
Karmo  (Delhi),  II  :  389 
Karnail  Singh  Doad,  III :  394 
Karnal,  II :  40, 45,  314,  342,  353,  408,  445,  479,  513, 

575;  III :  91, 103, 106,  309,  331  ;  IV  :  170, 197, 

310,  438,  440 
Karna  Parva,  II :  222 
Kama,  Raja,  II :  525 
Karnataka,  II :  89,  273,  384  ;  III :  392 
KamiNamah,  1 :  182  ;  II :  445  ;  III :  356 
Kami  Singh,  Maharaja,  III :  404 
Karora  Singh,  1 :  249,  402  ;  II :  132,  445  ;  III :  95, 

103 

Karon,  Bhai,  1 :  255  ;  IV :  4,  309 

Karorsihghia  Misl,  II :  132,  357,  375,  445,  568;  III  • 
95  96,  98,  103-04,  435;  IV :  3,  175  ;  see  Misl.' 

Kar  Seva,  II :  189-90,  390,  445-47;  III :  284 

Kartarpur  (Jalandhar)  1 :  182,  189,  207,  271,  307 
319,  362,  506  ;  II :  57,  58,  102,  113,  138,  145 
220,  234,  313,  355-56,  384,  448-50,  508,  541 
558  ;  III :  9,  190,  266-67,  271,  330,  333  ;  IV 
5,  40,  153,  225,  233,  235,  243,  243,  287,  330; 
333,  395,  423 

—Battle  of,  1 :  485 

Kartarpur  (Ravi),  I:  146,  289,  358,  385;  II:  106, 

147,  208,  220,  347,  421,  447-48,  472,  553  ; 

III :  54,  145,  165,  167,  169,  187,  371;  IV:  42, 

99,  121,  126,  152,  234,  269,  366,  399 
Kartarpur  (Sialkot),  1 :  408 
Kartar  Singh  Bawa,  II :  450-51 
Kartar  Singh  Bedi,  III :  326  ;  IV :  305 
Kartar  Singh  Dakha,  Pandit,  1 :  295,  352  ;  II :  451- 

52  ;  IV:  230 
Kartar  Singh  Diwana,  II :  479  ;  III :  401 
Kartar  Singh  Duggal,  III :  352 
Kartar  Singh,  Giani,  II :  292-93,  452-54,  476  ;  III : 

209,  251,  309,  392-95, 404,  440;  IV :  190,  192- 

93,  316,  382,  389 
Kartar  Singh  Jhabbar,  I  :  41,  44,  93,  111,  "419,  422, 

491;  II :  386,  454-55  ;  470  ;  III :  280;  IV :  2, 

423 

Kartar  Singh  Kalasvalia,  1 :  131 

Kartar  Singh  Khalsa,  II :  78,  127  ;  IV :  178 

Kartar  Singh  (Latala),  II :  519 


509 


INDEX 


Kartar  Singh  (Munak),  II  :  128 

Kartar  Singh  Piukh,  II :  179-80 

Kartar  Singh  (Salhadd),  III :  409 

Kartar  Singh,  Sant  (Babar),  II  :  77,  78,  523  ;  III : 

326;  IV  :  49 
Kartar  Singh,  Sant  (Goindval),  IV:  351 
Kartar  Singh  Sarabha,  I  :  317;  II  :  65,  66,  115,  184- 

85,  259-60,  316,  456-57  ;  III :  211,  476,  513  ; 

IV:  87 

Kashi  II :  91,  136,  192,  239,  312,  403,  406-07;  III : 

237,  342,  463  ;  IV :  4,  21,  225,  315 
Kashi  Prasad  Jaisval  Research  Institute,  II :  298 
Kashi  Ram,  II :  458 

Kashi  Ram  (f/o  Hakim  Rai,  Diwan),  II :  220 

Kashmir,  1 :  23,  25,  32,  62,  210,  212,  229,  247,  267, 
272-73,  288,  376,  407,  477;  II  :  8,  19,  22-24, 
45,  46,  51,  54,  55,  65,  69,  72,  73,  97,  117,  121- 
22, 163, 182, 184,  214,  231,  234, 252,  262, 264, 
273,  280,  303-04,  314-15,  319-20,  355,  368- 
70,  377,  382,  390,  396,  400,  409, 412,  424,  458, 
460,  463,  492,  494,  507-08,  515-16,  525,  533, 
560-61,  564,  571  ;  III :  9,  14,  25,  38,  69,  79, 
84,  119, 127-29,  157, 159, 165,  217,  220,  227, 
270,  276,  304,  338,  345,  366,  375,  379,  382, 
417,  436,  449,  456,  465,  479,  483-84,  492  ;  IV  : 
20,  94,  99,  101,  103,  108-09,  125,  137,  183, 
222,  232,  234,  269,  272,  283,  300,  343,  363, 
381-82,  427,  434,  438,  459 

—Expedition  of,  1 :  194,  207 

Kashmir  Sikh  Samachar,  II  :  464 

Kashmira  Singh,  Prince,  I  :  211,  376,  377,  408,  478, 
539;  II :  275-76,  458  ;  III  :  213,  275,  316;  IV : 
20 

Kasur,  I  :  30,  169,  207,  273,  342,  345,  401,  443;  II : 
22,  23,  27,  118-20,  188,  251-52,  27,  307,  395- 
96,  408,  411,  423,  438,  462-63,  541;  III :  84, 
87,  100-02,  110-11,  120,  221,  227,  244,  338, 
417,  420,  480-81,  488  ;  IV :  3,  248,  311,  318 

Katana  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  458 

Katani  Kalah,  II :  458. 

Katara,  Bhai,  I  :  342  ;  II  :  458-59 

Kataria,  Bhai,  I  :  328 

Kataria  Malik,  II  :  459 

Katas,  III  :  484 

Katha,  II  :  459-60 

Hatha  Shahanchi  Ki,  IV  :  80 


Katha  Singh,  II  :  529  ;  see  Kotha  Singh,  Bhai 

Kathgarh,  II :  356,  377 

Kathgodam,  III :  504 

Kathi  Gate,  Srinagar,  IV:  255 

Kathmandu,  II  :  383 

Kathua,  II :  212,  379 

Kathu  Nangal,  1 :  201,  341,  400  ;  II :  376  ;  III :  304 

Katihar,  II :  558  ;  III :  26 

Katkoff,  II :  3 

Katra  Hari  Singh,  II  :  250 

Katra  Kanhaiyah,  II :  323 

Katra  Karam  Singh,  II :  439 

Katra  Siiighpurian,  II :  506 

Kattak  ki  Visakh,  II :  426 

Kattha  Singh,  II  :  438 

Kattu  Shah,  II  :  460 

Kauda,  I  :  16,  II  :  460-61 

Kaufmann,  II  :  173 

Kaukab-i-Iqbal-i-Punjab,  III  :  287  ;  IV  :  138 

Kaulan,  II  :  135,  194,  450 

Kaulgarh,  II  :  434 

Kaulo  Ghakka,  IV  :  227 

Kaulsar,  1 :  108,  113,  208  ;  III :  304 

Kaul,  Sodhi,  II :  461 

Kaur,  461 

Kaura  Mall,  Diwan,  1:11,  402,  460  ;  II :  47,  358, 
461-63  ;  III :  130,  200,  463  ;  IV  :  13,  277,  299, 
428,  454 

Kaura  Mall  Sahu,  I  :  66 

Kaura  Singh,  II :  463 

Kaur  Singh,  I  :  210  ;  II :  394 

Kaur  Singh  (Atari),  II  :  57 

Kaur  Singh  Nihahg,  Akali,  II :  463-64  ;  III :  17;  IV  : 

236 

Kedari,  Bhai,  II  :  464 

Kedarnath,  III  :  189,  450 

Kedar  Nath  Sehgal,  III :  211 

Kedar  Pantii  Prakash,  III :  450 

Kehar  Singh  (artist),  III :  486 

Kehar  Singh,  Bhai,  I  :  508 

Kehar  Singh,  Bhai  (Jarg),  II  :  465 

Kehar  Singh  (Dhotiah),  III  :  197 

Kehar  Singh  (Ghadrite),  II  :  464-65 

Kehar  Singh,  Giani,  III  :  505 

Kehar  Singh  Naqqash,  II  :  80 

Kehar  Singh  Sandhanvalia,  II :  465,  543  ;  IV  :  111 


INDEX 


510 


Kendri  Punjabi  Lekhak  Sabha,  IV :  9 

Kendari  Sri  Guru  Singh  Sabha,  II :  249  ;  III :  359 

Kenduli,  II :  321 

Kenduli  Sasan,  II :  32L 

Ker  Sahib,  III :  157 

Kes,  IV  :  37,  90 

Kesadhari,  II :  465-67  ;  III :  46,  235,  325,  347;  IV : 
13,  145 

Kesari,  II :  434,  568  ;  III :  96,  109 

Kesari  Chand,  Raja,  1 :  447,  II :  467;  IV :  380 

Kesar  Singh  (Anandpur) ,  II :  568 

Kesar  Singh,  Bhai  (Bharoki),  II :  470 

Kesar  Singh,  Bhai  (Chakk  38),  II :  470 

Kesar  Singh  Chhibbar,  1 :  279-80  ;  II :  130,  191-92, 

228  ;  III ;  24,  39,  203  ;  IV :  180,  332,  343, 

377,  426 

Kesar  Singh  (Ghadrite),  II :  63,  64,  467-68 
Kesar  Sirigh  (Quran  scholar),  II :  468-70 
Kesar  Singh  (wrestler),  III :  320 
Kesgarh,  Fort  of,  1 :  129 

Kesgarh  Sahib,  III :  266  ;  IV :  378  ;  see  Anandpur 

Keshab  Chandra  Sen,  III :  187 

Kesho  Bhatt,  III :  156 

Kesho  Das,  II :  470  ;  III :  351 

Kesho  Das  (Patiala),|II :  319  ;  IV:  407-08 

Kesho  Das  (scribe),  II :  106 

Kesho  Gopal,  Pandit,  II :  470-71 

Kesho  Rai  Pothi,  II :  106  ;  III :  85 

Kesra  Singh,  II :  471  ;  III :  146 

Kes  te  Sikkhi,  II :  436 

Keval,  II :  471 

Khaddi  Sahib,  II :  472 

Khadur,  1 :  87,  91,  146-48,  261,  263,  348,  358,  380, 
507,  533-34  ;  II :  98,  100,  f83,  145,  190,  295, 
386,  391,  449,  471-72,  490,  500,  564;  III :  16, 
23,  99,  335,  451,  458,  477;  TV :  82,  114,  126, 
241,  302,  309,  331,  365,  369 

Khafi  Khan,  1 :  275,  374;  II :  122  ;  III :  148-49 

Khaibar,  II :  252,  283,  305,  336,  345,  409,  501,  571  ; 
III  :  6,  7,  96,  212,  316,  344,  479,  483;  IV  :  111, 
182,  324,  343,  366,  414,  419 

Khaihra,  II  :  473 

Khairabad,  II :  473 

Khair  Din,  1 :  260  ;  II :  552 

Khair  Muhammad,  II :  341 

Khairpur,  II  :  318,  557;  IV  :  95 


Khairpur  Sadat,  III :  39 
Khair  ud-DIn,  Mufti,  II :  298  • 
Khair  ud-Din-Muhammad,  II :  299 
Khalll  Beg  Khan,  1 :  250  ;  III :  103 
Khalistan,  IV :  190 
Khalra,  II :  70,  286 

Khalsa,  1 :  101,  107,  185-86,  232,  385;  II :  25,  26, 
37-39,  52,  89,  90,  125,  137,  140,  203-04,  240, 
244,  300-02,  318,  332,  362,  369,  381-82,  402, 
428-29,  434,  445,  448,  463,  466-67,  473-74, 
475,  480,  484,  486-87,  501,  505-06,  516,  519, 
521,  528-29,  533,  538,  540,  552,  568  ;  III :  7, 
18,  20,  36,  40,  43,  47,  50,  64,  88,  91,  94,  108- 
09, 129!  131, 144, 186, 193, 196,  204,  223,  226- 
27,  253,  255,  263-64,  275,  281,  283,  288-89, 
324, 335, 345,  366-68,  375,  382, 424, 427, 441- 
42,  460,  464, 505, 514;  IV :  13, 14,  16,  20,  43, 44, 
62-64,  81,  120,  130,  133,  143,  146,  154,  158- 
59,  181,  203,  206-07,  210,  212,  219,  227,  230, 
237,  243-45,  254,  257,  266-67,  275,  278-79, 
286,  301, 305, 307,  335-36,  346, 370,  373,  375, 
380,  391,  396, 400-01,  422,  432,  434,  451,  458 

—Initiation,  1 :  128-29;  see  Pahul 

Khalsa  Advocate,  1 :  96  ;  IV :  163,  212,  281 

Khalsa  Akali  Dal,  II :  476 

Khalsa  Ajchbar,  1 :  126,  294,  371  ;  II :  3,  227,  482  ; 
III :  44,  73,  501  ;  IV :  163,  211,  253,  291 

Khalsa  Bahadur,  II :  474-75;  IV  :  163 

Khalsa  Baradari,  II :  253,  475,  552  ;  III :  126,  IV : 
114,  391 

Khalsa  Bhujhangl  Dal,  III :  48 

Khalsa  Central  Council,  II :  476 

Khalsa  Chandan  Brichh,  111 :  144 

Khalsa  College,  Amritsar,  II :  4,  43,  46,  106,  128, 
186-87,  211, 222, 253, 276,  279,  292,  299, 342, 
360,  373,  394,  435,  452,  475,  479,  486,  535, 
552  ;  III :  2,  16,  37,  41,  48,  85,  86,  232,  298, 
305,  350-51,  439,  450,  472,  476,  504  ;  IV :  22, 
52,  53,  69,  114,  131,  146,  168,  172,  177,  181, 
228,  238,  249,  253,  261-62,  280,  288,  309,  312, 
318,  328,  339,  341,  345,  347,  423,  435,  437, 
445,  453-54 

— Establishment  Committee,  II :  373  ;  III :  73 

— Managing  Council,  II :  399  ;  II :  73 

Khalsa  College,  Bombay,  II :  128  ;  III  :  232  ;  IV :  65, 
340 


511 


INDEX 


Khalsa  College,  Gujranwala,  II :  196 

Khalsa  College,  Lyallpur,  IV :  292 

Khalsa  College  Patiala  Library,  II :  351 

Khalsa  Collegiate  School,  Amritsar,  II :  435  ;  III : 

115,  117,  232;  IV :  385 
Khalsa  Council,  II :  382 
Khalsa  Darbar,  II :  476-77;  III :  220 
Khalsa  Darbar  Records,  II :  477-78 
Khalsa  Defence  of  India  League,  II :  399,  478-79  ; 

IV :  188,  446 
Khalsa  Dharam  ,  II :  373 

Kha/sa  Dharam  Pracharak  Shuddhi  Pattar,  II :  324 
Khalsa  Dharamshala  Gharjakh,  II :  490 
Khalsa  Dharam  Shastar,  1 :  223  ;  II :  479-80 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Amritsar,  1 :  223,  295,  371-72,  461, 

515  ;  II :  10,  50,  186,  480-81,  482,  498  ;  HI : 

73,  289;  IV:  67,  208-09,  211,  253,  281,  291 
Khalsa  Diwan  Bar,  IV :  340 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Burma,  III :  421 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Damdama  Sahib,  III :  476 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Delhi,  III :  502 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Khara  Sauda  Bar,  1 :  43,  419,  II :  481 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Lahore,  1 :  50,  217,  223,  294-95,  432, 

461  ;  II :  155, 186,  283, 481-82,  489, 498, 504  ; 

III  :  1,  73,  221,  274,  289  ;  IV:  208-16^252, 

255,  347 

Khalsa  Diwan  Majha,  II :  54,  334,  482-84,  488-89  ; 

III:  118;  IV:  211,  322,  336 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Malaya,  II :  414-15,  484-85 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Nabha,  II :  480  ;  IV  :  423 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Samundari,  IV  :  340 
Khalsa  Diwan,  Selangor,  II,  414-15,  484-85 
Khalsa  Diwan  Society,  1 :  270,  325;  II :  485  ;  III :  217 
Kha/sa  Gazette,  II :  187  ;  III :  71 
Khalsa  Jatha  of  British  Isles,  1 :  213 
Khalsa  Lands,  II :  319  ;  III :  98 
Khalsa  Mahima,  II :  485-86 
Khalsa  Missionary  Society,  II :  476 
Khalsa  Namah,  II :  486  ;  IV :  452 
Khalsa  National  League,  II :  476 
Khalsa  National  Party,  1 :  42,  47  ;  II :  399,  486-88; 

IV:  108-09,  128,  187,  282,  335 
Khalsa  Orphanage,  II :  538 
Khalsa  Parliament,  IV  :  335-36 
Khalsa  Pracharak  Vidyala,  I  :  288,  462;  II :  308,  451, 

483-84,  488-89,  538  ;  III :  118 


Khalsa  Prakash,  II :  415;  IV  :  192 

Khalsa  Pratinidh  Diwan,  Ludhiana,  1 :  195 

Khalsa  Rahit  Prakash,  III :  425  ;  IV  :  335-36 

Khalsa  Raj  de  Badesi  Karinde,  III :  367 

Kha/sa  Raj  de  Vsrayye,  III :  367 

Kha/sa  Religious  National  Law,  III :  426 

Kha/sa  Review,  II :  398 

Kha/sa  Samachar,  IV  :  86,  163,  165,  211,  429 

Khalsa  Sevak,  1 :  330  ;  IV  :  165 

Khalsa  Sevak  Dal,  IV  :  121 

Kha/sa  Shatak,  IV :  273 

Khalsa  Supreme  Council,  III :  20 

Kha/sa,  The,  II :  187,  559  ;  III :  73;  IV :  163 

Khalsa  Tract  Society,  II :  83,  156,  277  ;  IV  :  45,  163, 

209,  254,  373,  429-30 
Khalsa  Updeshak  Mahavidyala,  Gharjakh,  II :  454, 

489-91  ;  III :  358 
Khalsa  Vidf&rthi  Sabha,  III :  118 
Kha/sa  Vir,  IV:  165 

Khalsa  Youngmen's  Association,  III :  148 
Khalsa  Youngmen's  Magazine,  IV:  178 
Khalse  de  Bole,  —  see  Nihahg  Bole 
Khana  Chaudhari,  II :  18 
Khan  Beg  Tiwana,  1 :  102, 
Khan  Chand,  III  :  34 
Khan  Chhapri,  II :  269,  491  ;  IV :  369 
Khande  di  Dhar,  II :  157 

Khande  di  Pahul,  II :  89,  201,  474;  III :  236-66,  283, 

337  ;  IV :  120,  147,  266 
Khande-Vadhani,  III :  18 
Khandur,  II :  491-92 
Khaneval,  II :  438 
Khanki  Valley,  IV :  58 

Khanna,  II :  302, 312. 351 ;  III :  102,  105, 493;  IV :  345 

Khanpur,  II :  269,  491 

Khan  Sahib,  Dr,  II :  317 

Khanu,  Bhai,  II  :  492  ;  III:  21 

Khanu,  Bhai  (Dalla),  II :  492 

Khanzada  Rustam  Khan,  1 :  338 

Khara,  II :  286,  492  ;  III :  345 

Kharak  Bhura,  II :  493 

Kharak  Singh,  II :  493 

Kharak  Singh,  Baba,  1 :  41-42,  43,  46,  47,  52,  54,  85, 
92, 329,  434,  436  ;  II :  104,  227, 454,  476,  493- 
94  ;  III :  37,  78,  124-25,  214-15,  309,  370  ; 
IV:  87,  115,  312-13,  351,  360 


INDEX 


512 


Kharak  Singh,  Baba,  Sevavale,  I  :  296  ;  IV  394 

Kharak  Singh  (Gahgushahi),  II :  52 

Kharak  Singh,  Maharaja,  I.:J54,  159,  210-11,  219, 
230,  371,  457,  465,  470,  546  ;  II  :  24,  28,  54, 
73, 121, 187,  211,  225,  263,  289,  307,  409,  424, 
494-95,  497,  507,  521,  525,  542,  547,  550  ; 
III :  14,  19,  35,  103,  123,  157,  212,  217,  260, 
279,  285-86,  338,  343,  382,  443,  464,  468,  470, 
487,  492  ;  IV  :  20, 103, 109, 112, 133,  259,  320, 
386,  418,  427,  441,  453 

Khapak  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  11;  II :  316,  495  ;  IV :  173 

Kharar,  II  :  323;  III  :  105 

Khara  Sauda,  Gurdwara,  II :  258-59,  274,  305,  545  ; 

III  :  36,  69,  469  ;  IV  :  50,  86,  227,  278,  286, 

298,  423 
Khan  Boh,  II  :  266  ;  IV :  265 
Khar!  Kariali,  II  :  29 
Khas  Paltan,  II  :  412 
Khatkar,  II  :  495-96 
Khatkar  Kalah,  I  :  30  ;  II  :  52 
Khazan  Singh,  Giani,  II :  180  ;  IV  :  181 
Kheda,  Bhai,  II :  496  ;  III  :  371 
Kliem  Chand,  Bhal,  IV  :  438 
Khem  Karan,  II :  42,  496-97;  III :  139,  403,  421 
Kliem  Karan,  Bhai,  II :  497,  510  ;  III :  514 
Khem  Kaur,  II  :  497 
Kliem  Kaur  (Rahal  Chahal),  II  :  390 
Kliem  Singh  Bedi,  Baba  Sir,  I  :  223,  306,  371;  II  :  2, 

186,  221,  276,  324,  480-81,  497-98,  558  ;  III  : 

225,  352  ;  IV  :  208-09,  211,  291,  338,  348,  460 
Kliem  Singh,  Risaldar,  IV  :  161 
Kheora,  III  :  483 
Khera,  Bhai,  II :  499 
Khera  Kalmot  —  see  Kalmot 
Kheri,  II  :  15  ;  III  :  125  ;  IV:  15 
Kheri  (district),  II  :  398  ;  III :  279 
Kheri  Naudh  Singh,  III  :  105 
Khetu,  Bhai,  II  :  371 
Kliiala  Kalah,  I:  333  ;  II  :  499  ;  III  :  70 
Khidrana,  II  :  91,  529,  568-69  ;  III  :  1 1,  27,  135,  456, 

513  ;JV  :  355,  439  ;  see  Muktsar 
Khiva  Kalah,  II :  187,  499-500  ;  IV  :  36,  205 
Khlvi,  Mata,  I  :  146,  181,  534  ;  II  :  133,  209,  500  ; 

III  :  456 

Khizar  Hayat  Khan  Tiwana,  I  :  267  ;  III :  308,  312; 
IV:  189,  192 


Khizrabad,  II :  500-01  ;  III  :  102;  IV  :  464 

Khosa  Kotla,  II  :  501 

Kliote,  III  :  466 

Khuda  ,  II  :  406 

Khudadad,  III :  410 

Khudal  Akbarvali,  IV:  217 

Khuda  Singh,  Baba,  1 :  216,  376  ;  II  :  501-02;  III : 
223 

Khudiah,  II :  273  ;  III :  104 
Khuhi  Bhai  Bahilo,  II :  6 
Khuh  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  267 
Khulasat  ut-Twarikh,  II :  502-03  ;  IV  :  226 
Kliulhe  Asmani  Rang,  III  :  410 
Khulhe  Ghund,  II :  410 
Klwle  Lekh,  III :  410 
Khulhe  Maidan,  III  :  410 
Khunda,  II :  322,  372  ;  III  :  366 
Khuni  Sal  dian  Khuni  Holian,  II :  456 
Klmn-i-Shahidan,  II :  456 
Khurana,  II  :  503 

Khurasan,  I  :  25,  238  ;  II :  166,  572  ;  III :  148 
Khurram,  Prince,  II :  505 

Khurshid  Khalsa,  II  :  503-04  ;  III  :  221  ;  IV  :  69, 

252 

Khushab,  II :  188,  252,  377  ;  III :  96,  483  ;  IV :  223, 
324 

Khushal  Chand,  Raja,  II  :  505 
Khushal  Singh,  Bhai  (Daudhar),  II  :  506 
Khushal  Singh,  Bhai  (Nankana),  II  :  506 
Khushal  Singh  Jamadar,  1 :  65,  68,  345,  377,  436  ; 
II  :  506-07,  522,  547  ;  III :  465,  487;  IV  :  183, 
343,  414 

Kliushal  Singh  (Kahna),  II :  323  ;  III :  102 

Khushal  Singh  Ramgarhia,  III  :  107 

Kliushal  Singh  (Sihghpuria),  II :  505-06;  III :  51, 

110  ;  IV:  350 
Khushwant  Singh,  IV  :  181,  218 
Khuswaqt  Rai,  1 :  27,  153,  402  ;  II :  251,  324;  III : 

260,  383,  486 
Khusrau,  Prince,  I  :  438  ;  II  :  320,  504-05;  IV  :  372 
Khwaja  Mir,  III :  148 
Kliwaja  Sayyid  ka  Kot,  II :  250 
Kiara  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III  :  200 
Kichha,  III  :  504 

Kidara,  Bhai,  II :  378  ;  507  ;  III :  38 

Ki  Khalsa  College  Sikkhah  da  Hai  ?  IV  :  280 


513 


INDEX 


KIkkar  Singh  Pahilvah,  II  :  507-08 
KilaRalpur,  11:451,508 
Killa  Sahib,  II  :  472 
Kill!  Sahib,  II  :  99 
Kimla-i-Saadat,  III :  297 
Kinerl,  1 :  171,  179 
King,  CM.,  1 :  236 

King  Edward  Medical  College,  Lahore,  II :  470 

King  George  V,  II :  508  ;  III :  502 

Kipling,  III :  472 

Kirat  Bhatt,  I  :  352 

Kirat  Kami,  III :  161-62,  175 

Kiratpur,  1 :  57,  129,  178,  234,  271,  348,  357,  362, 
365,  368,  412-13,  431;  II :  58,  97,  101-02,  1 13, 
127,  145,  220,  234-35,  238,  240,  254,  261-62, 
335,  363,  375-76,  384,  389,  414,  421, 446, 449, 
503,  308-11,  541,  545  ;  III  :  12,  25,  39,  203, 
253,  271,  282,  333,  335,  338,  413,  461,  514; 
IV  :  40,  98,  194,  233-34,  256, 330-31,  376,  380, 
439 

Kirat  Singh,  II :  240,  519 
Hire  Makaure,  III :  119 
Kirmanshah,  II :  66 
KIron  Kalaft,  II :  226,  482 

Kirpal  Chand  Katoch,  1 :  78  ;  II :  512  ;  III :  155 
Kirpal  Das,  Mahant,  1 :  245  ;  II :  267-68,  512-13; 

IIFr  443;  IV :  378 
Kirpal  Singh  (artist),  II :  513-14 
Kirpal  Singh  (Bakapur),  II :  552 
Kirpal  Singh  (Bhera),  II :  562 
Kirpal  Singh  Butala,  II :  46 
Kirpal  Singh  Chakk  Sherevala,  III :  400 
Kirpal  Singh,  Dr.,  Ill :  41 
Kirpal  Singh  (editor),  IV:  163 
Kirpal  Singh  (informer),  II :  65,  316,  457,  464 
Kirpal  Singh  Majlthla,  IV  :  282,  289 
Kirpal  Singh  (Sadhaura),  II :  273 
Kirpal  Singh,  Singh  Sahib  Gianii,  II :  77-79,  161, 

514;  IV:  254 
Kirpan,  II  :  37,  38,  90 
Kirpan  Bahadur,  II :  515;  IV  ;  165 
Kirpan  Morcha,  514-15 
Kirpa  Ram  Datt,  II  :  262  ;  III :  214 
Kirpa  Ram,  Dlwan,  II  :  72,  515-16;  IV :  309 
Kirpa  Ram  Gosairi,  II  :  354 
Kirpa  Ram,  Pandit,  II  :  516 


Kirpa  Singh,  II :  439 

KIrtan,  II :  109,  165-66,  516-19;  IV :  231 

Kirtan  Sohila,  III :  241,  317,  367,  427 

Kirti,  1 :  195;  II  :  366,  519  ;  III :  210,  492  ;  IV :  53, 

166,  229,  342 
KIrtia,  Bhai,  II  :  519 

Kirti  Kisan  Movement,  1 :  238;  II :  519  ;  III :  127 

Kirti  Kisan  Sabfaa,  III :  210-11 

Kirti  Kisan  Party,  1 :  317;  IV  ;  229 

Kisan  Sabhas  ,  TV  :  228,  342 

Kishan  Chand  Bhandari,  Rai,  1 :  162,  326 

Kishan  Chand  (Man),  II :  50 

Kishan  Chand  Rai  ,  II :  520,  576 

Kishan  Das,  Mahant,  1 :  333,  334  ;  II :  51 

Kishangarh,  III  :  187 

Kishan  Kaiivar,  Dlwan,  II :  521 

Kishan  Kaur,  II  :  521 

Kishan  Kaur  (Kesgarh) ,  II :  436 

Kishan  Kaur,  Mai,  II :  507,  522 

Kishan  Kaur,  Rani,  IV  :  225 

Kishanpura,  IV  :  432 

Kishan  Singh,  II :  507,  522 

Kishan  Singh  Bagarlan,  1 :  194 

Kishan  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  325 

Kishan  Singh  (Chhapa),  III :  470 

Kishan  Singh  Gargajj,  1 :  53,  236-37,  281,  282;  II : 

523-24;  III:  126,  198;  IV:  49 
Kishan  Singh  (Gojraii),  III :  369 
Kishan  Singh  (Kalasvala),  II :  390 
Kishan  Singh  (Kamalla),  1 :  194 
Kishan  Singh  (Kanvar),  III :  146 
Kishan  Singh,  Mahant,  II :  213 
Kishan  Singh  (N.W.F.P),  III :  205 
Kishan  Singh,  Sardar,  II  :  24 
Kishan  Singh  Uppal,  II  :  224 
Kishan  Singh  (writer),  II :  212 
Kishna,  Bhai ,  1 :  265  ;  II :  524 
Kishora  Singh  Dogra,  II :  120  ;  IV  :  259 
Kishtwar,  IV :  462 
Kisna,  Bhai  (Chahal),  II :  520 
Kisna,  Bhai"  (Muzaftg),  II  :  520 
Kisna  Jhingaran,  II  :  520 
Kissa  Hir  Ranjha,  TV  :  212 
Kisso,  Mai,  II  :  437 
KitaM-Tarikh-i-Sikhan,  1 :  27 
Kitchner  College,  Nowgong,  III :  114 


INDEX 


514 


Kodaikanal,  III :  359,  503 

Kohat,  1 :  67,  172,  212  ;  65,  195,  378  ;  III :  483  ; 

IV:  107,  118 
Koh-i-nur,  1 :  13,  209  ;  II :  8,  285,  524-26,  547  ;  III : 

286-87,  486  ;  IV  :  364,  434 
Kohistan,  II :  322 
Kokari  Kalan,  II :  310 
Kolayat,  II :  526  ;  III :  444 

Komagata  Maru,  1 :  271,  331  ;  II :  64,  115,  142-43, 
184,  274,  414,  484,  523,  526-28;  III :  58,  67, 
492 ;  IV  :  228 

Kosher  meat,  IV  :  307 

Kot,  II :  23  ;  see  Raikot 

Kota,  II :  227 

Kot  Badal  Khan,  III :  101 

Kot  Bhal,  II :  387,  528  ;  IV :  279 

Kot  Bhai  Than  Singh,  II  :  455 

Kot  Buddha,  IV  :  323 

Kot  Dharmu,  II :  528 

Kot  Dunna,  III :  438 

Kotehari,  III :  78 

Kot  Fatuhi,  II :  434 

Kotgarh,  IV :  222 

Kotha  Guru,  II  :  461,  528-29;  III  :  371;  IV  :  225, 
268 

Kotha  Sahib,  II :  240 
Kotha  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  529  ;  III :  7,  8 
Kothe  Prithi  Chand  Ke,  II :  529 
Kotheval,  11:11 

Kot  Isa  Khan,  II :  306,  529  ;  III :  99 

Kot  Kachhua,  II :  554 

Kot  Kamalia,  II  :  393,  463;  III  :  104-05 

Kot  Kapura,  1 :  255,  291,  397  ;  II :  215,  529-30;  III : 

106,  129,  226,  263,  437,  488;  IV  :  41,  174,  405, 

454 

Kotla  Faqlr  Chand,  III :  467 
Kotla  Mian  Mittha,  III :  83 

Kotla  Nihahg  Khan,  1 :  246,  388;  II  :  67,  500,  530- 

31;  III:  146,  231,  463-64 
Kotli  Loharan,  III :  13,  262 
Kot  Sayyid  Mahmud,  III :  515 
Kot  Shamir,  II :  531 
Kot  Sujan  Singh,  IV  :  385 
Kotwali  Chabutara,  II :  300 
Kripal  Das,  Bava,  III  :  17 
Krlpa  Dayai  Singh,  Baba,  III :  243  ;  IV  :  272 


Kripal  Das  Bhalla,  IV  :  180 
Kripa  Ram,  II :  516 
Krishan  Lai,  II :  238 
Krishan  Mall,  III :  84 
Krishna  (Chahal),  III :  446 
Krishnavtar,  1 :  451,  452,  544 
Krodh,  II :  30,  32,  124,  531-32 
Kronstadt,  II :  284 

Krsna,  Lord,  II :  213,  321,  323,  374,  416,  420,  513, 
516  ;  III :  102,  293,  302,  342,  362,  422  ;  IV  : 
266,  427 

Kuala  Lumpur,  II :  231,  484  ;  III :  1 14  ;  IV  :  298 

Kuber,  II :  312 

Kucha  Baghvala,  II :  456 

Kuchaji,  II :  126,  532  ;  IV :  258 

Koer  Singh  Chandra,  II  :  240 

Kuir  Singh,  II :  88,  89,  135-36,  142  ;  III :  24,  157, 

281,  283,  345  479,  508  ;  IV :  43,  53,  245 
Kuka  Gurudom,  III :  358 

Kukas,  1 :  217  ;  II :  137,  273,  409,  504,  532-35  ;  III : 

29,  35,  58,  221,  255,  465-67;  IV:  69,  260 
Kukkar  Muzara,  II :  434 
Kukko,  Bhai,  II :  535 

Kul  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Ji  KI  Dasam  Patshahi  Ki, 

II :  535 
Kulla,  Bhal,  II :  535 

Kullu,  I  :  274,  315  ;  II :  22,  46,  73,  412  ;  III :  36,  84, 

120,  129,  383,  483-84,  492 
Kulwant  Singh,  II :  49 
Kumaoh  Hills,  III:  511 
Kumar,  G.D.,  II :  62 
Kundal,  II  :  371 
Kundalini,  II :  420 

Kuhjah,  II :  23  ;  III :  129  ;  IV :  107,  299 

Kuhjpura,  II :  342,  445  ;  III  158  ;  IV  :  438 

Kuhvresh,  Kavl,  1 :  302  ;  II :  536 

Kup,  II  :  250,  356;  III  :  423  ;  IV :  396 

Kurala,  IV:  222,  315 

Kurali,  II  :  356,  536  ;  III  :  102;  IV  :  458 

Kuri,  I  :  327 

Kuriti  Sudhar,  II :  260 

Kurukshetra,  1 :  389,  429,  II :  141,  232,  501  ;  III : 
147,  167,  203,  238,  362,  455,  489  ;  IV  :  21,  23, 
122,  349-50,  440 

Kurukshetra  University,  II  :  128 

Kurram  Valley,  IV  :  58 


515 


INDEX 


Kusa,  rV  :  225 
Kusal  Das,  Bhai,  II :  536 
Kushan,  III :  375 
Kussal,  IV :  461 
Kutba,  III :  423 
Kutch,  III :  402 
Kutesar,  II  :  144  ;  III :  207 
Kuttha,  IV :  305 

Labh  Singh,  Babu,  II :  537  ;  III :  290 

Lachchhl,  Mai,  II. :  470 

Lachhmati  Das,  II :  486 

-achhman  Dev,  III :  191 

^achhman  Singh,  Baba,  II :  195 

^achhman  Singh  Dafedar,  III :  197 

.achhman  Singh  Dharovali,  1 :  43,  51-52,  248,  281, 
289,  304,  307,  328,  419,  433,  441,  458,  489, 
498,  532  ;  II :  250,  258-59,  267,  274,  301,  305, 
308-09,  369,  386,  437,  465,  470,  506,  523, 
537-39,  540  ;  III :  36, 139,  198,  202,  205,  469; 
IV :  30,  50,  86,  227,  278-79,  286,  298,  336, 
345,  422-23 

Lachhman  Singh  Gill,  II :  539-40;  III :  398,  400, 
404 

Lachhman  Singh  Granthi,  Bhai,  II :  540 

Lachhfhi  (Chamkaur),  II :  204 

Lachhmi  Das,  Diwan,  IV  :  458 

Lachhmi,  Mai,  II :  308 

Lachhmi,  Rani,  II :  540 

Ladakh,  III :  402,  483-84  ;  IV  :  111,  462 

Ladakh  Treaty,  IV  :  462-63 

Ladana,  IV  :  360-61 

Laddha,  Bhai,  1 :  209  ;  540-41,  557 

Laddha  (Man),  II:  394 

Laddha  (Phulka),  III  :  464 

Ladhevala,  III :  365 

Ladva,  I  :  249,  277  ;  II :  380  ;  III :  31,  102-03,  331, 

488  ;  IV :  95,  167,  169,  221,  353 
Lahaura  Singh  Bandai,  IV :  327 
Lahauri  Fauj,  IV  :  160 
Lahili  Kalan,  II :  541 

Lahina,  Bhai,  II :  201,  347,  471,  500,  502  ;  III :  90, 
179, 182,  335,  457;  IV :  152  ;  see  Angad,  Guru, 
Lahina  Singh,  Bhai,  I  :  328 

Lahina  Singh  BhangI,  1 :  345  ;  II :  57,  223,  377,  438, 
541-42  ;  III  :  100,  415;  IV:  425 


Lahina  Singh  (Gharjakh),  II:  57,  223,  377,  438, 

541-42  ;  III :  100,  415 
Lahina  Singh,  Giani,  II :  490 
Lahina  Singh  (Kalsia),  III :  20,  104  ;  IV :  175 
Lahina  Singh  Majithia,  1 :  67,  197,  201,  296  ;  II : 

121,  243-44,  322,  358,  372,  521,  542  ;  III :  36, 

84,  240,  301,  382,  488  ;  IV :  357 
Lahina  Singh  Roranvala,  I  :  116 
Lahina  Singh  Sandhahvalia,  1 :  34,  211,  256,  409, 

436  ;  II :  291,  465,  542-43;  III :  307,  366  ;  IV : 

111-13,  259,  347 
Lahina  Singh,  Sardar,  II :  543-44 
Lahira,  II  :  42,  191,  234,  572  ;  IV :  113 
Lahira  Kharia,  III :  198-99 
Lahiran  de  Har,  TV  :  431 

Lahndi,  II :  60,  329-30,  III :  385  ;  IV :  252,  413 
Lahore,  1 :  23,  25,  30,  143,  151,  169,  172,  176,  186, 
189,  192-94,  211,  217-18,  222,  228,  230,  238, 
248,  250,  260,  269,  274-75,  278,  281,  300,  308, 
315,  316-17,  323,  338,  342,  344,  346,  354,  363, 
365,  368,  371,  374,  378,  380,  397,  399,  409, 
418,  419-21,  425,  436,  456,  458,  477,  482,  485, 
552  ;  II :  1,  3,  4,  14,  19-23,  39,  40,  46,  47,  49- 
51,  53-55,  65,  69,  70,  72,  82,  85-87,  89-91, 
108,  110,  115-16,  120-23, 125,  128,  132,  146, 
154,  157, 179, 188,  207,  211,  220,  223-24,  227, 
230-33,  239-41,  249,  253,  256,  263,  270,  272- 
76,  280,  283-86,  295,  298-301,  303-06,  315, 
320,  323-25,  332,  335,  342,  344,  355-58,  360, 
370-75,  377-78,  381-82,  385,  387,  390-92, 
394-95,  399,  401-02,  408,  410,  412,  417,  429- 
30,  433,  438-39,  446,  450,  452,  457,  461-62, 
464-65,  473,  475-81,  486,  495,  498,  502-04, 
506,  508,  515-16,  519-23,  525,  532,  540-43, 
544-47,  548-52,  554-56,  558,  564,  567-68, 
571-73,  575-76  ;  III :  6,  10,  12-14,  20,  21,  23, 
25,  26,  34,  37,  38,  41,  48,  49,  57,  58,  63,  65, 
72,  73,  78,  80,  82,  89,  94-96,  99-102,  108-11, 
123,  126-30,  143,  145,  148-50,  166,  197,  203, 
212,"215-16,  220,  224,  227,  231,  244,  256-57, 
261,  272,  275-76,  282-83,  304-05,  307,  309, 
312-13,  316,  320,  340,  343-44,  354,  365-66, 
368,  370-73,  375,  379-80,  382,  384,  403,  409- 
10,  415,  418-20,  423,  437-38,  448-52,  456, 
461,  463,  465,  467-80,  472,  476-78,  483-84, 
486,  491,  500-02,  504,  515  ;  IV :  3,  4,  14,  19, 


INDEX 


516 


21,  23,  24,  29,  38,  47,  54,  66,  77,  78,  87,  91, 
93,  94,  99-01,  103-04,  107-08,  110,  112,  119, 
131,  173,  177-78,  180,  184-85,  192-94,  199, 
206,  232,  253-54,  256,  260,  267-68,  273,  276, 
280,  290,  299,  300,  302,  307,  309,  312,  324, 
343,  354,  356,  368,  374,  386-87,  395-97,  408, 
413,  424-25,  432-33,  436,  439-41,  443,  447 
48,  453,  459 

—Fort  of,  1 :  480 

— Occupation  of ,  1 :  496 

Lahore  Conspiracy  Case,  1 :  346,  404  ;  II :  260,  273, 
308,  311,  316,  366  ;  III :  67, 148,  217,  506,  513; 
IV :  228,  424 

Lahore  Darbar,  II :  5,  7,  72,  227,  284,  291,  304,  322, 
336,  370,  381-83,  396,  412,  433,  477,  520, 
547-48,  562,  573,  575  ;  III :  6, 15,  76,  81,  143, 
268,  382,  456,  470,  481-82,  500  ;  IV :  1 1 2,  1 72, 
217,  375,  427 

Lahore  Political  Diaries,  II :  549-60 

Lahore  ShuddhI  Sabha,  IV  :  161 

Lahore  Singh  Sabha,  II :  372  ;  IV :  162,  168 

Lahuke,  II :  437  ;  III :  18 

Lahura  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  70 

Laili,  II :  550-51;  IV :  270,  364 

Lairdee,  II :  551 

Lajvanti,  Sardarni,  II :  231  ;  II  :  117 

Lake,  Lord,  I  :  326;  II :  23,  51,  154,  283-84,  360, 

480,  572,  576  ;  III :  52,  79,  248,  481-82,  IV  : 

171-72,  219 
Lakhan  Majra,  II :  551 
Lakhblr  Singh,  Sant,  II :  475,  551-52 
Lakhdata,  II  :  367-68 
Lakhlsar,  II :  553 

Lakhmi  Das,  Baba,  1 :  306  ;  II :  133,  192,  212,  318, 

351,  553  •  III :  167,  184,  199  ;  IV  :  234,  269 
Lakhmir  Singh  (Arnritsar),  III :  435 
Lakhnaur,  1 :  36,  97,  346,  357;  II :  113-14,  264,  374, 

445,  553-54,  568,  574  ;  III :  54,  199,  478  ;  IV  : 

121,  212,  269,  330,  332,  350 
Lakhpat  Rai,  Diwan,  1 :  401-02,  460  ;  II :  30,  224, 

241,  354,  362-63,  554-56  ;  III  :  40,  109  ;  IV  : 

3,  267,  277,  448,  454,  459 
Lakkar  Shah,  III  :  193 
Lakkha,  Bhai,  II  :  556 
Lakkhan  Rai,  II  :  556  ;  IV :  307 
Lakkha  Singh,  II :  556 


Lakkha  Singh,  Sant,  1 :  210 

Lakkhi  Jungle,  II :  91,  300,  359,  553  ;  III :  17,  423  ; 
IV:  331 

Lakkhi  Mall,  Diwan,  1 :  536  ;  II :  556-57 
Lakkhi  Rai,  II :  557  ;  III :  39,  156;  IV  :  95 
Lakkhi  Shah  Vanjara,  1:18,  99,  547  ;  II  :  269,  380, 

557  ;  IV  :  332,  376 
Lakkhi  Talao,  IV:  217 
Lakkho  (mother  of  Mardana) ,  III :  52 
Lakkhu,  Bhai  (Lahore),  II :  540,  557 
Lakkhu,  Bhai,  II :  558 
Lakkhuval,  1 :  378-79 
Lakshman  Das,  II :  299 
Lakshman  Sen,  Raja,  II :  321 
Lakshman  Singh,  Bhagat,  II :  46,  558-59;  III :  73; 

IV:  163 
Lakshmi,  II :  420  ;  III :  447 
Lakshmipur,  II :  558  ;  III :  187 
Lala,  II  :  559 

Lai  Bahadur  Shastri,  II :  26,  296  ;  III :  399,  401;  IV  : 

292,  447 
Lai,  Bhai,  II :  559-60;  III :  321 
Lai  Chand  (confectioner),  II :  560 
Lai  Chand,  Pandit,  II :  255  ;  III :  282 
Lai  Chand  Pashauria,  III :  264 
Lai  Chand  Subbikkhi,  II :  113,  449,  512;  IV  :  330 
Lai  Das  Daryai,  Bhai,  1 :  269 
Lai  Jhanda  ,  IV  :  342 
Lai  Kaul,  Pandit,  II  :  560 
Lalla,  IV  :  393 
Lalla  Beg,  III :  77 
Lall  Kalan,  II :  72,  560-61 
Lalo,  Bhai,  I  :  241;  II  :  6,  561 
Lai  Party,  IV  :  342 
Lai  Savera,  IV  :  342 

Lai  Singh,  Bhai  (of  Kaithal),  1 :  538  ;  II  :  413,  486, 

561-62;  III:  136;  IV:  176,  376 
Lai  Singh  (BhaftganI) ,  IV :  420 
Lai  Singh  (Chakk  64),  II :  267 
Lai  Singh  (Gujrahwala),  II :  489  ;  IV:  163 
Lai  Singh,  Misr,  I  :  457  ;  IV  :  102,  131,  199,  287, 

343 

Lai  Singh  Moranvala,  II  :  562 
Lai  Singh  Narotam,  II  :  562-63 
Lai  Singh  (Nishanvali),  III  :  105,  119 
Lai  Singh  Peshavaria,  1 :  355 


517 


INDKX 


Lai  Singh  (player),  II :  292 

Lai  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  157  ;  159,  166-69,  398,  419,  482  ; 

II :  563-64  ;  III :  20,  35,  143,  275,  491 
Lai  Singh  Samundri,  Giani,  II :  180 
Lai  Singh  Sandhu,  II :  307 
Lai  Singh  (Siraiivall),  III :  35 
Lai  Singh  (s/o  Ala  Singh),  II :  19 
Laltoft  Khurd,  II :  184 
Lalu,  Baba,  II :  559,  564;  IV:  119 
Lalu,  Bhai  (Delhi),  1 :  496;  II :  565 
Lalu,  Bhai  (Khadur),  II :  387,  564-65 
Lalu,  Bhai  (Vij),  II :  565  ;  III :  340 
Larnbe,  II  :  565 
Lamdig,  III  :  187 
Lammaft,  II :  363,  416,  422,  566 
Lammaii  Jatpura,  II :  20 
Lande,  II  :  182,  428;  III :  11 
Land!  Kotal,  IV  :  279 
Lane,  Stephen,  II  :  567 
Lang,  II  :  567 

Langah,  Chaudhari,  1 :  375;  II :  374-75,  435,  559, 

567-68 
Laiigar  Chhanni,  II :  568 
Langar  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  194,  219 
Lahgar  Singh,  Baba,  II :  568-69;  III :  301 
Langeri,  II :  368 
Lasara,  II  :  537 
Latala,  II  :  579 

Latif,  S.M.,  —  see  Muhammad  Latif,  Syad 
Latkan,  Bhai,  I  :  75;  II :  569 
Latkan  Ghura,  Bhai,  1 :  328 
Laudhghuria,  II :  438 
Lauiigoval,  I  :  329,  509 

Lavaii,  I  :  121,  127,  507  ;  II  :  569-70;  II  :  453 

Law  College,  Lahore,  II :  492  ;  III :  48 

Lawrence,  Colonel  R.,  Ill  :  48 

Lawrence,  Sir  Henry,  I  :  144, 159,  162,  169-70,  180, 
194,  247,  380-81,  419,  448,  536  ;  II :  1,  279- 
80,  304,  383,  412,  542,  550,  564,  570,  571, 
576  ;  III :  15,  26,  35,  93,  143,  216,  365,  373  ; 
IV:  184,  287 

Lawrence,  Sir  John,  I :,  326,  II :  304,  502,  550,  570; 
III  :  365 

League  of  Nations,  II  :  316 

Leh, IV  :  462 

Lehal  Kalan,  II :  572  ;  III  :  19,  318  ;  IV  :  308 


Leiah,  II :  434,  507  ;  III :  483  ;  IV  :  343 
Leigh,  William,  II  :  572 

Leitner,  Dr.  G.  Wilhelm,  1 :  176,  177,  217,  218  ;  III : 

274;  IV  :  207,  386 
Lekh  Ram,  Pandit,  1 :  22 
Lenin,  II :  492 
Leslie,  III :  492 
Letters  from  India,  III :  315 
Lhasa,  IV :  462 
Liakat  'All  Khan,  III :  250-51 
Liberation,  —  see  Mukti 
Lidhran,  II :  323 
Lil,  II  :  131 

Lila  Ram,  Diwan,  III :  4 
Lincoln's  Inn,  II :  89 
Littar,  II :  572 

Littler,  Sir  John,  1 :  165,  166  ;  II :  304,  564,  572-73; 

IV  :  184,  440 
Lobh,  II :  30-32,  34,  124,  573 
Lodhran,  II :  423 
Login,  John  Spencer,  II :  525 
Login,  Lady,  IV  :  199 
Loharipa,  II;  574;  IV:  124 
Lohatbaddi,  II :  457  ;  III  :  217 
Lohgarh,  II :  521 

Lohgarh  Fort  (Amritsar),  1 :  108,  III :  189 
Lohgarh  Fort  (Anandpur),  1 :  128,  245,  252,  261, 

447  ;  II :  130  ;  III :  157 
Lohgarh  Fort  (Mukhlisgarh),,  1 :  79,  252,  274-75  ; 

II :  27, 122,  299,  300  ;  III :  132, 197,  319,  328- 

29 

Lohiari,  1 :  27;  III :  96,  102 

Lohri,  II :  313,  340 

Loh  Simbli,  II  ::  574 

Lok  Sevak  Sabha,  III :  323,  505 

London,  II :  1,  3,  4,  27,  39,  47,  85,  232,  281,  284, 

286,  298,  305,  450,  524;  III :  2,  117,  352,  411, 

472,  508  ;  IV:  187,  208,  231,  319,  341,  345, 

348,  352,  382,  385,  438,  441 
Londonderry,  II :  570-71 
Lopoke,  III :  24,  80  ;  IV :  403 
Lopon  ,  1 :  214  ;  II :  574  ;  III :  18;  IV :  303 
Louis  Bourquein,  IV  :  83 
Louise,  Brigitte Jolly,  III:  128 
Lower  Chenab  Canal  Colony,  II :  291,  305,  309,  437, 

481  ;  III  :  205;  IV :  50,  227,  283,  345,  421 


INOKX 


518 


Lower  Jehlum  Canal  Colony,  II  :  435 
Lowrie,  C,  III  :  486 

Lucknow,  1 :  290  ;  II  :  138,  221,  302,  371,  571  ;  III : 
48,  214,  279,  345,  450  ;  IV  :  108,  320,  373,  389 
Lucknow  Pact,  III :  122 

Ludhiana,  I  :  152-53,  164-65,  211,  213,  217-18,  260, 
303,  308,  326,  342,  399,  470  ;  II :  8,  43,  67,  74, 
107,  1 16,  121,  127, 141,  229-30,  256,  263,  283, 
298,  302,  304,  310,  315,  317,  392,  395,  399, 
416, 423, 430, 451 , 456-57, 477, 479, 491 ,514, 
520,  534,  539,  543,  552,  567,  574-75,  576  ; 
III  :  6,  24,  29-31,  37,  80,  102,  107,  115,  120, 
199,  217,  301,  353,  368,  381,  384,  419,  436, 
456,  476-77,  486,  488,  495  ;  rv :  19,  40,  94, 
99,  110-11,  165,  171,  21?,  221,  226,  228,  230, 
329,  346,  374,  387,  425,  433-34,  445 

Ludhiana  Agency  Records,  II  :  279 

Ludhiana  Mission,  IV  :  206 

Ludhiana  Political  Agency,  II  :  575-76;  III :  248, 

344  ;  IV  :  433 
Luther,  Martin,  III :  169 
Lutyens,  Sir  Edward  Landseer,  III :  501 
Lyall,  James  IV,  II  :  187 

Lyallpur,  I  :  228;  II  :  43,  227,  250,  385,  453-53,  479, 
490,  519,  523  ;  III  :  37,  309, 501  ;  IV  :  163, 187, 
189,  280,  312  1 

Lyallpur  Khalsa  College,  II  :  128 

Mn  'iikhnz-i-Twarikh-i-Sikkhan,  II  :  20 
Ma'asir  ul-Umara,  rv  :  358 

Macauliffe,  Max  Arthur,  II  :  13,  79,194,  220,  266, 
276,  410;  III  :  1-4,  305,  411;  IV  :  68,  146,  172, 
212,  273,  367 

Macauliffe  Medal,  III  :  2 

McCregor,  W.L,  II  :  203,  279,  281-82,  285,  383, 

576;  also  see  M'Gregor 
Machhali,  II :  505  ;  III :  110 
Machhalipatnam,  II  :  525 
Machlnke,  IV:  127 
Machhindarnatha,  III  :  4—5 

Machhivara,  I :.  469;  II :  67,  68,  72,  117,  423,  458, 

461;  III :  5-6,  96,  105,  152,  345,  373,  460 
Mackeson,  Frederick,  III  :  6  ;  rV  :  94 
Maclagan,  Sir  Edward,  I  :  51,  52  ;  II  :  206;  III  :  202 
Macnaghten,  Sir  Francis,  III  ;  6 
Macnaghten,  Sir  William  Hay,  III  :  6-7  ;  IV :  3(30 


Madan  Mohan  Malaviya,  Pandit,  1 :  213  ;  II :  329, 

334,  III :  359,  502  ;  IV :  108,  388-89 
Madan  Nath,  III  :  7 
Madan  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  530  ;  III  7-8 
Maddar,  II :  507  ;  III :  8,  38 
Maddoke,  III :  8,  21 
Maddu,  Bhal,  III :  9  ;  IV :  4 
Madtjarl  Bai,  III :  39 
Madheh,  III :  9 
Madho,  III :  9 
Madho,  Bhal,  III :  9 

Madho  Das  — see  Banda  Singh  Bahadur 

Madhopur,  III :  42 

Madho  Siftghana,  III :  9-10 

Madho  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  403  ;  III :  444-45;  IV :  196 
Madho  SodhI,  Bhai,  I  :  322 
Madhubhar,  II :  350 
Madhusudan,  Pandit,  III  :  11,  421 
Madhya  Pradesh,  II :  217,  406;  III :  186,  189,  241, 
217 

Madina,  1 :  248  ;  III :  167  ;  IV  :  135 
Mad  me  di  Gosti,  1 :  232 
Madra  Des,  III :  373 
Madra  (tribe),  III :  375 
Madias,  II  :  115,  127,  365;  III :  207,  344,  353 
Madi  as  Times  ,  IV  :  348 
Madu,  Bhal,  II  :  100  ;  III  :  10 
Magahar,  II :  404,  406 
Magar  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III  :  10 
Magghar  Singh,  Sant,  III :  10-11 
Maghi,  II  :  215,  534;  III :  8,  11,  30,  137,  466  ;  IV : 
135 

Maghiana,  III :  186,  199 
Magh  Singh,  Bhal,  III  :  11 

Mahabharata,  II :  79,  222,  270,  458-59,  525,  536  ; 

III  :  35,  342,  363,  406  ;  IV :  179,  297 
Maha  Chand,  Raja,  I  :  133 
Mahadeva,  III  :  4 

Mahadev,  Baba,  I  :  188,  346  ;  II  :  10*4  ;  III  :  11-12, 

121,  451-52  ;  rv  :  91,  356 
Maha  Devi,  Mata,  III  :  12  ;  IV  :  286 
Mahadji  Scindia,  I  :  150,  344  ;  II  :  132,  439  ;  III  : 

51,52,  119,437;  rV;  83,  197-98 
Mahajai.n,  III  :  18 
Mahak'i,  II  :  68  ;  III  :  12 
Mahallii,  III  :  11 


519 


INDEX 


Mahalpur,  II :  355,  434 
Mahal  Singh,  III :  224 
Mahanadi,  River,  III :  26 
Mahanand,  Bhai,  III :  13 
Mahanirvani  Akhara,  IV  :  360 
Mahan  Khand,  II :  50,  481  ;  IV :  208 
Mahari  Singh  Akali,  III :  218 
Mahan  Singh  Bedi,  II :  463 

Mahari  Singh,  Bhai  (Mukta),  1 :  305  323,  504  ;  III : 

14,  136 
Mahan  Singh,  Dr.,  II :  490 
Mahari  Singh  (Jamrud),  II :  345  ;  III :  13-14 
Mahan  Singh  (Jandiala),  IV:  346 
Mahari  Singh  (Paddhar),  1 :  463 
Mahari  Sirigh  Sukkarchakkia,  1 :  100,  102,  449  ;  II : 

23,  45,  '69,  132,  188,  251,  253,  323,  325,  345, 

347,  354,  367,  396-97,  433,  438;  III :  13,  19, 

34,  46,  100,  102,  107,  111,  158,  216,  218,  262, 

442,  455,  465,  480  ;  IV:  2,  100-01,  195,  221, 

226,  386 
Mahant,  III  :  14 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Sirigh,  III :  384 
Maharaja  Ranjit  Sirigh  Jiban  Vrittanta,  III :  14-15 
Maharaj  Sirigh,  Bhai,  I  :  100,  252,  265,  296,  324, 

381;  II :  120, 184, 367,  371, 409, 411, 463,  493  ; 

III :  15,  72,  120,  205,  219,  365-66,  465,  470  ; 

IV  :  18,  222,  344,  346 
Maharani  Shakuntala  ,  II :  456 
Maharashtra,  II :  73,  163,  336,  525  ;  III :  43,  50,  83, 

161, 186-87, 189, 191,  241,  338,  392, 467, 493  ; 

IV  :  56,  194 
Mahari  Chand,  III :  16  ;  IV :  45,  428 
Mahatpur,  III  :  101 
M'ahavira,  II  :  30  ;  III  :  293 
Mahavir  Tyagi,  II :  26  ;  III :  403 
Mahbub  'All,  II :  44 
Mahbub  Shah,  1 :  456 
Mahendranath  Bose,  III :  187 
Mahendra  Pratap,  Raja,  III :  67  ;  IV :  387 
Maher.John  :  III :  16 
Mahesha,  Bhai,  III :  16 
Mahima,  Bhai,  III :  16 
Mahimankhana  (Nankana  Sahib) ,  II :  538 
Mahima  Prakash,  1 :  62,  76,  88,  146,  190,  192,  257, 

268,  302,  310,  323,  358,  385,  505,  602,  II:  101, 

137,  208,  233,  262,  407,  460, 470-71, 491, 496, 


504,  565  ;  III :  16-17,  21,  66,  83,  121,  300, 
364;  IV :  1,  7,  94,  130,  240,  308,  372,  426,  443 

Mahima  Praicash  (Sakhi  Sarigraha),  II :  563 

Mahima  Pra&ash  Sri  Guru  Amar  Dev ,  II :  407 

Mahima  PraJcash  (Vartak),  III :  17  ;  IV :  180 

Mahima,  Rai,  IV  :.  60 

Mahima  Sarja,  I  :  504 

Mahima  Shaharivala,  III :  17-18 

Mahimashahias,  III :  18 

Mahiriga  Sirigh,  Bhai,  III :  18 

Mahitab  Devi,  III  :  19,  438 

Mahitab  Kaur  (Malla),  III  :  19 

Mahitab  Kaur,  Rani,  1 :  419  ;  III :  13,  19,  102,  480  ; 
IV:  2,  3,  109 

Mahitab  Sirigh  Aulakh,  III :  334 

Mahitab  Sirigh  Bir,  IV  :  50 

Mahitab  Sirigh,  Mahant,  III :  19-20,  237-38 

Mahitab  Sirigh  Majlthia,  III :  20-21 

Mahitab  Sirigh  (Mirarikot).  1 : 112  ;  see  Matab  Sirigh 

Mahitab  Sirigh  (Mitha  Tiwana),  III :  240 

Mahitab  Sirigh  (Thanesar),  1 :  418 

Mahita  Chowk,  II :  127 

Mahitpur,  II :  434 

Mahmud  Buti,  II :  463 

Mahmud  Ghazanavi.  II :  544  ;  III :  375 

Mahmud  (Kabul),  II :  525  ;  III :  467  ;  IV :  99,  100 

Mahraj,  sec  Mehraj 

Mahrori,  III :  21 

Mali,  Bhii,  II :  492  ;  III :  21 

Maia,  Bhai,  (Sirhind),  III :  21 

Mai  Das,  III :  21-22,  39,  47,  207,  435  ;  IV  :  95,  225 

Mai  de  Jamie  nuri  Arnrit  Chhakavan  di  Vidhi,  II :  155 

Maihmari  Kaharari,  III :  219 

Mailagar  Sirigh,  II :  215  ;  III :  22 

Mai  Mallari,  1 :  247 

Maimuri  Khan,  III :  22  ;  IV  :  24 

Mai  Nakain,  III  :  443 

Mairigan,  IV :  338 

Mai-Potre,  III :  22 

Mairi,  TV  :  395 

Mai  Sahib,  II :  38 

Mai  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  507 

Maisarkhana,  III :  22-23 

Mai  Than,  Gurdwara,  IV  :  333 

Majd  ud-Daulah  'Abd  ul-Abd,  II :  561 

Majha,  II :  54,  55,  71,  112,  116,  310,  356,  367,  377, 


INDKX 


520 


393,  412,  483,  561  ;  III :  22,  23-24,  28,  57,  89, 
95,  135,  345-46,  354,  483  ;  IV :  19,  166,  168, 
279,  324,  331,  414 
Majha  Khalsa  Diwan,  III :  222 
Majha  Prachar  Sub-Committee,  II :  484 
Majhi  Punjabi,  II  :  60 

Majithla,  I  :  181;  II  :  411  ;  III :  21;  IV  :  228,  267, 

281,  287 
Majh  kiVar,  III :  416 
Majid,  M.A.,  III:  211 
Majlas  Rai,  Raja,  III  :  24 
Makaroiipur,  III :  131 
Makhad,  IV  :  299 
Makhdumpur,  IV  :  27,  28,  368 
Makhe  Khan,  II :  344 
Makhoval,  II :  145,  503  ;  IV :  212,  331 
Makke  Madine  di  Gosti,  1 :  232;  III :  271,  369 
Makkhan  Shah  Lubana,  1 :  234  ;  III  :  25  ;  IV ;  1 14, 

330,  406 
Makhan  Singh,  Bhal,  III :  25-26 
Makkhan  Singh,  Dr.,  Ill :  44 
Makkhan  Singh  (Kotehari),  III :  78 
Makkhan  Singh  (Nara),  III :  358 
Makorar,  III:  26,  146 
Malabar!,  B.M.,  II :  398 
Malacca,  IV  :  230 
Malak  Das,  Baba,  1 :  65, 
Malakjati,  II  :  363 
Malaud,  II  :  534  ;  III :  438 

Malaya  ,  II :  63,  64,  142,  231,  275,  390,  414-15,  451, 
494  ;  III :  114,  222  ;  IV :  203,  230,  298,  302, 
309,  339,  380,  446 

Malayan  Granthi  Pracharak  Sabha,  IV :  230 

Malaya  Istri  Satsahg,  II  :  484 

Malayan  Istri  Satsahg,  II  :  484 

Malayan  Naujawan  Sabha,  IV  :  230 

Malaya  Samachar,  II  :  415 

Malaya  States  Guides,  II  :  64,  66,  484;  rv :  380 

Malaysia,  II  :  414,  484  ;  III :  217,  222,  234 

Malbourne  Olympics,  III :  320 

Malcolm,  John,  I  :  151  ;  II :  153,  279-80,  486  ;  III : 
3,  436  ;  IV:  64,  130,  182,  218 

Malda,  III  :  26-27  ;  IV  :  331 

Maldeo,  rV  :  416 

Maleikotla,  I  :  12,  24,  33,  430  ;  III :  31, 58, 204,  277- 
78,  285,  301,  322,  423,  504-05,  511  ;  W :  19, 


106,  168,  258,  300,  395-96,  439,  455-56,  461 
Malhar  Rao,  III  :  50 
Malla,  Bhai,  III :  27  ;  IV  :  15 
Maliana,  1 :  535 
Maligaura,  II :  175;  IV:  240 
Malikpur  Rahghrah,  1 :  221,  246;  IV:  332,  463 
Mali  Singh  Salaudi,  Bhal,  1 :  273  ;  III :  27 
Mali  Singh  (Ramgarhia),  II :  359  ;  III :  107 
MalJlsSahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  200 
Malla,  Bhai,  I  :  254 

Malla  (Faridkot),  II :  118,  385  ;  III  :  27 

Malla  (Gurdaspur),  III :  19 

Mall  Akhara,  Gurdwara,  II :  472 

Mallan,  III :  27-28 

Mallan,  Bhai,  III :  28 

Malla  Singh,  Jathedar,  II :  18 

Mall  Singh,  Bhai,  II  :  514  ;  IV :  308 

Mall  Singh,  Mahant,  II  :  572 

Malo,  Bhai  III  :  28  ;  PV :  42 

Maloi,  III :  29 

Mai  Tekri  Sahib,  III  :  193 

Mai  Tilla,  III  :  193 

Maluka,  III :  28  ;  IV  :  267 

Maluk  Das,  II  :  431-32  ;  III  :  29 

Maluk  Singh,  III  :  29 

Malva,  II :  23,  50,  72,  86,  90,  116,  120,  145,  234, 
258, 261,  263-64,  268,  341,  356,  363,  414,  418, 
422-23, 429, 442,  483,  491,  501,  503,  575  ;  III : 
10,  23,  27,  29-31,  83,  84,  88,  89,  102,  105, 
109,  135,  142,  152,  185,  267,  322,  330,  345, 
354,  374,  423,  436,  460,  482,  506,  514  ;  IV  :  4, 
19,  35,  98,  123,  166,  225,  267,  274,  279,  283, 
298,  331,  396-97,  439,  459 

Malva  Desh  Ratan  di  Sakhi  Potfii,  I  :  35,  217,  243, 
292,  459,  499,  504  ;  II  :  97,  341,  553  ;  III  :  22, 
28,  456  ;  IV  :  305,  35  ;  also  see  Sakhi  Pothi 

Malvai  Buhga,  II  :  189  ;  IV  :  210 

Maiva  Itilias,  IV  :  432 

Malva  Riyasti  Akali  Dal,  III :  505  ;  IV  :  39 

Maive  da  Political  Itihas,  II  :  452 

Mamdot,  II :  393  ;  III  :  417,  482 

MamCilah,  III  :  123 

Man,  III  :  31-33 

Manak  Chand,  Baba,  I  :  261 

Manak  Chand,  Bhai,  III  :  33 

Manak  Chand,  Bhai,  (Akoi),  I  :  73 


521 


INDEX 


Manak  ChandJIvara,  III  :  22,  33 
Manak  Chowk.  II  :  375 
Manak  Deke,  II ;  423 
Manak  Ghumman,  IV  :  345 
Manakpur,  II  :  431 
Manak  Tabra.  Ill  :  33-34,  434 
Mananvala,  I  :  281  ;  II  :  144,  438 
Mana  Singh  Man,  III  :  34 
Manauli,  III  :  505 
Man  Chand,  III  :  34 
Mancher,  II  :  347,  455 
Mandalay,  III  :  271 
Mandar,  IV  :  1 

Mandi,  I  :  230,  274,  315  ;  II  :  22,  41,  73,  304,  359, 
372,  412.  416,  543  ;  III :  34,  36,  84,  108,  128- 
29,  285,  383,  438,  483-84,  492  ;  IV  :  76,  123, 
269,  425 

Mandiali,  II  :  145  ;  III  :  63 

Mancli  Bahauddin,  III:  240-41,  439-40 

Mandi  Bhalval,  III :  357 

Mandi  Gobindgarh,  II  :  86,  III  :  30 

Mandi  Hydroelectric  Project;  II  :  399 

Marfga,  III  :  34  ;  IV  :  42 

Manga  (Amritsar) ,  IV  :  227 

Manga,  Bhai,  III  :  28 

Mangal  (Rai),  III  :  35 

Maiigal  Sen,  II  :  433 

Marigal  Siiigh  (Jhabbar),  II  :  454 

Mangal  Singh  Kamalfi,  II  :  325 

Mangal  Singh  Kirpan  Bahadur,  III  :  36 

Mangal  Singh,  Mahant,  I  :  535 

Mangal  Singh  Man,  II  :  490 

Maiigal  Siiigh  RamgJ  rhia,  III :  36 

Maiigal  Singh,  Risaldar,   III  :  35 

Maiigal  Singh,  Sant,  II  :  215 

Maiigal  Siiigh  (Sarabha),  II  :  456 

Maiigal  Siiigh,  Sardar,  III :  37,  214  ;  TV  :  201,  313 

Maiigal  Siiigh  Seroka,  I  :  43 

Maiigal  Singh  (Sialkot),  III  :  35 

Maiigat,  I  :  279  ;  IV  :  242 

Maiigina,  Seth,  II  :  520  ;  III  :  37-38 

Maiiglaii,  III  :  38 

Mahgli,  II  :  492 

Maiigoval,  III  :  335 

Maiigval,  II  :  503  ;  III  :  183 

Manhas,  II  :  529 


Mania,  III  :  156 

Manik,  Bhai.  II  :  507  ;  III  :  38,  413 

Mani  Khan,  II  :  15,  III  :  125  ;  IV  :  15,  461 

Mani  Majra,  II  :  500  ;  III :  38-39 

Mani  Ram,  Bhai,  I  :  29,  118,  245,  315,  316,  401," 

500  :  II  :  557  ;  III  :  39,  42  ;  IV  :  380 
Mani  Ram,  Pandit,  IV  :  349 

Mani  Siiigh,  Bhai,  I  :  15,  57,  280,  332,  365,  509, 
515  ;  II  :  50,  56,  77,  79,  82,  91,  100,  104,  109, 
114,  125,  131-32,  134-35,  152,  225-26,  235, 
237-38,  240,  270,  273,  315,  317,  319,  326,  351, 
364,  374,  379,  386-87, 391-93,-^14.  417-18, 
427-28,  459,  461,  492,  524,  535,  540,  555,  557, 
559,  564  ;  III  :  9,  21,  27,  28,  30,  39-41,  66, 
72,  88,  90,  108,  113,  131,  137-38,  149,  156, 
190,  203,  205,  209-10,  213,  225,  269-70,  307, 
336,  342,  354,  371-72,  381,  413  ;  IV  :  14,  16, 
26,  27,  63,  81,  95,  96,  142,  239,  244,  275,  277, 
311,  327,  350,  378,  397,  407,  411,  434,  459 

Afani  Siiigh  Janam  Sakhi,  II  :  41-42,  417 

Mahjh,  Bhai,  III  :  42 

Mahji,  II  :  99,  101,  464,  496;  III  :  16,  42-43,  64,  364, 
451 

Mahji  Sahib,  Barhe,  I  :  292 
Man  Kaur,  Mai,  I  :  288 

Mankera  ,  II  :  22, 164,  325, 368-69, 77-78, 434,  501  ; 

III  :  100,  465,  483-84  ;  IV  :  20,  54,  343 
Manmad,  I  :219  ;  III  :  43,  191 
Manmat  Prahar  Lari,  II :  44 
Manmohan  Siiigh,  III  :  44-45 
Manmohan  Singh,  Dr.,  IV:  178 
Manmukh,  IV:  411-12,  415 
Manna,  Bhai,  I  :  266 
Manna  Shigh  Aulakh,  II  :  370,  381,  479 
Manna  Siiigh  Hakim,  II  :  155 
Manna  Siiigh  (Hazro),  II  :  409 
Manna  Siiigh  (Nagali),  III  :  79 
Manohar  Das,  III  :  46 
Manohar  Das,  Bhai,  III  :  46-47 

Manohar  Das  Miharban,  II  :  105  ;  see  Miharban,' 
Baba 

Man  Prabodh,  III  :  189 

Mansa,  I  :  362  ;  II  :  191,  397,  499,  528  ;  III :  29,  106, 

276,  446 
Mansabdari  System,  IV  :  357 
Mansa  Devi,  Mata,  III  :  47,  112,  .121,  451 


INDEX 


522 


Mansadhar,  Bhai,  IV :  303 

Mansarovar  Lake,  IV  :  70,  462 

Man  Siiigh,  Bhai,  I  :  36,  39  ;  III  :  5,  47,  226 

Man  Singh,  Bhatt,  IV  :  95 

Man  Singh  Dallevalia,  IV :  261 

Man  Siiigh,  Justice,  III  :  47-48 

Man  Singh  Narankari,  Dr.,  Ill :  358 

Man  Singh  Nirmala,  Pandit,  I  :  509;  II  :  123-24 

Man  Singh,  Raja,  II  :  504 

Man  Siiigh  Risaldar  Major,  III :  48-49  ;  IV :  208 
Man  Singh  Shastri,  II :  213 
Man  Singh  Sodhi,  II :  136 
Man  Siiigh  Tomar,  II :  166 
Mansukh,  Bhai,  II  :  111  ;  III :  49 
Mansur,  III :  105,  299 
Mansiir  al-Hallaj,  II  :  431 
Mansuran,  II :  185,  316,  457  ;  IV :  19 
Mansurpur,  III  :  49 
Mansurval,  IV :  82 
Manuke,  II :  122-23;  III  :  49-50 
Manupur,  1 :  402;  II :  462,  556  ;  III :  129;  IV :  328, 
454 

Maqbool  Mahmud,  III  :  251 
Maqtal-i-Salat'm,  IV:  319 
Marahka,  II :  434  ;  HI :  109 

Marathas,  II :  401,  446,  486;  III :  50-52,  96,  99,  254- 
55,  331,  423,  437-38,  444,  463,  504,  511-12  : 
IV  :  83,"  166,  168-69,  171,  173,  195-96,  214, 
299,  300,  344,  353,  395,  440 

Maratha  —  Sikh  Relations,  III  :  50-52 

Marauli,  III  :  116 

Mai  dan,  I  :  270  ;  II  :  65,  251,  369,  439-40  ;  III  :  349, 

366 

Mardana,  Bhai,  I  :  16,  182,  242,  248,  263,  269,  312, 
323,  332,  348,  367  ;  II :  5,  99,  163,  166,  175, 
297,  338,  423,  461,  471,  517  ;  III :  52-54,  137, 
166,  244,  278-80,  325,  337,  504  ;  IV  :  27,  31, 
42,  9S,  121,  223,  410,  435 

Mardaiipur,  III  :  437 

Mardan  Siiigh,  II  :  396 

Mardori,  III  :  III  :  54 

Marhana,  11-311,  464 

Man,  IV  :  261 

Maii  Gauharsihghvali,  III  :  119 
Maii  Kainbo,  III  :  65  ;  IV  :  266 
Markanda,  River,  III  :  157  ;  IV  :  92 


Markandeya  Purana,  II  :  88 

Martindale,  II  :  54-55 

Martin,  R.  Montgomery,  II  :  440 

Martyrdom,  III  :  55-61 

Maru  Var  (M.3).  Ill  :  61-62 

Man,  Var  (M.5),  III  :  62-63 

Marva,  II  :  172-73,  175 

Marvaln,  Mata,  II  :  12  ;  see  Maha  Devi,  Mate 

Masands,  II  :  474  ;  III :  64,  79,  100,  283,  298,  345, 

354.  368,  429,  479  ;  IV :  212,  309 
Mashed,  IV :  300 
Mashobra,  IV :  385 
Massachusetts,  f  III  :  248 

Masse  Khan  Rarighar,  I  :  112,  401  ;  III  :  63-64,  65, 

104,  354.  368,  429,  479  ;  IV :  267 
Mastgarh,  Gurdwara,  IV:  93 
Mastuana,  I  :  212-14,  304,  369  ;  III :  126  ;  IV :  341 
Mastuana  Buiiga,  III  :  223 
Masud.  II  :  544 
Ma tabaV  Siiigh,  III  :  65 

Matab  Siiigh,  I  :  401;  III  :  63,  65-66,  104,  353,  435  ; 
IV  :  267 

Mata  Gujari  College,  Fatehgarh  Sahib,  II :  141  ;  III : 

232 

Mata  Gujari,  Gurdwara,  II  :  17 
Mata  Giijaii  Ji  da  Khuh,  II  :  554 
Matak  Hufire,  IN' :  431 
Mataiigas,  II  :  158 

Mala  Sahib  Kaur  Bhujhaiigan  Ashram,  III  :  222 
Matho  Murari,  III  :  66  ;  IV :  126 
Matlira  Das,  Bhai,  III  :  66 
Mathra  Das,  Bhai  (Agra),  II  :  56 
Mathra  Siiigh,  III  :  66 

Mathra  Siiigh,  Dr.,  II  :  65,  115  ;  III  :  66-67 
Mathura,  I  :  23,  417;  II  :  119,  265,  504  ;  III  :  67-68, 

101,  119,  167,  437,  444,  493  ;  IV:  225,  277, 

331,  333 

Mathura  Bhatt,  I  :  352  ;  III  :  68  ;  IV  :  301 
Mathura  Devi,  III :  358 

Mali  Das,  Bhai,  1 :  221,  510  ;  III :  68-69,  342;  IV :  76 
Matsyendrarnath,  II  :  574  ;  III  :  4 
Mattan,  II  :  516  ;  III  :  69,  264 

Matte  di  Sarai,  II  :  471;  III  :  335;  IV :  59  ;  see  Sarai 

Nanga, 
Matteval,  II  :  359  ;  III  :  108 
Mattii  Bhai  Re,  III  :  69 


523 


INDEX 


Mature  (Ceylon),  II :  571 

Mau,  II  :  50,  394  ;  III :  69-70 

Maujl  IV:  165 

Maur,  III  :  70 

Mauyan,  III  :  500 

Maur  Dhilvan,  IV  :  39 

Maur  Kalan,  III :  23,  70-71;  IV :  298-99 

Mauza  Khatrian,  III  :  116 

Maxico,  II  :  366  ;  IV  :  342 

Max  Muller,  Fredrick,  III  :  3 

Maya,  II  :  517;  III  :  71-72 

Maynard,  Sir  John,  III :  125 

Mayo  School  of  Industrial  Arts,  III ;  472 

Mayya,  Bhai,  III  :  72 

Mayya  Singh,  III  :  73 

Mayya  Singh,  Bhai,  I  :  295  ;  III  :  73  ;  IV  :  162,  253 
Mayyum  Pass,  IV  :  462 
Mazaris,  II  :  494 
Mazdur  Kisan,  II  :  579 

Mazhabi  Sikhs,  II :  475,  523  ;  III :  74-75  ;  III :  87, 

455  ;  IV  :  228;  422 
Mazhar  'Ali,  III :  75-76 

Mecca,  1 :  248  ;  II :  435  ;  III :  165,  167,  169,  279, 

512  ;  IV;  135,  359,  435 
Medni  Prakash,  Raja,  II :  21  ;  III :  76, 157,  291  ;  IV  : 

359 

Me  dim"  Rao,  I ;  242 

Meerut,  I  :  164,  167,  179,  344  ;  II  :  39,  45,  65,  144, 
230,  359,  457,  506,  519  ;  III :  108,  207,  500 

Meerut  Conspiracy  Case,  IV  :  229 

Megh  Raj,  II  :  76 

Megh  Singh,  Giani,  II  :  78 

Megh  Singh,  Sodhi,  III  :  224 

Mehar  Chand,  II:  114 

Mehar  Chand  Khanna,  II  :  317 

Mehar  Chand  (Lakhnaur),  II  :  553-54 

Mehar  Chand  Mahajan,  III  :  380-81,  419 

Mehar  Singh  (Atle),  1 :  209 

Mehar  Singh  Chawla,  IV  :  120,  208,  253 

Mehar  Singh  (Dharovali),  II  :  537 

Mehar  Siiiglv,  Mahant,  II :  67 

Mehar  Singh,  Nirmala,  HI  :  76  ;  IV  :  93 

Mehra,  Bhai,  II  :  413  ;  III :  77 

Mehraj,  II  :  44,  49,  57,  85,  234,  313,  363,  418  ;  III : 
77,  105,  266-67,  336,  489  ;  IV :  303,  330 

Mehta  Chowk,  II  :  352-53  ;  also  see  Mahite  Chowk 


Mehtab  Singh,  Sardar  Bahadur,  I :  41,  45,  85,  425  ; 

III:  77-78,  124  ;  IV:  115,  117 
Mela  Singh,  Mahant,  II  :  144 
Mela  Singh,  Sant,  III :  78-79,  506 
Meli,  II:  79 

Memoir  on  the  Jammu  Rajas,  III :  500 
Mendar  Shah,  III :  505 
Meriga  Ram,  Raja,  1 :  80 
Mensil,  Charles  Greville,  II  :  570 
Mere  Saiari  Jio,  TV  :  431 

Mesopotamia,  II :  46  ;  III :  37,  206  ;  IV  :  87,  22 
Metcalfe,  Charles  Theophilus,  1 :  27,  141,  152,  153, 

354,  III :  79-80,  89,  103,  129,  285,  436,  482 ; 

IV  :  3 

Metcalfe,  Thomas  Theophilus,  II  :  79 

Mission,  I  :  308 

Metui,  III :  80 

Meva  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  308 

Meva  Singh  Lopoke,  1 :  271,  325  ;  III :  80-81;  IV : 

346 

Meva  Singh  Majithia,  II :  344  ;  III :  20,  81 

Mevius,  Frank  Ernest,  III :  81 

M'Gregor,  III :  93  ;  IV :  182 

Mian  Channu,  IV  :  385 

Mian  Daud  Khel,  IV  :  299 

Miani,  II :  359  ;  III :  96-108  ;  IV :  324 

Mian  Khan,  1 :  78  ;  III :  155,  371 

Mian  Khima,  III  :  82 

Mian  Mir,  Hazrat,  I  :  189,  193  ;  III :  82,  253 
Mian  Mir  (town),  II  :  65,  197 
Mian  Mittha,  III :  83 
Mianpur,  1 :  364 

Miarivali,  II  :  436  ;  III :  118  ;  IV :  346 

Michigan,  III :  305 

Middle  East,  II  :  159 

Mien  ke  Maur,  I  :  333  ;  III  :  335 

Mihan,  Bhai,  III  :  83-84;  IV  :  377-78 

Mihan  Singh  (Bhagovalia)  ,  II :  121  ;  III  :  84 

Mihan  Singh  (Bharoki),  II  :  470 

Mihaii  Singh,  Colonel,  II  :  409,  544  ;  III  :  84 

Mihan  Singh  (Nabha),  II  :  480 

Mihan  Singh  (Nanakputra) ,  I  :  65 

Miharban,  Baba,  1 :  109,  182,  449;  II :  10,  105,  237- 
38,  85,  152,  240,  339,  495,  529  ;  III  :  84-85, 
86,  88,  297,  350-51,  449  ;  IV  :  180,  265-66, 
354 


INDEX 


524 


Miharban  Janam  Sikhl,  1 :  146,  262,  445  ;  II :  339  ; 
III :  17,  53,  85-86,  145,  412,  417  ;  IV:  121, 
180 

Mihra,  Bhai,  II :  86-87 

Mihtar  Sikhs,  III :  87 

Milkha  Singh  Bhangi,  III :  352 

Milkha  Singh  Thehpuria,  III :  87-88,  116 

Mills,  576 

Mimansa,  II :  124,  133  ;  III :  221 

Minas,  1 :  109  ;  II :  461,  536  ;  III :  41,  85,  88,  429  ; 

IV:  225,  411 
Minapa,  III :  4 
Minchin,  Colonal,  III :  359 
Minto,  Lord,  HI :  121 

Minto,  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot  (Minto,  Lord),  III :  79,  89 

Minto-  Morley  Reforms,  1 :  471 

Mira  Bai,  III :  364,  493 

Mirankot,  III :  63,  353,  435 

Mir  Chhabila,  IV  :  407 

Miri  Pirl,  III :  89-91 

Miri  Singh,  III :  91  ;  IV :  44,  327 

Mir  Khan,  1 :  242  ;  III :  54,  92 

Mir  Mannu,  II :  129,  223,  241,  299,  355,  358,  401, 

462-63,  486,  556  ;  III :  99,  129-31,  346,  463  ; 

IV  :  96, 173,  276,  299,  443,  454  ;  also  see  Muin 

ul-Mulk 
Mir  Momin  Khan,  1 :  15 
Mir  Muhammad,  Shaikh,  III :  82 
Mir  Mushki,  IV  :  407 
Mir  Nilz  'Ali,  II  :  534 
Mirpur,  rV  :  103 
Miroval,  I  :  210 

Mirpur,  I  :  209,  212  ;  HI :  240,  335,  354 

Mirpur  Patti,  III  :  464 

Mir  Rahmat  'Ali,  II  :  44 

Mirza  Beg,  II  :  136  ;  111:92,  190 

Mirza  Gauri,  II  :  506 

Mirzapur,  III  :  92,  345  ;  IV :  331 

Mirza  Singh,  II :  357,  408  ;  III :  92-93,  488 

Misaldari,  III  :  93 

Miskin,  IV  :  396 

Misls,  III  :  93-111,  289,  375;  IV  :  166 

Misriot,  III :  116 

Mitranvali,  II  :  396 

Mit  Singh  Majlthla,  III  :  21 

Mil  Singh  Nihang,  III  :  192 


Mit  Singh  Padhania,  II :  367  ;  III :  111 

Mittha  Mall,  II :  463 

Mitthankot,  III :  157,  483  ;  IV  :  94 

Mitthansar,  Gurdwara,  II  :  215 

Mitha  Tiwana,  1 :  26  ;  II :  19,  390  ;  III :  36^40,  484 

Moga,  I  :  28  ;  II :  67,  123,  127,  141,  234,  352,  370, 

501,  506,  514,  559,  574  ;  III :  8,  18,  21,  209, 

218  ;  IV:  318,  331,  397 
Moh,  II :  30-32,  34,  124  ;  III :  111-12 
Mohali,  HI :  30 

Mohammad  Bashir  Husain,  1 :  207 

Mohan,  Baba,  1 :  87,  190,  208,  426  ;  II  :  98,  99  ;  HI 

47,  112-13,  121,  348  ;  IV :  48,  240-41 
Mohan,  Bhai  (Dalla),  III :  113,  473 
Mohan,  Bhai  (Dhaka),  III  :  113-14 
Mohan,  Bhai  (Kukk),  I  :  98  ;  III  :  113 
Mohan,  Bhai  (Masand),  II  :  391  ;  III  :  113 
Mohan,  Bhai  (Mathura),  III :  68 
Mohan,  Bhai  (Mehraj),  III :  77,  336 
Mohan  dian  Pothian,  1 :  190 
Mohan  Lai,  II :  548 
Mohan  Lai,  Pandit,  III  :  395 
Mohan  Singh  (Bhindran),  II :  78 
Mohan  Singh  Divana,  HI :  352 
Mohan  Singh,  General  (INA),  1 :  225-27;  III  :  114- 

15,  255,  403 

Mohan  Singh  Nagoke,  II  :  310  ;  III  :  115-16,  289 
IV:  382 

Mohan  Singh,  Professor,  HI :  352 
Mohan  Singh  Rais,  IV :  202 

Mohan  Singh,  Sardar  Bahadur,  II :  214  ;  III :  116- 
17 

Mohan  Singh  Tur,  III :  117-18 

Mohan  Singh  Vaid,  I  :  126,  423  ;  II  :  180,  483,  488- 

89;  III  :  44,  118-19,  148,  355  ;  IV :  146,  162, 

210 

Mohar  Singh  Bhangi,  IV  :  3 
Mohar  Singh  (Dadehar),  IV  :  424 
Mohar  Singh  (Faridkot),  IV:  174 
Mohar  Singh  (Kanhaiya),  III:  101-02 
Mohar  Singh  Lammari,  II  :  188 
Mohar  Singh  (Mahimashahi),  II:  18,  105 
Mohar  Singh  (Nishananvali) ,  III  :  119 
Mohar  Singh  Randhava,  III  :  300 
Mohar  Singh  (Sardar),  II  :  119-20 
Mohenjo-Daro,  IV  :  70 


525 


INDEX 


Mohl,  III :  120 

Mohindergarh,  III :  322 

Mohinder  Kaur,  Maharani,  IV  :  446 

Mohinder  Pratap  Singh,  III :  234 

Mohinder  Singh  (Babar),  III :  434 

Mohinder  Singh,  Maharaja,  III :  106, 120, 136,  207, 

■318,  441  ;  IV :  170 
Mohinder  Singh  Randhava,  II :  513 
Mohinder  Singh,  Sant,  II :  447 
Mohindra  College,  Patiala,  II :  46  ;  479  ;  III :  120, 

318,  320  ;  IV:  170,  261,  340 
Mohkam  Chand,  Bhai  —see  Muhkam  Singh,  Bhai 
Mohlah,  II :  538 
Mohra,  III :  120-21 

Mohri,  Baba,  1 :  87,  119  ;  II :  98,  99,  III :  121,  303, 

459  ;  IV  :  274 
Mohsin  Fani,  I  :  484 
Mokh  Panth,  II :  124 
Moksa,  —  see  Mukti 
Moksa  Panth  Prakai,  IV  :  423 
Momin  Khan,  IV:  311 
Monghyr,  III:  121,  IV:  331 
Monier  Williams,  III :  3 

Montague-  Chelmsford  Reforms  and  the  Sikhs,  I : 

227,  471,  476;  III:  121-23 
Montague-Chelmsford  Report,  IV  :  202 
Montague,  E.S.,  II :  332  ;  III :  122  ;  IV :  186 
Montford  Act :  1919,  II :  488 

Montgomery,  I  :  228  ;  III :  177,  119,  309,  3871, 419- 

20,  501  ;  IV :  187,  189,  192-93 
Montgomery,  Martin  Robert,  IV  :  440 
Moorcroft,  William,  I ;  67  ;  II :  548  ;  III :  245  ;  IV  : 

363 

Moradabad,  IV :  329 

Moran,  II :  382  ;  III :  123,  487  ;  IV :  81 

Morarji  Desai,  III :  404 

Morcha,  III :  123-24 

Morcha  Chabiah,  III :  124-25 

Morinda,  II :  15,  69,  114,  356  ;  III :  125,  129,  302  ; 

IV :  15,  461 
Morley,  Lord  ,  III  :  2 
Morley-Minto  Reforms,  III :  121 
Moscow,  II :  335,  519  ;  III :  439,  49'2  ;  IV :  229,  342 
Mota  Singh  Anandpuri,  1 :  42,  44 
Mota  Singh,  Bhai,  III :  125-26 
Mota  Singh  (Kausari),  III :  505 


Mota  Singh,  Master,  1 : 236  ;  422  ;  II :.  523  ;  III :  126- 

27,  501  ;  IV  :  337 
Mota  Singh,  Sardar  Bahadur,  III :  127 
Mota  Tanda,  IV  :  406 
Motha  Singh,  Bhai,  III :  154 
Mod  Bagh,  Gurdwara,  II :  94,  III :  207,  319 
Moti  Bagh  Palace,  II :  134,  191, 194  ;  III :  354,  376, 

450  ;IV:  170,  212,  238 
Moti,  Bhai,  IV  :  282 

Motilal  Nehru,  1 : 84, 85, 425, 471 ;  III :  37, 214-15, 359 
Motilal  Nehru  Committee,  1 :  46,  84,  425  ;  also  see 

Nehru  Committee  Report 
Moti  Masjid,  Lahore,  II :  545 
Moti  Ram,  Dlwan,  II :  72,  252,  303,  424,  515;  III : 

127-28,  456  ;  IV  :  103 
Moti  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  407 
Mountain  of  Light,  II :  524-25 
Mountbatten,  Lord,  III :  250-51,  311,  379-80,  418  ; 

IV :  192-93,  446 
Mount  Sumer,  II :  224,  425  ;  III :  167 
Mouton,  Francis  Henri,  III :  128 
Mridangvali  Sangat,  II :  129,  365 
Mrigendra  Singh,  Kanvar,  III :  321 
Mu'azzam,  Prince,  II :  89,  91,  306  ;  III :  92,  195 
Mubarak  Khan,  II :  377 
Mubarak  Singh,  III :  440 
Mubarak  Ullah  Wazih,  Mirza,  IV  :  319 
Mudki,  1 :  166-67,  308  ;  82,  84,  107,  229,  344,  370, 

572  ;  III  :  48,  256  ;  IV :  184-85,  199,  320-21, 

436 

Mughal  Chakk,  II :  316,  325,  394,  438  ;  III :  158 
262,  492 

Mughal  Gardens,  Pinjaur,  III :  341 
Mughals,  II :  429,  431,  439,  461,  466,  502,  556;  III : 
7,  29,  50,  54,  57,  58,  65,  68,  88,  91,  93,  95, 
106, 109, 135-36, 145, 167, 195,  255,  298,  353, 
375,  437,  442,  444,  486,  504  ;  IV :  350,  357, 
370,  439,  448,  454 
MughlanI,  Begam,  1 :  23  ;  IV :  299 
Muglu,  Bhai,  II :  49 
Muhammad  Akbar  Khan,  IV  :  4,  7,  99 
Muhammad  'All,  III :  202  ;  IV  :  204 
Muhammad  'AH  Jinnah  — see  Jinnah,  MA 
Muhammad  'AH  Khan  Ansari,  IV  :  319 
Muhammadan  Educational  Conference,  1 :  403 
Muhammad  'Azim  Khan.  II :  19,  21,  72,  515  ;  III : 


INDEX 


526 


218,  338  ;  IV :  99,  448 
Muhammad  Bakhsh,  II  :  56 
Muhammad  Bakhsh  (artist),  III:  486 
Muhammad  Bin  Qasim,  II :  158 
Muhammad  Ehsan  Ijad,  IV  :332 
Muhammad  Ghori,  II  :  544  ;  IV :  213 
Muhammad  Had!  Kamwar  Khan,  IV :  328,  372 
Muhammad  Hashim,  III :  148 
Muhainmadipur,  II :  461  ;  III :  84,  351 
Muhammad  Khan.  I  :  101, 
Muhammad  Khan  Bahadur,  II  :  14 
Muhammad  Khan  (Leiah),  II  :  572 
Muhammad  Khan  (Malerkotla),  II :  15 
Muhammad  Khan  (Ruhela  battle),  II :  364 
Muhammad  Latif,  Syad,  II :  555  ;  III  :  93,  103,  472  ; 

IV:  181-82 
Muhammad  Maskin,  Haji,  IV  :  359 
Muhammad  Munir,  Justice,  HI :  380-81,  419 
Muhammad  Nasir  Khan,  Mir,  II  :  342-43 
Muhammad  Nazim,  Dr.,  II  :  7 
Muhammad,  Prophet,  II  :  158  ;  III  :  82  ;  IV  :  135 
Muhammadpur,  IV  :  102 
Muhammad  (servant),  III  :  2 
Muhammad  Raza  Khan.  II :  158 
Muhammad  Shah  (Balti),  IV:  462 
Muhammad  Shah,  Emperor,  I  :  23,  32  ;  II  :  486, 505, 

524  ;  III:  511  ;  IV:  319,  454 
Muhammad  Shuja'  ud-Din,  I  :  207 
Muharram,  TV :  135 
Muhi  ud-Din,  Shaikh,  III  :  515 
Muhkam  Chand,  Diwan,  I  :  153,  198  ;  II  :  19,  69, 

252,  369-70,  395,  525  ;  III  :  127,  128-29,  165, 

368,  437  ;  IV  :  99,  434 
Muhkam  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  89,  346^  III :  129,  263, 

282;  IV :  203 
Mu'In  ud-Din  Chisti,  Khwaja,  II :  12,  159,  207 
Mu'in  ul-Mulk,  1 :  8,  11-12,  15,  23,  103;  II :  223, 

241,  299,  355,  486,  556  ;  III  :  129-31,  346, 

463  ;  IV  :  13,  96,  267,  299,  300  ;  also  see  Mir 

Mannu 
Muir,  Ramsay,  IV  :  217 
Mujaddad  Alf  Sani,  IV  :  214 
Mukanda,  Bhai,  II  :  378  ;  III  :  131 
Mukanda,  Bhai  (musician),  III  :  131 
Mukanampur,  III  :  131-32 
Mukerian,  I  :  419  ;  II  :  158,  175;  IV  :  3,  324 


Mukhlisgarh  Fort,  1 :  274  ;  III :  132  ;  IV :  136 
Mukhlis  Khan,  1 :  347  ;  II :  554  ;  III :  132  ;  IV  :  20 

252 

Mukhlispur,  IV  :  328 

Mukti,  I  :  142,  428  ;  II :  33,  387-89,  406  ;  III :  133 

35  ;  IV  :  151-52 
Mukti  Marg,  III  :  369 

Muktsar,  1 :  35,  272,  303,  305,  317,  372,  375,  42! 
459,  494,  504  j  II :  91,  190, 194,  214,  248,  28! 
359,  384,  393,  451,  529,  553,  568-69  ;  HI :  1; 
14,  27-28,  135-37,  216,  301,  335,  337,  43< 
456,  466,  513  ;  IV :  59,  87,  135,  212,  225,  351 
439 

— Battle  of,  I  ¥  35,  459 

Mula,  III :  137,  192 

Mula,  Bhai  (Beri),  III :  131,  138 

Mula,  Bhai  (Dhavan),  I  :  262;  III :  137  ;  IV :  26 

Mula,  Bhai  (Kapahi),  III :  138 

Mula,  Bhai  (Kapur),  II :  56  ;  III :  137 

Mula, Bhai  (Mahapurakh),  III:  138 

Mula, 'Bhai  (Sialkoti),  IV:  121-22 

Mula  Kir,  III  :  138  ;  IV  :  42 

Mulaii  Devi,  HI  :  232 

Mula  Singh,  Bhai,  III :  138-39 

Mul  Chand,  III :  139 

Mul  Chand,  Bhai,  1 :  297 

Mil  Chand,  Bhai  (Batala),  II :  192  ;  III  :  139,  167  ; 

IV:  268 
Mul  Chand  (Sunam),  II :  51 
Mul  Das,  Bava,  II  :  56 
Mule  Chakk,  III :  19 
Mullaripur,  I  :  439  ;  III  :  400 

Mul  Mantra,  1  :  37,  55  ;  II :  93,  94,  202,  212,  237, 
348  ;  III  :  139-41,  257-59,  263,  265,  317,  327, 
450  ;  IV  :  74,  263,  367 
Muloval,  II :  101-02  ;  III :  142  ;  IV  :  83 
Mul  Raj,  Diwan  (Hazara),  III  :  142-43 
Mul  Raj,  Diwan  (Multan),  1 :  17,  170-71,  174,  178- 
79,  372,  378,  397,  478,  483,  489  ;  II :  1,  263, 
304,  383,  412,  434,  549-50  ;  III :  15,  143,  145, 
488  ;  IV  :  18,  107,  185,  222,  287,  321,  441 
Mulrajia  Regiment,  III  :  157 
Mul  Singh  Garmula,  I  :  201  ;  III  :  143-44 
Mil  Singh,  Mahant,  III  :  144-45 
Mai  Singh,  Rai,  I  :  177  ;  III  :  145,  274  ;  IV  :  207 
Multan,  I  :  17,  25,  28,  30,  62,  151,  171-72,  178-79, 


527 


INDEX 


194,  207,  210,  220,  228,  247,  267,  299,  308, 
345,  376,  380,  483,  489,  505  ;  II :  1,  8,  11-13, 
21-22,  24,  28-29,  '46,  86,  107,  122-23,  138, 
142, 184, 188,  223, 225, 241,  251-52,  261,  263- 
64,  273,  283,  298-99,  302-04,  311,  343,  368, 
370,  377,  382-S3,  400,  408,  411-12,  434,  436, 
438,  455,  462-63,  479, 494, 497, 501, 507, 549- 
50,  557,  560-61,  576  ;  III :  14,  15,  34,  50,  96, 
100,  104,  127, 129-30, 143, 145,  148, 157,  165, 
167,  186,  195,  217,  221,  227,  309,  493,  500, 
513  ;  IV  :  8,  17,  18,  20,  29,  44,  82,  95,  101, 
107, 137,  175, 180, 184-85,  187, 193,  218,  222, 
228,  269,  272,  287,  300,  321,  324,  366,  368, 
381,  428,  440-41,  448,  454 

—Siege  of,  1818,  1 :  94 

—Outbreak,  1 :  170-71,  178,  180,  398,  488 

—Fall  of,  1 :  174 

Multana  Singh,  Kanvar,  HI :  146,  491  ;  IV  :  20 
Mumtaz,  III :  146 

Munak,  II :  128  ;  III :  26,  146,  337  ;  IV :  408 

Munak  Kalan,  III :  146-47 

Munawwar  Khan,  HI :  321 

Mundak  Upanisad,  II :  257,  361 

Mundavani,  III :  147,  422-23,  431-32 ;  IV:  31,  240 

Muniarpur,  III :  147-48 

Mun'im  Khan,  I  :  222  ;  II  :  91  ;  IV :  319 

Munsha  Singh  Dukhi,  III :  148 

Muntakhab  ul-Lubab,  III :  148-49 

Muqarrab  Khan,  Sultan,  II  :  116 

Murad,  II  :  504  ;  HI :  148 

Murad  Khan,  II :  355 

Murala,  IV :  283 

Murallvala,  I  :  250  ;  III  :  447 

Murari,  Bhai  (Anand),  III  :  149 

Murari,  Bhai  (Dhavan),  III  :  149 

Murli  Das,  Sant,  IV:  338 

Murray,  Captain,  1 :  27  ;  II :  575-76  ;  III :  149-50, 

260,  353,  436,  484  ;  IV:  180,  364,  374,  433 
Murray  College,  Sialkot,  II :  493 
Murray,  Dr.,  IV  :  94 
Murree,  III  :  117 
Murtaza  Khan,  1 :  438 
Musa,  II  :  425 

Musadda  Singh  Arora,  III  :  220 
Musafarian,  II  :  189 
Musa  Khel,  1 :  67 


Musamman  Burj,  II :  545,  548 

Musan,  Bhai,  II :  335,  427  ;  III :  150  ;  IV :  37 

Mushkiana,  Gurdwara,  HI :  400 

Mushki,  Mir,  III :  330 

Musical  Instruments,  II :  162—65 

Muslim  League,  I  :  46,  47,  84,  225,  228,  424  ;  II : 
453, 488, 494  ;  III :  251,  256,  307-12, 370, 379- 
81,  418,  420  ;  IV  :  109,  154,  190-93,  201,  213, 
313,  388 

Muslim  University,  'Aligarh,  III :  504  ;  IV :  327 

Mussoorie,  III  :  1,  359-60 

Mustfabad,  III :  102 

Mutiny  (1857),  IV  :  172 

Mu'tamad  Khan,  IV  :  372 

Muzaffarabad,  III :  25,  159,  268,  275,  505 

Muzaffargarh,  II :  557 ;  III :  39,  47,  100,  483 

Muzaffar  Jang,  Nawab,  II :  8,  21  ;  IV :  8 

Muzaffar  Khan,  II :  86 

Muzaffarnagar,  HI  :  103,  511 

Muzang,  II :  211,  520  ;  III :  37,  150  ;  IV :  356 

Mysore,  II :  159 

Nabha,  1 :  15,  330,  348,  403  ;  II :  8,  42,  45,  73,  83, 
85,  123, 126-27,  141,  143,  179,  221,  253,  261, 
276,  323,  327-28,  340,  360,  370,  373,  409-10, 
427-28,  480,  521-22 ;  III :  2,  18,  20,  28,  31, 
46,  49,  77,  89,  96,  105-07,  115,  120,  151-52, 
233,  237-38,  277-78,  285,  322,  331,  337,  339, 
359-60,  437,  472,  476-77,  482,  500,  502-04, 
506  ;  IV  :  19,  66, 87, 138, 166-70, 172-73, 176, 
226,  238,  259,  379-81,  355,  427,  456 

Nabha  (village),  II  :  352  ;  III :  151 

Nabi  Bakhsh,  I  :  63 

Nabi  Khan,  II  :  67,  90  ;  III  :  5,  6,  152 

Nadala,  III  :  152 

Nadar,  III  :  152-54  ;  see  Grace 

Nada  Sahib,  HI :  154-55,  341 

Nadaun,  1 :  78,  86,  128,  230,  344  ;  II :  89,  345,  512  ; 
III :  84,  139,  155,  371  ;  IV :  35,  95,  194,  212, 
225,  259,  262 

Naddhe  dl  Nar  ,  II  :  456 

Nadia,  IV  :  315 

Nadir  Shah,  1 :  8,  9,  11-13,  83,  255,  401  ;  II :  119, 
223,  303,  358,  429,  524-25,  545,  555  ;  III :  56, 
65,  95,  100-01,  103,  435,  460,  504  ;  IV  :  79, 
166,  197,  214,  299,  319,  324,  327,  374,  454 


INDEX 


528 


Nadu  Shah  Lubana,  III :  154 

Nagahia,  Bhai  (Lauhgoval),  II  :  82  ;  III :  156  ;  IV  : 

350 

Nagahia,  Bhai  (Lubana),  II :  155-56,  557  ;  IV  :  332 

Nagali,  III  :  79 

Nagas,  IV :  360 

Nagasaki,  III :  217 

Nagauri,  Bhai,  III :  156,  473 

Nagina  Ghat,  Gurdwara,  III :  192-93 

Nagoke,  II  :  452;  III  :  115  ;  IV :  382 

Nagpur,  III :  477  ;  IV :  65,  224 

Nagra,  III  :  156 

Nagrauli,  III :  156-57 

Nahan,  I  :  358  ;  II  :  57,  118,  122,  128,  576  ;  III  :  76, 

157,  291  ;  IV :  120,  329,  359 
Nahar  Shigh  (Anandpur),  HI :  157 
Nahar  Shigh  (Bharatpur),  III:  51 
Nahar  Singh  (d.  1866),  HI  :  157-58 
Nahar  Singh  (Lohgarh),  III  :  157 
Nahar  Siiigh  Man,  III :  158,  492 
Nahar  Siiigh  (Nakai),  HI :  104 
Nahar  Singh,  Raja,  II :  521 
Nahar  Singh  (s/o  Sujan  Singh),  III :  157 
Naina  Siiigh,  Akali,  1 :  39  ;  III :  158,  226 
Naine  da  Kot,  HI  :  284,  460 
Nainital,  III  :  435  ;  III :  186 
Najabat  Khan,  III  :  158 
Najaf  Kiian,  III  :  512  ;  IV  :  299,  319 
Najibabad,  IV  :  137,  198,  273 
Najib  Battalion,  II  :  105 
Najib  Khan,  III :  511 

Najib  ud-Daula,  I  :  12,  23,  249  ;  II  :  342,  357;  III : 

50,  51  103,  511  ;  IV:  195 
Nakai  Misl,  II  :  133,  272,  542  ;  III :  95,  96,  98,  104- 

05.  483,  488  ;  see  Misls 
Nakhas  Chowk,  II  :  546  ;  III :  66,  130 
Nakka,  II  :  273  ;  HI  :  23,  104,  335  ;  IV :  302 
Nakodar.  II  :  311  ;  III  :  101 

Nalagarh,  II  :  235  ;  III  :  31,  278,  32  ;  IV  :  168,  194, 

456 

Nalanda,  III :  375 
Nalanda  Club,  Berkeley,  II  :  456 
Nalh  Bhatt,  I  :  352  ;  IV  :  301 
Nahichhi,  HI  :  159 

Nalva  Conference  (1965);  HI  :  401-02 
Nai.i,  II  :  34,  198,  200,  289  ;  HI  :  159-61 


Namdev,  Bhagat,  1 :  203,  293,  312,  314  ;  II  :  13,  73, 
74,  173,  238,  516  ;  HI :  161-62, 180,  350,  364  ; 
IV  :  7,  25,  250 

Namdevachi  Gatha,  III :  161 

Namdhari  Darbar,  II  :  277 

Namdharis,  I  :  85,  209,  265,  332,  406  ;  II :  48,  213, 
273.  532-35,  560  ;  III :  29,  58,  221,  290,  465- 
67  ;  IV  :  81,  154,  165,  205,  254,  370,  429 

Namgyal  Tse-pal,  IV  :  462 

Namjapana,  KiratKarni,  Vand  Chhakana,  III  :  162- 

63 

Namkaran,  HI  :  163-65 

Nam-simaran,  1 :  74,  116,  117,  142,  176,  294,  301, 

369  ;  III  :  159-63,  175 
Nanak,  HI  :  165 
Nanak  Bakhsh,  Lala,  II  :  274 
Nanak,  Bhai,  II  :  540 

Nanak  Chand,  II  :  165  ;  HI  :  449  ;  IV  :  312 
Nanak  (.hand  (Hyderabad),  III  :  369 
Nanakcandrodayamahakavyani,  IV  :  246 
Nanak  Dev.  Guru,  I  :  4-5,  9-10,  14,  16,  17,  19,  22, 

29,  34,  35,  39,  55,  73,  74,  89,  90,  117,  119, 
143,  146-47,  181-82,  192-93,  203,  206,  208, 
224,  232-33,  238-39,  242,  244-45,  248-49,  261- 
62,  264,  269,  274,  276,  284,  293,  297-98,  305- 
06,  309,  312-313,  315-16,  322-24,  328,  337, 
341,  343,  347-48,  350-52,  358-59,  361,  367-68, 
373,  375,  380,  383,  386,  389,  394,  396,  399, 
416,  426,  445,  450-51,  466,  469,  532-33,  536, 
542,  548  ;  II  :  2,  5,  6,  13,  28,  33,  34,  43,  49, 
51-53,  56,  70,  71,  76,  85,  91,  93,  95,  99,  100, 
102-06,  108,  110,  124,  126,  133-35,  137,  143, 
145,  147-49,  157-59,  162-63,  166-69,  172, 
179,  181,  190,  192-94,  197-201,  203,  207-08, 
212-13,  220,  222,  224-25,  228,  232,  234,  236- 
39,  245,  248,  255-56,  264,  266,  268,  272,  281, 
283,  286,  299-303,  307,  313,  316-18,  321-23, 
330-31,  337-40,  347-51,  356,  364,  367,  374, 
376,  379,  387,  392,  400-01,  403,  405,  407,  415, 
417-18,  420,  422,  425-26,  431,  435-36,  441- 
45.  447,  449,  451,  455,  460-61,  464.  471-73, 
486,  496-98,  500,  502-05,  SOS,  516-17,  520. 
526,  531-32,  536-37,  545,  553,  559,  561,  564, 
566-67,  573-75  ;  III  :  4,  5,  15-17,  22,  26,  28, 

30,  34,  40,  41,  43,  46,  49,  52,  53,  56,  58,  61, 
64,  67,  69,  71,  83-88,  90,92, 112,  137-40, 145, 


529 


INDEX 


149,  153-54,  160,  163,  165-83,  184-89,  193, 
200,  203,  208,  216,  231,  241,  243-44,  253, 257, 
261,  263,  268,  270-72,  279-82,  295-96,  299, 
315,  325,  328-30,  335-36,  341,  345-46,  348- 
50,  352-53,  355-56,  363,  371-72,  387,  409- 
11,  415-16,  424, 426-27, 432-33, 442-44, 446, 
449-52,  457-58,  461-62,  467,  481,  499,  504- 
05,  507 ;  IV :  1,  2,  5,  23,  24,  27,  28,  31,  34,  41, 
42,  45,  52,  54,  56,  57,  59,  61,  70,  74,  88,  91, 
94, 97, 99, 119, 121, 123-26, 129-30, 137, 139- 
41,  146,  148-55,  157-58,  179,  194,  196,  206, 
208,  215-16,  219-20,  222-26,  230,  233-34, 
238-40,  243,  250,  252,  254,  258,  263,  268-70, 
273-75,  278,  285,  289,  293,  296,  303,  315-16, 
320,  325,  331,  336,  341,  349-57,  362,  366-68, 
374,  376-79,  386,  391,  393,  397-400,  403, 
406-07,  409-12,  414,  416,  420-21,  426,  435, 
442,  447,  450 
Nanakiana  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  83-84,  503 
Nanakiana  Sahib  (Kartarpur),  II :  450 
Nanaki  (of  Atari),  HI :  184 

Nanaki,  Bebe,  1 :  426,  535  ;  II :  322-23,  417  ;  III : 

166,  184,  199  ;  IV  :  222,  270-71 
Nanaki,  Mata,  I  :  175,  208,  234;  II:  113-14,  234, 

236,  374,  450,  512  ;  III :  184-85,  210,  504  ; 

IV  :  124,  199,  329-30,  349 
Nanak  jhira,  II :  385,  IV  :  132 
Nanak  Mata,  III :  185,  186 

Nanakpanthis,  1 :  385,  484-85  ;  II :  85,  318,  505; 

III :  185-87,  288,  443 
Nanak  Panth  Prakash  Sabha,  IV.:  253 
Nanak  Prakash,  II :  195  ;  III :  187-88 
Nanakpur  Jaghera,  II :  317 
Nanak  Sagar,  III  :  185 
Nanaksar,  1 :  501  ;  II :  317 

Nanaksar,  Gurdwara,  II :  220, 225  ;  III :  69, 194,  219, 
271 

Nanaksar  Kaleran,  III :  199 

Nanak  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  157,  457  ;  III :  352 

Nanak  Surajode  Janam  Sakhi,  III :  188 

Nanak  Vijai,  III :  188-89 

Nina  Rao,  III  :  52,  437 

Nanda,  Bhai,  II :  326  ;  III :  189-90 

Nanda,  Bhai  (Agra),  II:  315 

Nanda  Vitthal,  Bhai,  III :  190 

Nand,  Bhai,  III :  190 


Nand  Chand,  Diwan,  1 :  86  ;  II :  21  ;  III :  190-91, 
264,  479  ;  IV :  386 

Nanded,  1 :  1-2,  194,  212,  219,  273,  324,  327,  330, 
353,  366,  374-75,  480,  488,  541,  543  ;  II :  3, 
91-92,  127,  136-37,  185,  189,  277,  283,  291, 
299,  309,  337,  384-85,  391, 408, 463, 556  ;  III : 
19,  24,  43,  78,  91,  94,  191-94,  199,  204,  219, 
241,  253,  339,  354,  503  ;  IV  :  17, 102, 116, 161, 
194,  200,  212,  237,  277,  283,  301,  308,  335, 
338,  348,  378,  439  ;  also  see  Abchal  Nagar 

Nandgahj,  III :  49 

Nand  Gopal,  III :  194 

Nand  Kaur  (Bhaini),  III  :  465 

Nand  Kaur  (Chakk  64),  II :  267 

Nand  Kaur  (Lancle),  II :  428 

Nand  Kaur  (Ramgarh),  III :  10 

Nand  Lai,  Bhagat,  III :  478 

Nand  Lai,  Bhai,  1 :  202,  302,  315,  332,  365;  II :  52, 
178-79,  209,  400,  466,  517-18  ;  III :  192, 195- 
96,  427,  441  ;  IV:  13,  245-46,  304,  306-07, 
459 

Nand  Lai,  Masand,  1 :  506 
Nand  Lai  Puri,  II :  224,  262 
Nand  Lai  Sohna,  III :  83 
Nand  Lai  Vali  Bir,  1 :  506 
Nand  Pachm,  III :  197 

Nandpur  (Kalaur),  1 :  253  ;  II :  69  ;  III :  196-97 

Nand  Singh,  1 :  270 

Nand  Singh  (Anandpur) ,  III :  197 

Nand  Singh  (Babar),  III :  198 

Nand  Singh,  Bhai,  III :  198 

Nand  Singh  Bhandari,  Bakhshi,  1 :  153 

Nand  Singh,  Ghurial,  II :  237 

Nand  Singh  (Mis riot),  II :  116 

Nand  Singh  (Rai  ka  Burj),  III :  197-98 

Nand  Singh  Sanghaniah,  II :  358  ;  III :  463 

Nand  Singh,  Sant,  II :  191,  258  ;  III :  198-99 

Nand  Singh  (Thothian),  II :  250 

Nandu  Sudana,  Bhai,  II  :  492 

Nangli,  1 :  201 

Nanheri,  III :  199 

Nankana  Sahib,  I:  201,  213,  236,  246,  272,  304, 
307,  325,  328,  350,  399,  419,  440,  455,  509 ; 
II :  102,  134,  143,  188,  234,  236,  250,  258-59, 
267,  274,  291,  301, 305,  308-09,  327,  361,  367, 
369,  386,  391,  424,  434,  437,  455,  462,  465, 


INDEX 


530 


470,  483,  506,  523,  537-38,  540 ;  III :  36,  53, 
58,  78,  126,  144,  165-66,  199-201,  358,  381, 
402,  410,  419,  449,  472,  477  ;  IV :  38,  40,  50, 
97,  115,  119,  227,  283,  286,  298,  335-36 

—Massacre,  1 :  40,  51-52,  54,  96,  194,  201,  423-25, 
491,  532  ;  II :  301, 424,  437  ;  III :  36, 125, 138- 
39,  198,  201--03,  206,  278,  469 ;  IV :  49,  50^ 
86,  259,  28'6,'334,  340,  383-84,  432 

Nanku,  1 :  252 

Nano  Ohri,  Bhai,  1 :  75,  266  ;  III :  203 
Nano  Latkan,  Bhai,  III  :  203 
Nanu,  III :  203  ;  IV  :  376 
Nanu  Singh  Greval,  IV  :  458 
Nanua  Vairagi,  III :  203 
Nanu,  Bhai,  1 :  18  ;  III :  203-04,  264 
Nanu,  Bhai  (mason),  III :  235 
Nanu  Bhullar,  III :  454 

NanO  Mall,  Dlwan,  II :  562  ;  III :  51,  437  ;  IV :  22 

Nanu  Singh,  III :  204-05 

Nanu  Vairagi,  III :  205 

Napier,  Sir  Charles,  1 :  174  ;  II :  107 

Naples,  III :  44 

Napoleon,  II  :  7,  482,  508  ;  IV  :  425 

Napoleonic  Wars,  II :  259 

Naqshbandl  Sufis,  1 :  25,  192,  290  ;  II :  320 

Narad,  II :  158;  IV:  413,  419 

Narad  Siksa,  II :  158 

Narain  Das,  Bhai,  III :  205,  303  ;  IV  :  27,  68 
Narain  Das,  Mahant,  1 :  51,  216,  281,  441, 458, 491  ; 
II  :  274,  291,  386,  424,  465,  470,  537-38  ;  III : 
139,  198,  201-02  ;  IV  :  115,  278,  298,  305,  423 
Narain  Das,  Sant,  II  :  572 

Naraingarh,  II :  23,  34,  249,  342,  544  ;  III :  33,  104, 

129,  278,  482;  IV:  175 
Narain  Singh  (Bahirampur),  III :  205 
Narain  Singh,  Bava,  II :  221 
Narain  Singh  Bhai  (Bagarlan),  1 :  194 
Narain  Singh  (Chakk  55),  III :  205-06 
Narain  Singh  (Daulatpur),  II  :  434 
Narain  Singh  (Dlwan),  II :  411 
Narain  Singh  (Ghadrite),  1 :  270 
Narain  Singh  Gill,  II  :  231 
Narain  Singh  (Lahuke),  III  :  206 
Narain  Singh  Langeri,  II  :  368 
Narain  Singh,  Master,  II :  2 
Narain  Singh  MonI,  Baba,  IV  :308 


Narain  Singh,  (Multan),  II  304 
Narain  Singh  (Nabha),  II :  409 
Narain  Singh  (Nankana),  III:  18 
Narain  Singh  (Nizampur),  III :  206 
Narain  Singh,  Pandit,  II :  79 
Narain  Singh  Shahbazpuri,  III :  403,  440 
Narain  Singh,  Subedar,  II :  49 
Narain  Singh  (writer),  II :  191 
Narali,  III :  206 

Nararigval,  I  :  260  ;  II :  552  ;  III :  476  ;  IV  :  178,  437, 

353 

Narayana,  III :  206-07  ;  IV  :  305 
Narayana  TIrath,  Svaml,  III :  472-73 
Narayan  Ghat,  III :  92 
Narayan  Singh,  Baba,  1 :  215, 
Narbada,  River,  III :  47,  247 
Narbud  Bhatt,  1 :  353  ;  IV :  243 
Narela,  III :  495  ;  IV  :  39 
Narendra  Bahadur.Raja,  IV  :  226 
Narendra  Nath,  Raja,  II :  487 
Narendra  Singh  Sandhaftvalla,  II :  144  ;  III :  207  ; 
IV  :  348 

Narinder  Singh,  Maharaja,  III :  20,  106,  120,  207, 

221,  238,  318,  321,  450,  479  ;  IV :  169,  315 
Narinder  Singh,  Major-General,  III  :  403 
Narll,  III :  21,  103,  207-08 
Narnaul,  II :  84  ;  III :  88,  207 
Narotam  Baramaha,  II :  563 
Narotam  Darshan,  II :  563 
Narotam  Majhan,  II :  563 
Naroval,  II :  84,  403,  419 
Narrative  of  the  Second  Sikli  War,  IV  :  345 
Narsihg  Das  Nargis,  IV  :  461-62 
Nar  Singh  Chamarivala,  II :  188 
Narsl-Vamani,  III  :  161 

Nasihat  Namah,  1 :  182  ;  III :  208,  268,  356,  369 

Nasik,  1 :  273, 

Nasimbli,  II :  574 

Nasir  All,  IV  :  213,  395 

Nasir  ud-Daula',  Nizam,  IV  :  160 

Nasrala,  II :  251 

Natak  Bhavarth  Dipika,  II :  410 
Nathana,  II  :  418  ;  III  :  208 
Nathana  Sahib,  III :  208-09 

Nath  Yogis,  II :  343,  403-05,  574  ;  III ;  5,  167,  446, 
504,  507;  IV:  11,  123-25 


531 


INDEX 


National  College,  Sirsa,  II :  128 
National  Democratic  Front,  II :  293 
National  Institute  of  Sciences,  II :  451 
National  Institute  of  Sports,  III :  320  ;  IV :  170 
National  Library,  Calcutta,  II :  502  ;  IV :  328 
National  School  of  Politics,  II :  519 
Native  Philanthropic  Assocation,  1 :  396 
Nattha,  Bhai  (bard),  1 :  2,  412  ;  II :  233  ;  III :  209, 

330  ;  IV  :  407 
Nattha,  Bhai    (Guru  Arjan's  Sikh),  II :  104  ;  III : 

209 

Nattha,  Bhai  (Udasi),  II :  261  ;  III :  209 

Natth  Mall,  Bhai,  1 :  90 

Nattha  (Mirahkot),  III :  65,  435 

Nattha  Singh,  Baba,  II :  427 

Nattha  Singh,  Bhai  (Moga),  II ;  209 

Nattha  Singh  (Bhahgi),  II :  116 

Nattha  Singh  (Buna),  rv  :  81 

Nattha  Singh  Nakai,  III :  488 

Nattha  Singh  (Narangval),  III ;  476 

Nattha  Singh  (Ofhian),  III :  197 

Nattha  Singh  (Patiala),  III :  424 

Nattha  Singh  (Ranghar  Nanglia),  II :  439 

Nattha  Singh  (Sunam),  III :  469 

Nattha  Singh  (Syamgarh),  II :  501 

Nattha  (Bakapur),  II :  551 

Natthu,. Bhai,  II :  500  ;  IV :  463 

Natthu  Ram,  IV  :  21 

Natti,  Mata  -see  Ananti,  Mata 

Natya  £as£ra,  II :  158 

Nau,  Bhai,  III :  210  ;  IV :  379 

Naudh  Singh,  Baba,  IV  :  103 

Naudh  Singh  (Kaleke),  II :  390 

Naudh  Singh  (Nishananvafi) ,  III :  105 

Naudh  Singh  (Sukkarchakk) ,  III :  110,  210 

Naujawan  Bharat  Sabha,  1 : 195,  317  ;  III :  127,  210- 

11  ;  IV:  229 
Naulakkha,  III :  211 
Naulakkha  Bagh,  II :  509 
Naunidh,  III :  211-12 

Nau  Nihil  Singh,  1 :  14,  65,  67,  94,  99,  196,  199, 
210-11,  219,  307,  363,  371,  398,  436*37,  457, 
480  ;  II :  24,  39,  54,  72,  187,  220,  263,  275, 
281, 285, 304, 378, 495, 507, 520-21, 543,  548  ; 
III :  76,  212,  218,  285-87,  367,  382,  465,  468  ; 
IV:  101,  109,  112,  133,  137,  259,  269,  320- 


22,  343,  345,  357,  374,  386,  418,  427 
Naurangabad,  1 :  376-77 ;  II :  120,  275,  304,  458, 

497,  501,  544  ;  III :  15,  275  ;  IV :  346,  351,  427 
Naurang  Singh  (Dharovall),  II :  309 
Naurang  Singh  Tahghl,  II :  346 
Naushahra  Nangli,  1 :  201  ;  II :  357  ;III:72,  219,  345, 

492 

Naushahra  Pannuah,  II ;  482,  488  ;  rV :  311,  408 
Naushahra  (N.W.F.P.).  also  see  Nowshera,  1 :  229  ; 

II :  21,  46,  515  ;  IV :  183,  425,  448 
Naushahra  (Shahpur),  II:  188 
Navala,  Bhai,  III :  213 
Naval  Singh,  III :  51,  444  ;  IV :  196 
Navari  Samaj,  III :  232 
Navari  Zamana,  IV :  229 
Navishahr,  II :  345,  384 
Naviari  Sochari,  rV :  340 
Kavfn  Bharat  de  Rajasi  Agu,  II :  275 
Navin  Panjabi  Pihgal,  II :  452 
Nawabganj,  III :  49 
Naya  Gaori,  II :  435-36 
Nayya,  Bhai,  III :  72,  213 
Nazir  Ahmad,  II :  268 

Nehru  Committee,  II :  519  ;  III :  37,  214-15 
Nehru  Committee  Report,  II :  494 ;  III :  37,  214- 

15  ;  IV :  202,  312-13,  389 
Nehru,  Jawaharlal  —  see  Jawaharlal  Nehru 
Nehru  Memo  rial  Museum,  New  Delhi,  IV :  261 
Nehru,  Motilal  —  see  Motilal  Nehru 
Nehru-Tara  Singh  Pact,  1 :  48, 
Nesta,  III :  215 
New  Era,  III :  306 
New  York  Times,  II :  328 
New  Westminster,  II :  62,  485 
Nibahu  Singh,  II :  354 
Nicholson,  Alexander,  III :  216 
Nicholson,  John,  III :  216 

Nicholson,  Cfipt.  Peter,  1 :  166^171,  447  ;  II :  564, 
576 

Nicola  Manucci,  II :  29 

Nidha,  Bhai,  III :  216 

Nidhan  Singh  Alain,  II :  213  ;  III :  29o 

Nidhan  Singh,  Baba,  III :  43,  192,  194 

Nidhan  Singh,  Bha.ee,  1 :  162,  163 

Nidhan  Singh  Chuggha,  II :  64  ;  III :  217-18,  280 

Nidhan  Singh  Hathu,  II :  22  ;  III :  216-17 


INDKX 


532 


Nidhan  Singli  Pahjhatha,  III :  218,  435 

Nidhim  Singh  (PathI),  III :  216 

Nidhan  Singli,  Sant,  III :  218-19 

Nidhan  Singh  (Tung),  II :  184,  344 

Nidhan  Singh  Varaich,  1 :  323 

Nigaha,  IV :  29,  30 

Nigahia,  Bhal,  1:15 

Nigahia  Singh,  Bhal,  1 :  509,  547 

Nihala,  Bhal,  III :  219  ;  IV  :  303 

Nihala,  Bhal  (writer),  III :  213,  219 

Nihal,  Bhal,  III :  319 

Nihal  Chand,  III :  365 

Nihal  Kaur  -see  Ananti,  Mata 

Nihal  Kaur  (Bahoru),  II :  308 

Nihal  Kaur  (Rattoke),  II :  523 

Nihal  Kaur  (Rode),  II  :  352 

Nihal  Kaur  (Sanghna),  III :  271 

Nihal  Singh  Advocate,  II :  180 

Nihal  Singh  (Atari),  II :  122  ;  III :  220-21  ;  IV  :  101 

Nihal  "Singh  Ahluvalia,  III :  220 

Nihal  Singh  Arora,  III :  220 

Nihal  Singh,  Baba,  II :  220  ;  III :  147 

Nihal  Singh,  Bava,  1 :  294  ;  II ;  188,  481,  504  ;  III : 

221  ;  IV :  69,  252 
Nihal  Singh,  Bhal,  1 :  296  ;  III :  3 
Nihal  Singh  (Bhangi),  II :  57 
Nihal  Singh  Damdamia,  III :  221-22 
Nihal  Singh,  Jamadar,  IV:  120 
Nihal  Singh  (Kahar),  III :  219-20 
Nihal  Singh  Kairon,  Bhai,  I  :  126  ;  II  :  483,  488  ; 

III .:  222,  305,  395 
Nihal  Singh  (Maharaj  Singh's),  I  :  325 
Nihal  Singh  (Mansurvali),  II  :  258 
Nihal  Singh  (Marhana) ,  II :  464 
Nihal  Singh  (Nabha),  II :  480 
Nihal  Singh  (Naqqash),  II :  80 
Nihal  Singh  (Naushahra),  III :  219 
Nihal  Singh  (N.W.F.P.),  III :  205 
Nihal  Singh  (Raipur  Doaba),  III :  491 
Nihal  Singh,  Raja  (Ballabhgarh),  II :  521 
Nihal  Singh,  Raja  (Kapurthala) ,  1 :  371  ;  III :  477  ;. 

tV:l73 

Nihal  Sirigii,  Sant  (Nirmala),  III :  223-24 

Nihal  Singh,  Sant  Pandit,  II :  123,  312  ;  III :  222- 

23  ;  IV  :  53 
Nihal  Singh  Sodhi,  III  :  224 


Nihal  Singh,  Subedar,  III :  148 

Nihal  Singh  Thakur,  III :  224-25 

Nihalsirighvala,  III :  9,  329  ;  IV :  303 

Nihalu,  Bhal  (Dhir),  III :  225 

Nihalu,  Bhai  (goldsmith),  III :  131,  225 

Nihalu,  Bhal  (hillman),  II :  413  ;  III :  225 

Nihalu,  Bhai  (Sethi),  III :  225 

Nihalu,  Bhai  (Sultanpur),  III :  225 

Nihalu  Bhalla,  Bhal,  III :  225 

Nihalu  Chaddha,  Bhai,  III :  225-26 

Nihangs,  I  :  39,  384,  400  ;  II :  376,  418,  508,  530- 
31  ;  III :  9,  18,  47,  70,  108,  158,  224,  226-28, 
229,  239,  290-91,  489,  506  ;  IV  :  254,  370 

Nihang  Bole,  II  :  156;  III :  228-31 

Nihang  Khan,  II  :  530  ;  III :  146,  231 

Nijabat  Khan,  1 :  410 

Nijatullah  Shah,  Sayyid,  III :  231 

Nikka  Singh,  Mahant,  II :  568  ;  III :  301 

Nila  Ghora,  III :  231 

Nim  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  413 

Nimsar  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  74 

Niranjania  Akhara,  Patiala,  IV :  379 

Niranjanie,  II :  272  ;  III :  231  ;  IV :  254 

Niranjanl Jot,  II :  456 

Niranjan  Kaur,  Bibi,  II :  213 

Nirahjan  Prasad,  Major-General,  III :  403 

Niranjan  Singh  Gargajj,  II :  54 

Nirahjan  Singh  Gill,  III :  290-91 

Nirahjan  Singh,  Professor,  1 :  40  ;  II :  196  ;  III :  232-33 

Niranjan  Singh,  Sant,  III :  233-34 

Nirahkar,  II  :  35,  53,  94 

Niraiikarl  Balak/Bhujangi  Jatha,  III :  235 

Nirahkari  Darbar,  1 :  209,  507  ;  II :  277,  234,  236, 
352 

Nirahkari  heresy,  II :  352-53 
Nirankarijot,  II :  455 

Nirahkaris,  I  :  121,  126,  209-10,  332,  507,  539  ;  II : 

431  ;  III :  234-36  ;  IV :  154,  165,  205,  429 
Nirahkari  Youngmen's  Association,  III  :  235 
Nirban  Akhara,  III  :  369 
NiVWiai  Yoclha,  II :  456 
Nirguniara,  W  :  165,  430 

Nirmalas,  1 :  64,  369,  399,  509  ;  II :  77-78,  109,  118, 
213,  279,  367,  562-63  ;  III :  18,  20,  144,  224, 
236-37,  290,  391  ;  IV:  9,  10,  254,  315,  370, 
401,  409 


533 


INDEX 


Nirmal  Chandra,  IV  :  223 

Nirmal  Maha  Mandal,  III :  145 

Nirmal  PanchayatI  Akhara,  1 :  76,  295  ;  III  r  19,  20, 

145,  237-38,  318  J IV:  10,  315 
Nirmal  Prabhakar  ate  Sikkhi  Prabhakar,  III :  223 
Nirmal  Sangat  Lahori  Tola,  IV  :  410 
Nirmohgarh  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III  :  238-39 
— Battle  of,  1 :  33, 129,  246,  261,  293,  355  ;  II :  130, 

283,  362,  471  ;  IV  :  16,  53,  237,  287,  380,  417, 

439  ' 
Nirvana,  II :  388  ;  IV  :  286 

Nishananvall  Misl,  II :  119,  323,  439 ;  III :  76,  95, 
96,  101,  105,  227,  239,  337  ;  see  Misls 

Nishan  Sahib,  II :  42,  146,  302  ;  III :  239-40 

Nishchal  Singh,  Pandit  Sant,  II :  213  ;  III :  117, 240- 
•  41,  326 

Nishfal  Uphar,  II :  203 

Nitnem,  II :  217  ;  III :  241-43,  426 

Nivala,  Bhal,  I  :  497  ;  III :  243  ;  IV  :  303 

Nizamabad,  III :  224,  243  ;  IV  :  272 

Nizam  of  Hyderabad,'  III :  191-92,  339,  487  ;  IV  : 
160,  226,  353,  359 

Nizampur,  II :  369 

Nizampur  Chelevala,  IV  :  421 

Nizampur  Devasinghvala,  II  :  258  ;  III :  278  ;  IV  : 
278,  286 

Nizam  ud-DIn,  II :  119-20  ;  III :  100,  244,  417,  480 

Nizam  ud-DIn  Awalia,  Shaikh.  -  II :  12 

Nohar,  III :  244  ;  IV  :  23 

Nora  Richards,  IV :  223 

North-Western  Railway,  II :  372-73 

North-West  Frontier  Agency,  II :  305-06,  382,  571, 
575-76  ;  III :  500 

North-West  Frontier  Province,  II  :  195,  251,  260, 
317,  336,  369,  465,  474,  498,  571  ;  III :  11,  37, 
67, 114,  205,  240,  256,  309,  366;  474,  380,  385, 
447,  469,  570  ;  IV :  118,  188-90,  232,  279 

North-West  Province,  III :  184 

Novin  Chandra  Rai,  Babu,  IV :  77,  78 

Nowshera,  II :  260  ;  III :  66,  227,  338 

Nur  Ahmad  Chisti,  Maulawi,  1 :  345 

Nura  Mahi,  II  :  566 

NuranI,  Bibi,  1 :  260  ;  II :  552 

Nur  Din,  Faujdar,  III :  65 

Nur  Din,  PIr,  1 :  97 

Nur  (II  Sarai,  II  :  355 


Nurjahan,  II :  320,  505  ;  IV :  223 

Nur  Mahal,  II  I :  220,  303  ;  IV :  290 

Nur  Muhammad  Khan,  IV  :  332 

Nur  Muhammad,  QazI,  II :  131,  323,  341-43  ;  III : 

442;  IV:  62,  169,  204 
Nurpur  Bedi,  II :  361-62  ;  III :  29  ;  IV :  71 
Nurpur  (H.P.),  II :  256,  323,  359,  505  ;  III :  96,  102, 

108,  186,  470-71,  483-84  ;  IV  :  101,  118,  194, 

324,  453 

Nurpur  (Punjab),  II :  508,  560  ;  III :  102 

Nurshah,  II :  532  ;  III :  244-45 

Nur  ud-DIn  Bamezal,  III :  13  ;  IV  :  321 

Nur  ud-DIn,  Faqir,  1 :  230  ;  II :  547  ;  III :  245-46, 487 

Nuskhah-i-Kiiabat-i-Dayanandian,  IV :  255 

Nyai  Paribhasha,  II :  452 

Nyaya,  II :  124,  133  ;  III :  313 

Nyaya  Vaisesika,  III :  133 

Oankar,  III :  297  ;  IV  :  250,  354,  400 
Oankaru,  III :  247-48,  257-59 
Obaid  Khan,  III :  423 
Ocean  Falls,  II :  62 

Ochterlony,  David,  1 :  153,  230,  364  ;  11 :  51,  284, 
360,  575-76  ;  III :  80,  93,  103,  248,  436 ;  IV :  3 

O'Dwyer,  Sir  Michael  Francis,  II :  66,  333,  477;  IV  : 
382 

Offer  of  Sikh  State,  III :  248-56 
Ogilive,  C.M.G.,  III :  359 
O'Grady,  Captain,  III :  503 
Ojha,  G.H.,  II :  182 
Old  Bailey,  IV  :  382 
Old  Malda,  III :  26 
Old  Testament,  III :  300 
Orn,  II :  374 

Oman,  Dr.  John  Campbell,  II :  4 
Oms,  III :  256 

Onkar,  II :  174  ;  III :  257-59 
Ootacainund,  II :  336 

Operation  Blue  Star,  1 :  58  ;  II :  514  ;  IV :  178,  360, 
434 

Oregon,  II :  61,  259,  311,  467  ;  III :  513  ;  IV  :  424 
Oriental  College,  Lahore,  II :  186,  469  ;  IV  :  207- 
08,  302 

Oriental  Public  (Kliuda  Bakhsh)  Library,  II  :  277- 

78,  299,  300,  302  ;  IV :  299,  319,  328 
Origin  of  Sikh  Power  in  the  Punjab,  II :  279,  318  ; 


INDEX 


534 


III :  259-60,  329 
Orissa,  II :  159,  322,  456  ;  III :  122 
Osborne,  W.G.,  1 :  479  ;  III :  486 
Othian,  II :  440  ;  III :  260  ;  IV :  342 
Oudh,  II :  122,  302  ;  III :  49,  51,  279,  478,  512 
Oxford,  II :  232  ;  HI :  2  ;  IV  :  437 
Oudh,  1 :  252,  274  ;  IV  :  198.  329,  440 

Pabna,  IV :  331 
Pacific  Khalsa  Diwan,  II :  81 
Pacific  Ocean,  II :  527 
Padal  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  34 
Padam  Singh,  Mian,  III :  438 
Padarath,  Bhai,  III :  261 
Paddhari,  III :  271^72 
Padhana,  II :  367  ;  III :  261 
Padmanabha,  II :  420 
Padmarekha,  II :  420 
Pahare,  III :  261-62 
Pahar  Singh  Man,  III :  158,  262 
Pahar  Singh,  Raja,  III :  262-63  ;  IV  :  174  440 
Pahul,  II :  39, 137,  150,  428,  501,  521  ;  III :  46, 126, 
158,  209,  241,  263-66,  282-84,  464,  467,  503 
Pahu  Mall,  II :  385 
Pahu  Singh,  III :  278 
Pahuvind,  III :  108 

V 

Pahuvindia  Regiment,  III :  304 
Paijgarh,  III :  103 
Pail,  III :  266-67 

Painda  Khan,  1 :  207,  229,  465  ;  II :  126,  135,  145, 
234,  448,  558  ;  III :  267-68  ;  IV :  1,  270 

Paindi  Khan  Barakzai,  1 :  208  ;  II  :  19,  319  ;  III : 
268 

Paintis  Akkhari,  III :  268-69,  369 

Paira,  Bhai,  II :  329.  374  ;  III :  269  ;  TV :  119 

Paira,  Bhai  (Banjara),  III :  269-70 

Paira,  Bhai  (Kohli),  III :  269 

Paira  Chandelia,  II  :  373 

Paira  Chhajjal,  III :  270 

Paira  Mall,  II :  497 

Paira  Mokha,  1 :  263  ;  III :  270 

Pakistan  Resolution,  1 :  47 

Pakkhoke  Randhave,  I  :  35,  289,  297  ;  IV :  5,  42, 
234,  268 

Pakki  Sahgat,  Allahabad,  III :  236  ;  TV  :  333 
Pakki  Sangat,  Gurdwara,  III :  121 


Pak  Namah,  1 :  182  ;  III :  271,  356 

Pakpattan,  1 :  299  ;  II :  12,  272,  289-90,  297,  377  ; 

N  III :  104,  167,  271  ;  IV :  220,  258 
Palahi,  II :  523  ;  III :  271  ;  IV :  49 
Palah  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  473 
Pala  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  288  ;  II :  367 
Pali,  III :  385-89  ;  IV :  33,  249 
Pal  Singh  'Arif,  Sant,  III :  271-72 
Pal  Sffigh,  Bhai,  II :  470 
Pal  Singh  Lyallpuri,  Chaudhri,  TV :  298,  423 
Paltu,  Bhai,  IV :  54 
Pammu  Bhai,  II :  524  ;  III :  272 
Panchaiti  Akhara  (Udasi),  III:  237,  369;  IV:  51, 
379 

Pancama-Sara-Samhita,  II :  158 
Panchami,  III :  272-74 
Panchayats,  II :  381-82  ;  III :  97 
Pahch  Khalsa  Diwan,  1 :  350  ;  IV  :  87,  165,  306,  335- 
36 

Panchnad,  III :  373 
Panchtantra,  II :  464 
Pandavas,  II :  526 
Pandav  Gita,  468 

Pandharpur,  II :  73  ;  III :  161-62,  302 
Pandori  Bibi,  II :  369 
Pandori  Ganga  Singh,  II :  434 
Pandori  Mahal,  II :  524 
Pandori  Nijjharari,  II :  249,  523 
Panduraj,  II :  270 

Paiigat,  II  :  100,  207,  209  ;  III  :  288  ;  IV :  158 
Panini,  II :  158  ;  III :  233 

Panipat,  II :  19,  45,  119,  223,  314,  356,  445,  526 
546  ;  III :  50,  94,  98,  99,  1J)1,  106,  423,  445 
449,  511  ;  IV:  170,  173,  197,  214,  319,  395, 
458 

Panjaba,  Bhai,  III :  505 

Panjab  Darpan,  TV :  163 

Pan/'ab  diari  Varan,  II :  346 

Panjabi"  Bhain,  I  :  493  ;  III  :  305  ;  IVj  162,  302 

Panjabi  Hath  Likbatan  di  Suchi,  III  :  41,  412 

Panjabi  Pracharni  Sabha,  III  :  274-75 

Panjab  Kaur,  Mata,  I  :  269,  139  ;  III  :  275,  462 

Panjab  on  the  Eve  of  the  First  Sikh  War,  III :  275-76 

Panjab  Public  Library,  Lahore,  IV :  453 

Panjab  Riyasti  Praja  Mandal,  III :  276-78,  323 

Panjab  Singh,  II :  344,  543-44  ;  III :  278 


535 


INDEX 


Panjab  Singh,  Bhai,  III :  206,  278 

Panjab  Singh,  Mahant,  II :  67 

Paiijab  Singh  Nalva  :  279 

Panjab  Singh  Randhava,  III :  366 

Panjab  Singh,  Risaldar  Major,  II :  398  ;  III :  279 

Panjab  Singh,  Sant,  III :  503 

Panjab  Singh  (Saidpur),  II :  367 

Panjab  Singh  (Sialkot),  HI ;  216 

Panjab  University,  Chandigarh/Solan,  II :  108,  128, 

141, 191, 193,  373-73,  395,  450-51  ;  III :  232, 

378  ;  IV  :  262,  393 
Panjab  University,  Lahore,  II :  211,  249,  274,  394, 

399,  469,  486,  493  ;  III :  358,  391,  442  ;  IV  : 

207,  217,  309,  318,  320,  342,  374-75,  452-54 
Panja  Sahib;  1 :  52,  258  ;  II :  103,  413,  43(5-37,  440, 

454  ;  III :  217, 279-80, 352,  357-58, 477,  507  ; 

IV :  28,  183,  424,  435 
Panjgarh,  IV :  3 
Panj  Garain,  II :  428  ;  III :  18 
Pan/'  Granthi,  III :  281 
Panj  Granthi  Satik,  IV  :  431 
Panj  Kakar,  II :  36,  39 
Panj  Mukte,  III :  281 
Panjokhara,  II :  127,  255  ;  III :  281-82 
Panj  Piare,  1 :  129,  428  ;  II :  25,  55,  89,  123,  134, 

150-51, 201,  346, 375  ;  432, 446-47, 515, 552  ; 

III :  129, 194, 217,  264, 281, 282-84, 398, 400, 

477  ;  IV :  305-06,  314,  338,  424 
Panj  Sau  Sakhi,  III :  284 
Panj  Tirath,  Gurdwara,  II :  341 
Panjvar,  II :  140-41,  250  ;  III :  100 
Pannikar,  Sardar  KM.,  III :  250 
Panoply,  III :  285-88 
Panth,  III :  288-89  ;  also  see  Khalsa 
Panth,  Dharam  te  Rajnid,  II :  275 
Panthic  Akali  Party,  1 :  266 
Panthic  Darbar,  IV  :  446 

Panthic  Pratinidhi  Board,  1 :  267  ;  II :  453  ;  III : 

289-91  ;  IV :  189 
Panth  Khalsa,  IV  :  373 

Panth  Prakash,  1 :  126  ,11 :  83,  179,  224,  228,  313, 
460,  514  ;  III :  39, 156,  237,  284,  289,  354,  435, 
441  ;  IV :  212,  254  373 

Panth  Sevak,  IV  :  164 

Paonta  Sahib,  1 :  33,  128,  243,  244,  302,  343,  356, 
358  ;  II :  21-22,  51,  67,  86,  88-89,  137,  139, 


226,  235,  350, 414, 426,  512, 530  ;  III :  38,  39, 
76,  132,  151, 154,  157-58,  190,  236,  291-92, 
434,  460,  462-64,  477  ;  IV  :  6,  194,  212,  262, 
277,  310,  359,  419,  428 

Papa,  III :  292-96 

Paraga,  Bhaii,  III :  68 

Parag  Das,  Bhai,  III :  342-43 

Paramartha,  III :  296-97 

Paramatma,  II:  96  ;  IV :  362 

Paramjit  Singh,  Maharaja,  IV  :  174 

Param  Singh,  1 :  194  ;  III :  514  ;  IV :  23 

Parasarprasna,  II :  431 

Paras  Bhag,  II :  213  ;  III :  297 

Paras  Ram,  Bhai,  1 :  282  ;  III :  297 

Parbhat,  III :  439 

Parbrahma,  II :  95,  312  ;  III :  457 

Parchi,  III :  297-98 

Parchian  Bhagatan  Kian,  II :  238 

Parchian  Patshahi  10,  III :  298 

Parchian  Seva  Das,  III :  298 

Parchi  Bhai  Addan  Shah,  III :  298 

Parchi  Bhii  Kanhaiya,  III :  298,  299 

Parch/  Bhai'  Seva  Rain,  III :  298,  299 

Parchi  Mahit  Sundar  Sachiar  Ki,  III :  298 

Parchi  Afansiir  Ji  KI,  III :  299 

Pardah  System,  III :  300  ;  IV :  442 

Pardesi  Kha/sa,  II :  62,  415  ;  IV :  280 

Pardhan  Kaur,  II :  19,  83;  III :  300-01 

Pardhan  Kaur  (Mansiirvali) ,  II :  258 

Pardhan  Singh,  II :  187 

Parduman  Singh,  Giani,  II :  78,  243-44,  247  ;  III : 
73,  301 

Paris,  II :  285,  315,  450  ;  III :  128  ;  IV :  387,  426 

Parivar  Vichhora,  Gurdwara,  III :  302 

Parjapat,  Baba,  II :  235 

Parkash  Kaur,  II :  232 

Parkash  Singh  Badal,  1 :  48,  49,  133 

Parkash  Singh  Gireval,  Brigadier,  III :  403 

Parlok  Jhaki,  II :  563 

Parma  Devi,  III :  409 

Parmanand,  Bhagat,  1 :  312  ;  III :  302-!O3 

Parmanand,  Bhai,  II :  61,  457 

Parmeshar,  III :  457 

Paro,  Bhai,  1 :  83,  257,  268,  476  ;  II :  86,  565  ;  III : 

205,  303,  478 
.  Parol,  II :  323 


INDEX 


536 


Parsang  Patshahi  Dasvin,  II :  133 
Parshada  Singh,  II :  568 
Parsvanatha,  1 :  20  ;  II :  30  ;  III :  293 
Partap  Kaur  (Gojran),  III :  369 
Partap  Kaur,  Rani,  III  303 
Partap  Singh,  III :  303 
Partap  Singh,  Baba,  II ;  213,  534-35 
Partap  Singh,  Dr.,  II :  469 
Partap  Singh,  Giani,  III :  304-05 
Partap  Singh,  Granthi,  rv  :  348 
Partap  Singh  (Jaura),  1 :  281 

Partap  Singh  Kairoft,  1 : 331  ;  II :  143,  454  ;  III :  1 18, 
305-06,  394-95,  401,  440-41  ;  IV :  109,  111- 
13,  133,  259,  321,  419,  427 

Partap  Singh  (Kaithal),  IV:  376 

Partap  Singh  Kanvar  (Jind),  II :  513 

Partap  Singh,  Maharaja  -see  Pratap  Singh,  Maharaja 

Partap  Singh  (Panja  Sahib),  III :  280 

Partap  Singh,  Prince,  1 :  34,  256  ;  II :  54,  275,  465, 
543  ;  III :  306-07,  366 

Partap  Singh  Randhava,  III :  303-04 

Partap  Singh  Sandhanvalia,  II :  127,  144 

Partap  Singh  (Shahkar),  III :  304  ;  IV:  65,  293 

Partapu,  Bhai,  III :  307 

Partition  of  the  Punjab,  II :  293  ;  III :  307-14,  347- 

48  ;  IV  :  314,  385  t 
Paryag,  II :  123,  133,  192,  309  ;  IV :  360  ;  also  see 

Prayag 
Paryai,  III :  314-15 

ParyaiAdi  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib JiDe,  II :  10,  78- 

79  ;  III :  315-16 
Pashaura  Singh,  Karivar,  I  :  211,  376,  408,  539  II : 

20, 132, 144, 212, 264, 275, 280, 371 , 382, 465  ; 

111:20,213,  316;IV:20 
Pasrur,  II :  276,  455,  497,  510  ;  III :  35,  130,  514  ; 

IV:  21,  454,  458 
Pa{ali  putra,  III :  325 
Patalpuri,  Gurdwara,  II :  127,  511 
Patang,  III :  335  ;  HI :  317 
Patanjali,  IV :  449-50 
Patara,  III :  126 
Pataudi,  II :  429  ;  III :  109 

Patel,  Sardar  Vallabhbhal,  III :  290,  494  ;  IV  :  446, 
456 

Path,  II :  109  ;  III :  317 

Pathankot,  1 :  27,  274  ;  II :  27,  225,  294  ;  III :  24, 


103,  123,  132,  381,  419,  470  ;  IV  :  453 
Path  ol  Peace,  II :  185 

Patiala,  1 :  28,  77,  151-52,  207,  213,  216,  233,  250, 
254.  278,  329,  351,  403,  440  ;  II  :  8,  16,  17,  44, 
45,  47,  55,  56,  82-86,  105,  118,  126-27,  132-. 
34, 148, 159, 196,  222,  251,  261,  283,  299,  303, 
322-23,  341 , 346,  352,  357,  360,  370,  373,  398- 
400, 422,  427, 435,  438-39,  442,  447,  454, 464, 
?69,  478,  502,  505,  508,  514,  529,  534,  554, 
560,  562,  567-68 ;  III :  2,  16,  20,  29-31,  35, 
41,  45,  46,  48,  51,  52,  84,  89,  96,  100,  105-07, 
119-20,  151-52,  204;  207,  211,  221-22,  233, 
237-38,  250-56,  276-78,  285,  300-01,  317- 
21 , 322,  326,  331 ,  337,  339,  341 , 349,  307,  370, 
395-96,  401,  436-38,  440-41,  449-50,  469, 
472,  476,  482,  501,  503-04  ;  IV  :  3,  10,  18,  19, 
39,  45,  51,  52,  66,  73,  87,  88,  112,  126,  138, 
166-69,  172-74,  176,  187,  200,  212,  214,  226, 
238,240,  25,  261,  300,  308,  315-16,  318,  331, 
335,  337,  353,  376,  407-08,  445-47,  456 

Patiala  Akhbar ;  TV  :  162 

Patiala  and  East  Punjab  States  Union  (PEPSU),  II : 
16,  47,  84,  226,  248,  316,  453,  544  ;  III :  31, 
48,  99,  104,  106-07,  151,  154,  278,  319-20, 
322-24,  348,  359-60,  367,  370,  374,  392,  476, 
494,  497,  505;  IV:  116,  168,  170,  173,  218, 
316,  340,  446,  456 

Patit,  III :  324-25 

Patna,  I  :  224,  272,  291,  346,  356-57,  410,  412,  461, 
484  ;  II :  14-15,  20,  39,  88, 110, 136,  278,  290, 
298-300,  302,  365,  369-70,  374,  450-51,  512, 
514, 553, 558  ;  III :  19, 121, 185, 187,  213,  238, 
325-28,  345,  462,  471,  47£;  IV :  31,  41,  178, 
283,  301,  331,  348 

Patrari,  III :  146 

Pattan  Farid,  IV  :  246  ;  see  Pak  Pattan 
Patthevind,  II  :  417  ;  IV  :  119 
Patti,  III :  268,  397,  328-29 
Paul  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  200 
Pattidari,  III :  329 
Patto,  III :  129 

Patto  HIra  Singh,  III :  329-30 

Pauiiari  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Kfaii,  III  :  330 

Paur  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II  :  207 

Pavadara,  III :  330 

Pavittarjivan  Kathavari,  II :  128 


537 


INDEX 


Payal,  III :  491 

Pearl  Harbour,  III :  114. 

Pearse,  Hugh,  II :  54;  IV :  231-32 

Pearse,  R.P.,  IV  :  440 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  1 :  178  ;  II :  5,  231 

Pehova,  1 :  254,  344  ;  II :  391,  442  ;  III :  102,  330- 

31  ;  IV:121 
Penang,  II :  115,  414-15  ;  III :  217  ;  IV :  381 
Per  Mall,  Bhai,  II :  510  ;  III :  514 
Pero  Mall,  III :  8 

Perron,  Pierre  Cuillier,  1 :  326  ;  II :  51,  360  ;  III : 

52,  106-07,  331  ;  IV :  83,  172 
Persia,  II :  295,  400-01,  429  ;  III :  6,  89,  256,  287, 

352,  406  ;  IV :  366,  425-26 
Persian  Mystics,  The,  II :  398 

Peshawar,  1 :  23,  25,  62,  63,  172,  188,  210-12,  222, 
229-30,  246-47,  257,  290-91,  354,  376,  381, 
407,  409,  425,  447,  481  ;  II :  1,  4,  7,  8,  21,  22, 
24,  41,  46,  52,  72,  73,  123,  184,  220,  252,  260, 
283,  291,  294,  305-06,  317,  319-20,  322,  324, 
345,  370-72,  378,  390,  397-99,  409,  411-12, 
439-40,  463,  479,  494-95,  498,  507,  520-21, 
550,  571-72,  576  ;  III :  6,  7,  14,  20,  36,  48, 
120,  212,  218,  231,  338,  343-45,  375,  382-83, 
465,  479,  483-85,  488,  492,  500 ;  IV :  30,  36, 
79, 98, 99, 101, 107-08, 126-27, 137, 183, 222, 
231,  257,  259,  266,  270,  279,  287,  337,  343, 
345,  366-67,  374,  384,  414,  422,  425-26,  433, 
448 

Pethick-Lawrence,  Lord,  III :  289  ;  IV  :  190,  446 
Phaggo,  Bhai,  III :  332 
Phagguvala,  III :  332 

Phagwara,  1 :  485,  219,  384,  508  ;  III :  99, 148,  271, 

332-33,  438  ;  IV  :  76,  174,  260 
Phalleval,  III  :  333 
Phaphre,  1 :  243 
Pharala,  III :  333-34 
Pharvahi,  III :  334 
Phatte  Nangal,  III :  334 
Phattevali,  IV  :  2 
Phatuhi,  Ghaudhari,  II :  116 

Pheru,  Bhai,  1 :  146,  334  ;  II :  261,  316  ;  III :  335, 

493  ;  IV  :  43,  378 
Pheru  Mall,  Baba,  II :  471  ;  III :  335 
Pherushahr,  II :  344,  346  ;  II :  262  ;  IV :  184,  435-36 
Philadelphia,  II :  256-57 


Phillaur,  1 :  32,  152-53,  373  ;  II :  43,  50,  97,  342, 

552  ;  III :  129,  330,  476  ;  IV :  210,  221,  445 
Philosophy  of  Gum  Nana*,  III :  421 
Philippines,  II :  63,  64 
Phiraia  Mall,  IV  :  162 
Phiranda,  Bhai,  1 :  348  ;  II :  44 
Phiria,  Bhai,  III :  335-36 

Phirna,  Bhai  (Bahil),  I  :  439  ;  II :  374 ;  III :  336  ; 
IV:  42 

Phirna,  Bhai  (Khahira),  II :  392  ;  III :  336 
Phirna,  Bhai  (Sud),ni:  336 
Phul,  III :  337  ;  IV  :  230 

Phula  Singh,  Akali,  1 :  39,  41,  58,  59,  175,  198;  II : 
8,  280,  438  ;  III :  158,  199,  218,  227,  337-38, 
367,  481  ;  IV:  113,  127,  305 

Phul,  Baba,  1 :  77  ;  II :  22  ;  III :  30,  105,  336-37  ; 
IV :  172,  355 

Phuleval,  III :  18 

Phulkari,  III :  19 

Phulkian  Misl,  II :  342,  355,  357,  429  ;  III :  30,  95, 
105-07,  255,  317,  336,  347  ;  IV :  166-67, 174, 
355  ;  also  see  Misls 

Phul  Shah  ,  III :  338 

Phul  (Udasi),  IV:  377 

Phulvari,  II :  46,  274-75,  346,  435-36  ;  IV :  165 

Phumman  Singh  (Ragi),  III :  339 

Phumman  Singh  (Vandar),  III ;  338-39 

PJiunhe,  III :  339-40  ;  IV  :  240 

Piara,  Bhai,  III :  340 

Piara,  Bhai  (Randhava),  III :  340 

Piara  Singh  Padam,  IV :  408,  418 

Piara  Singh,  Sant,  1 :  469  ;  III :  489 

Piar  Kaur,  Mai,  III :  240 

Piar  Singh,  1 :  9 

Pilibhit,  HI :  185-86  ;  IV :  199 

Pilu,  II :  387 

Pind  Dadan  Khan,  II :  23,  188,  324,  424  ;  III :  142, 

484;  IV:  108,  137 
Pindi  Bhattiah,  II  :  325,  396,  438  ;  III :  13,  111,  157 
Pindi  Das  Sabharval,  III :  117 
Pindi  Gheb,  II :  23,  408  ;  III :  144  ;  IV :  86,  108 
Pindi,  Lala,  II :  188 
Pindivala  Dera,  II :  560 
Pindori  Kalah,  III :  34 
Pindori  Khurd,  III :  34 
Pingal  Sar,  III :  86 


INDEX 


538 


Pihgalvara,  III :  340-41 

Pihjaur,  II :  52,  342  ;  HI :  106,  155,  349  ;  IV :  240 
Pipa,  Bhagat,  1 :  312,  336  ;  III :  342 
Pipri,  II :  212 

Piraga,  Bhai,  II :  326  ;  III :  342 
Piraga,  Bhai  (Chhibbar),  III  342-43 
Pirana,  Bhai,  II :  374  ;  III :  343 
Pir  Bakhsh,  IV :  180 
PIr  Jain,  IV :  458 
Pirkot,  III :  449 

Pir  Muhammad  Khan,  III :  343  ;  IV :  427 
Pir  Muhammad  Khan  Chattha,  1 : 345  ;  III :  13,  262  ; 
IV :  101 

Pir  Muhammad,  Sayyid,  II :  560 

Piro  Shah,  II :  568 

PIr  Sibaq,  III :  338 

Pirthi  Mall,  III :  343 

Plato,  II :  75 

Pohlo  Mall,  III :  343-44 

Pollock,  Sir  George,  II :  4  ;  III :  344,  456 

Pollock,  David,  III :  344 

Pondicherry,  1 :  200  ;  II :  127-28,  144,  365,  521  ; 

III :  204,  207,  305,  344 ;  IV :  226,  348 
Poona  Pact,  W  :  388 

Poona  Residency  Correspondence,  III :  344—45 

Poonch  -see  Punchh 

Pope,  Brigadier,  IV :  344 

Population,  III :  345-48 

Portland,  II :  60-62,  259,  467 

Pothi,  WI :  348 

Pothian  Baba  Mohanvalian,  II :  99  ;  III :  348-50 

Pothi  Abhaipad,  II :  196 

Pothi  Asavari^p,  1 :  243  ;  III :  350 

Pothi  Baba  Mohan,  II :  106 

Pothi  Chaturbhuj,  II :  105-06,  238  ;  III :  85,  297, 
350-51 

Pothi  Gulab  Chaman  Di,  II :  118 

Pothi  Hariji,  1 :  450  ;  II :  106,  238  ;  III :  85,  297, 

350-51 
Pothi  Kesho  Rai,  II :  106 
Pothi  Parampad,  II :  106 

Pothi  Sach  Khand,  II :  105-06,  238,  529  ;  III :  85, 

86,  297,  350-51 
Pothohar,  1 :  32  ;  II :  116,  438,  498  ;  III :  221,  351- 

52,  481,  506  ;  IV :  19,  44,  66,  283,  339 
Potter,  General,  II :  7 


Pottinger,  Efdred  Curwan,  III :  352 

Pottinger,  Henry,  1 :  310  ;  III :  352-53 

Prabodh  Chandra  Natak,  II :  124 

Pracharak  Vidyala,  II :  178 

Prachin  Biran  Bare  Bhullah  di  Sodhan,  II :  395 

Prachin  Jangname,  TV :  408,  428 

Prachin  Panth  Prakash,  1 :  79,  401,  414,  494,  509  ; 

II :  131,  154,  265,  362,  379,  474  ;  III :  40,  53, 

56,  57,  65,  283,  288,  353-54,  435,  444,  463 ; 

IV :  180,  247,  249,  254,  311,  325-26,  396,  431, 

458 

Prachin  Varan,  TV :  408 

Prachin  Varan  te  Jangname,  II :  344-46  ;  TV :  414, 

419,  428 
Prachi,  River,  II :  321 
Pradesi  Khalsa,  1 :  40 
Pradhan,  Bibi,  1 :  77 
Praduman  Singh,  Sant,  II :  425 
Prahilad        II :  354 
Prahilad  Singh,  III :  281,  428  ;  ,1V :  245 
Prahlad,  II :  238  ;  III :  297 
Prahlad,  Bhagat,  II :  456 

Prahlad  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  365  ;  III :  298  ;  also  see 

Prahilad  Singh 
Praja  Mandal,  1 :  328  ;  IV :  39,  87,  88 
Prakash  Khalsa,  II :  456 

Prln  Sangali,  1 :  182  ;  II :  224,  339,  401  ;  III :  268- 

69,  354-57,  369;  IV:  119 
Prarthanatita  Dan,  III :  357 
Prasad!  Hathi,  III :  357 
Pratab,  S.,  IV  :  96,  178,  437 
Pratap  Khalsa,  II :  456 

Pratap  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  437  ;  III :  357-58  ;  IV :  28 

Pratap  Singh  (calligraphist) ,  II :  82 

Pratap  Singh,  Giani,  III :  358-59 

Pratap  Singh,  Maharaja,  II :  327  ;  III :  106, 151-52, 

359-60,  503  ;  IV :  172-73 
Pratap  Singh  Namdhari,  Baba,  IV :  65 
Pravritti  Marg  :  Nivritti  Marg,  III :  360-64 
Prayag,  III :  237,  345,  447,  493 
Prema,  III :  120,  365 
Prem  Ambodh  Pothi,  III :  364-65 
Prema  (Murari),  III :  66 
Prema  Plot,  II :  383,  571 ;  III :  15, 120,  365 
Prem  Ban,  II :  189 
Prem  Bam,  III :  232 


539 


INDEX 


Prem  Kaur  (Akalgarh),  III :  357 
Prem  Kaur  (Dharovali),  II :  309 
Prem  Kaur  (Faruka),  II :  277 
Prem  Kaur  (Patlala),  II :  439 
Prem  Kaur,  Rani,  III :  306,  365-66 
Prem  Pad  Pothi,  III :  85 
Prem  Sagar,  II :  213 
Prem  Sati,  Gurdwara,  Kamalia,  W :  334 
Prem  Singh,  III :  366 
Prem  Singh  Greval,  Major,  III :  503 
Prem  Singh  Hoti,  Baba,  II :  544  ;  III :  320,  366-67  ; 
IV:  126 

Prem  Singh  (Kikkar  Singh),  II :  508 

Prem  Singh  Lalpura,  1 :  133  ;  rv :  316 

Prem  Singh  (Randhava),  II :  322,  372 

Prem  Singh  Sant  Ren,  II :  195 

Prem  Sumarag,  1 :  121, 182  ;  II :  179,  474,  535  ;  III : 

367-68,  369,  424 
Presbyterian  Mission,  IV  :  206 
Price,  James,  III :  368 
Prikhia  Prakaran,  II :  110  ;  III :  366-69 
Priksit,  II :  79,  330 

Prince  of  Wales,  III :  36,  124  ;  IV  :  346 
Prinsep,  1 :  27,  230  ;  II :  279-81,  318,  576  ;  III :  259, 
329,  436 

Pritam  Das  Nirban  ,  Mahant,  1 :  64,  414  ;  II :  118, 
190,  241  ;  III :  189,  240,  369  ;  IV  :  51 

Pritam  Ganit,  II :  268 

Pritam  Kaur  (Rode),  II :  352 

Pritam  Singh,  Giani,  1 :  225  ;  III  :  114 

Pritam  Singh  Gojran,  III :  290,  369-70,  505  ;  IV : 
39 

Pritam  Singh,  Professor,  II :  85 

Pritam  Singh  Punjabi,  II :  182 

Pritam  Singh  Sandhahvalia,  II :  144 

Pritam  Singh  SodhI,  II :  447 

Pritha,  Bhai,  II :  499  ;  III :  371;  IV :  42 

Prithi  Chand,  Baba,  1 :  188,  346,  450,  488  ;  II :  104, 
135,  138,  445,  461,  529,  536 ;  III :  84,  85,  88, 
121,  209,  266,  350,  371,  449,  451-52  ;  IV  : 
91,  225,  268,  356,  377 

Prithi  Chand  Dadhval,  III :  371-72 

Prithi  Mall,  III :  372 

Prithi  Mall,  Bhai,  III :  372 

Prithi  Mall  Sahigal,  IV  :  42 

Prithlpal  Singh,  Karivar,  II :  490 


Prithvi  Raj  Chauhan,  II :  12  ;  IV :  213,  375 
Prayai  Adi  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib Ji  De,  III :  315 
Prayai  Farsi  Padori  Ke,  III :  314 
Prayai  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  III :  314 
Problem  of  the  Sikhs,  The,  II :  294 
Proclamation  (1849),  III:  372-73 
Puat,  III :  373 

Public  Record  Office,  London,  II :  229,  382 
Public  Service  Commission  Punjab  and  N.W.F.P., 
III:  117 

Public  Service  Commission,  PEPSU,  III :  117 

Puhla,  III :  57,  231  ;  IV :  325 

Punchh,  II :  27,  69,  116,  234,  374,  378  ;  III :  79 

Pundarfk,  II :  431 

Pune,  7,  115,  260 

Punjab,  II:  14,  15,  21,  26-27,  38-40,  47,  61,  163- 
64,  166,  189,  227-28,  234,  259,  261,  273,  284, 
298,  300,  314,  336,  338,  353,  358,  365,  381, 
391,  401,  406,  408,  429,  435,  440,  446,  451- 
52,  457,  476,  478-79,  483,  487,  494,  502,  516, 
520-21,  523-24, 527,  534,  542,  545,  550,  554, 
570,  573  ;  III :  1,  29-31,  50,  60,  79, 93,  94,  96, 
102,  104,  108,  110-11,  128-29,  149,  185-87, 
227,  276,  307-14;  344-48,  352,  373-78,  379- 
83,  391-404,  471,  487,  494-98,  508;  IV :  314, 
348,  359,  363,  381,  385,  406,  441 

Punjab  Agricultural  University,  II :  514  ;  III :  30, 
378 

Punjab,  A  Hundred  Years  Ago,  II :  315,  379 

Punjab  and  Sind  Bank,  IV  :  282,  430 

Punjab  Board  of  Administration,  1 :  448  ;  II :  570-71 

Punjab  Boundary  Commission,  III :  379-81  ;  418 

Punjab  Chief  Court,  III :  48 

Punjab  Chiefs,  The,  III :  384 

Punjabee,  1 :  30 

Punjab  Gazette,  W  :  165 

Punjab  Historical  Studies  Department,  II :  509 

Punjab  History  Conference,  II :  249  ;  IV :  218 

Punjab  in  1839-40,  The,  III :  382-83 

Punjabi,  II :  84,  181,  183,  214,  216,  224,  238,  266, 
291,  330,  337,  343-44,  346,  349-50,  366-67, 
372-73,  398, 400, 407, 415,  425, 448, 455,  458, 
469,  474-75,  483,  487,  503,  505,  514,  519, 535, 
539-40,  563  ;  III :  1,  2,  11,  18,  35,  71,  73,  84, 
118-19,  144,  148,  175,  189,  203,  236-37,  247, 
271,  274,  301,  304,  320,  353,  364>  384-91, 


INDEX 


540 


394^-95,  399,  424,  450,  473,  486,  494-95, 510  ; 
IV:  77,  78,  162-66,  170,  203,  207-08,  211- 
12,  224,  229,  250,  252,  255,  262, 265, 275, 291, 
348,  392,  406,  413,  416,  421,  426,  430-31 

Punjabi  Dictionary,  The,  III :  73 

Punjabi  Regional  Committee,  III :  395 

Punjabi  Sahit  Akademi,  II :  395  ;  III :  395,  IV :  22, 95 

Punjabi  Sahit  da  Itihas,  11 :  275 

Punjabi  Suba  Movement,  1 :  6  ;  II :  25-26,  84,  254, 
275,  293,  453-54,  539;  III:  117,  370,  391- 
404,  496,  498  ;  IV :  39,  166,  314,  316,  383 

Punjabi  University,  Patiala,  II :  128,  134,  148,  212, 
222, 238-39, 254, 290, 294, 340, 395, 470, 486, 
503, 514  ;  III :  30, 119, 223,  320, 349, 378, 395- 
96  ;  IV :  73,  126,  170,  218,  286,  302,  309,  327, 
375,  435,  447,  452,  454 

Punjabi  Zone,  III :  495 

Punjab  Kisan  Sabha,  II :  366 

Punjab  Legislature  Assembly,  II :  310,  430,  453-54, 

487,  539;  III:  116,  118,  127,  306;  IV:  193, 

229,  282,  318,  342,  379,  385 
Punjab  Provincial/Pradesh  Congress  Committee, 

II :  275,  361,  494  ;  III :  306,  323  ;  IV :  66,  229, 

340 

Punjab  Reorganisation  Bill,  II :  26 

Punjab  Riyasti  Praja  Mandal,  1 :  329  ;  TV  :  342 

Punjab  State  Archives,  II :  134,  148,  478,  502  ;  III : 

16,  450  ;  IV :  112,  170,  255,  320,  375,  453 
Punjab  Subordinate  Services  Selection  Board,  III : 

116 

Punjab  Text  Book  Committee,  II :  373 

Punjab  Vidhan  Sabha,  II  :430 

Punjaub,  The,  III :  383-84 

Punn,  III :  404-08 

Puranas,  III :  486 

PuranmashI,  III :  408-09 

Puran  Singh,  Bhagat,  III :  340-41 

Puran  Singh  (Padhar),  II :  456 

Puran  Singh,  Professor,  III :  409-11,  448 

Puratan  Janam  Sakhi,  1 : 117,  II :  149, 212,  236, 262, 

264,  297,  313,  348,  389-90,  401,  423,  450-51  ; 

III :  17,  49,  53,  54,  69,  83,  92,  94,  166,  244, 

349  411-13,  512  ;  IV  :  24,  28,  119,  180,  240, 

368..  400,  431 
Puratan  Panjabi  Vartak,  IV :  262 
Pur  Hiran,  II :  102  ;  III :  413 


Puri,  III :  165,  345 

Puria,  Chaudhari,  III :  413 

Purnea,  III :  26 

Puro,  Bhal,  III :  413-14 

Puro,  Bhai  (Dalla),  II :  492  ;  III :  413 

Puriisa  Sukta,  TV :  390 

Purushotam  Dev,  Raja,  II :  321 

Purushotam  Kaul,  Pandit,  IV :  234 

Purva  Mimansa,  II :  479  ;  III :  153 

Purvi  That,  II :  176 

Pushkar,  III :  414,  444 

Pushpa  Devi,  Rani,  IV :  331 

Puskalavati,  III :  375 

Pythagoras/II :  161 

Qadam  ud-Din,  1 :  273 
QadarYar,  IV:  126,  180 

Qadian,  I  -.  21  ;  II :  72,  73,  359,  539  ;  III :  108,  439  ; 

IV :  206,  315 
Qadirabad,  1 :  327 
Qadivind,  1 :  253 
Qalandar  Faruqi,  Qazi,  III :  82 
Qalandar  Sufis,  1 :  233 

Qamar  ud-DIn,  II :  303  ;  III :  129  ;  IV :  327,  454 
Qandahar  1 :  23,  25,  220,  290  ;  II :  4,  28,  40,  325  ; 

IV  :  300,  374,  454 
Qanun-i-Maus/iJ,  III :  422 
Qarsum  Bibi,  II :  11 
Qasim  Bhatti,  IV :  351 
Qatalgarh,  Gurdwara,  II :  402 
Qaumi  Ekta,  III :  439-40 
Qawwali  -  Na'at,  II :  159,  516 
Qaziari,  II :  439 
Qila  Atar  Singh,  II :  188 
Qila  Bhaiigian,  II :  250  ;  III :  100 
Qila  Desa  Singh,  III :  429 
Qila  Divan  Singh, TV:  221-22 
Qila  Gujjar  Singh,  1 :  397  ;  II :  116  ;  III :  415 
Qila  Raipur  —  see  Kila  Raipur 
Qila  Mubarak,  Patiala,  III :  46,  318 
Qila  Sobha  Singh,  II :  438 
Qissa  Hir  Rahjha,  II :  343 
Qudarat,  III :  415-17 
Queen's  College,  Calcutta,  III :  472 
Queta,  II :  341,  537  ;  IV :  8,  445 
Quit  India  Movement,  II :  188,  274,  310,  537  ;  III : 


541 


INDEX 


127,  386  ;  IV  :  69,  189,  383,  385 
Quran,  II :  217,  405,  468-69 
Qutb  Khan,  II :  558 
Qutb  Minar,  II :  14 

Qutb  ud-DIn  Bakhtiyar  KakI,  Khwaja,  1 :  275  ;  II : 

12,  14;  IV:  329 
Qutb  ud-DIn  (Kasur),  II:  23,  119,  395  ;  III :  221, 

238,  417,  482 
Qutb  ud-Din  (Talvandl),  III :  417 

Rabab,  II :  162-63 
Rababls,  II :  244-47,  517 
Rabbi Jor  Mela  :  III :  119 
Rabbon,  III :  15 

Rabindranath  Tagore,  II :  203,  334  ;  III :  357  ;  IV : 
142,  146 

Rachna  Doab,  II :  107  ;  III :  23,  35,  99,  374 
Radaur,'  III :  104 

Radcliffe  Award,  III :  381,  418-20 

Radcliffe  Commission,  IV :  446 

Radcliffe,  Sir  Cyril,  III :  312,  380,  418-20 

Radd-i-Batlan,  II :  373 

Radha,  II :  321,  516 

Radha  Devi,  II :  321 

Radha  Kishan,  Pandit,  III :  420-21 

Radhakrishnan,  Dr.  S.,  HI :  71 

Rafi  ud-Darjat,  II  :  301 

Rafi  ud-Daulah,  II :  301,  505 

RagSag-ar,  II  •:  176 

RagDJpiJca,  III:  422 

Raghavananda,  III :  447 

Raghbir  Singh,  BIr,  II :  180 

Raghbir  Singh,  Colonel,  III :  290,  323 

Raghbir  Singh  Dugal,  III  :  421 

Raghbir  Singh  (Nabha),  1 :  480 

Raghbir  Singh,  Raja,  II :  140  ;  III :  107,  183,  421, 

476;  IV:  21,  322 
Raghbir  Singh  Sandhanvalia,  II :  479  ;  IV :  202 
Raghubir  Dayal,  II :  259 
Raghunath,  Pandit,  III :  236 
Raghunath  Rao,  III  :  50 
Raghupat  Rai  Nijjhar,  III :  139,  421-22 
Raghu  (Phulka),  III:  337 
Raghu  (Varanasi),  III :  493 
Ragls,  II :  244-48 

Ragmala,  1 :  203,  293,  350  ;  II :  158,  167,  170-77, 


415,  452  ;  III :  422-23  ;  IV  :  240,  336 
— Mandan  Committee,  1 :  100 
Rahal  Chahal,  II :  390 
Rahlm  Khan,  III :  204 
Rahlra,  III :  423-24 
Rahit  Darpan,  1 :  366  ;  III :  424 
Rahit  Maryada,  III.:  424-26 

Rahit  Maryada  :  A  Guide  to  the  Sikh  Way  of  Life, 
III :  427 

Rahitname,  II :  100,  152,  179,  379,  466,  479  ;  III : 

264,  281,  424,  426-31 
Rahitnama  Bhai  Chaupa  Singh,  I  :  428  ;  see 

Rahitnama  Hazuri 
Rahitnama  BhajDaya  Singh,  1 :  126,  428  ;  III :  429  ; 

IV :  304 

Rahitnama  Bhai  Desa  Singh,  III:  430-31 
Rahitnama  Bhai  Nand  Lai,  II :  535  ;  III :  196,  42  ; 
IV:  245 

Rahitnama  Bhai  Prahlad  Singh,  1 :  217  ;  II :  428, 

535  ;  IV :  245 
Rahitnima  Hazuri,  III :  281,  429-30  ;  IV :  304 
Rahon,  1 :  274  ;  III :  101 

Rahrasi,  II :  217  ;  III :  241-42,  281,  317,  427,  431- 

32  ;  IV  :  224 
Rai  Bareilly,  1 :  290,  489  ;  II :  302 
Rai  Bular,  II :  166,  199,  200,  432-33  ;  IV :  119 
Rai  Chand  Multani,  III :  264 
Raidasls,  IV :  77 
Raijodh,  II :  363 
Rai  ka  Burj,  III :  197  ;  IV ;  340 
Rai  Kalha,  1 :  76,  77 
Raikes,  Charles,  II :  298  ;  IV :  112 
Raikot,  II :  23,  67,  90,  268,  363,  392,  416,  505,  534, 

562, 566, 568, 572  ;  III :  11, 110, 129,  301, 443, 

466,  511  ;  IV:  4,  19,  200 
Rail!,  Ill :  433-43 
Railoh,  III :  434 
Rai  Pithoura,  II :  12  ;  TV  :  375 
Raipur,  II :  23,  406  ;  III :  434 
Raipur  Rani,  II :  500  ;  III :  33,  434 
Raipur  SarvanI,  II  357  ;  III :  92 
Raislna,  II :  269,  557  ;  III :  156,  444,  471";  IV  :  223 
Rai  Singh  BhangI,  1 :  249,  468  ;  III :  65,  96,  103, 

435  ;  IV :  324 
Rai  Singh  Buria,  1 :  249 
Rai  Singh,  (Jagadhri),  It :  418 


INDEX 


542 


Rai  Singh  Karorsihghia,  III :  104,  435 

Rai  Singh  (Mukta),  III :  434 

Rai  Singh  (Nishanahvali) ,  III :  105 

Rajab,  III :  447 

Rajab  'All  (Batala),  IV  :  374 

Raja  Ghuman  II :  552 

Rajagopalchari,  m  :  308  ;  IV  :  189,  317,  383 

Rajahmundry,  HI :  477 

Raja  Lakhdata  Singh,  IV  :  431 

Rajani,  BIbi,  III :  435-36 

Raja  Ram,  III :  436  ;  IV  :  195 

Raja  Sansi,  II ;  365,  479  ;  III :  220,  343,  440  ;  IV : 

113,  349 
Raja  Singh,  Chaudhari,  II :  521 
Raja  Singh  Man,  II :  244 
Rajas  of  the  Punjab,  III :  384,  436-38  ;  IV :  71 
Rajasthan,  II:  12,  25,  81,  91,  138,  159,  227,  241, 

261,  293,  330,  500,  526  ;  III :  47,  63,  65,  88, 

186-87, 189,  244,  249, 342,  348, 493  ;  IV  :  346, 

351,  406 
Rajatarangini,  IV :  179 

Rajauri,  1 :  68,  230,  273  ;  II :  22,  23,  494 ;  III :  129, 
484 

Raj  Bahso,  III :  438 

Rajblr  Singh,  Maharaja,  III :  476 

Raj  Devi  (Bhakna),  III :  460 

Raj  Devi,  Rani,  III :  438 

Rajendra  Prasad,  Dr.,  II :  334 

Rajeval,  III :  341 

Rajgarh,  III :  438 

Rajgarh  Kubbe,  IV  :  298 

Rajguru,  I:  317;  III:  211 

Raji,  Mai,  1 :  307 

Rajindar  Kaur,  Bibi,  III :  438-39 

Rajindar  Kaur,  Dr.,  Ill :  439 

Rajinder  Singh,  Baba,  II :  83 

Rajinder  Singh  (Chakk  5),  II :  260 

Rajinder  Singh  Maharaja,  1 :  363  ;  III :  2,  106,  318 

320-21,  441,  449  ;  IV:  168,  170,  316 
Rajinder  Singh  (Quami  Ekta),  III  :  439-41 
Rajinder  Singh  Sparrow,  III :  403 
Rajiv  Gandhi,  II :  49,  II :  227  ;  III ;  440  ;  IV :  457 
Rajiv-  Longoval  Accord,  1 :  49 
Rajjab,  IV  :55 
Rajji,  III :  337 

Raj  Karega  Khalsa,  III :  441-42 


Raj  Karni  Devi,  II :  562 
Raj  Kaur  (Bhahgi),  II :  116 
Raj  Kaur  (Lahgeri),  II :  368 

Raj  Kaur,  Maharani,  II :  19,  107,  437,  442-43,  480 
Raj  Kaur,  Mata,  III :  38,  39 

Raj  Kaur  (Nakain),  III :  105,  443,  489  ;  IV  :  3,  431 

Raj  Kaur,  Rani,  Rana  Swat  Singh,  III :  479-75 

Raj  Kaur  (Riar),  II:  389 

Raj  KJialsa,  II :  183 

Raj  Mahal,  III :  345,  443  ;  IV :  331 

Rajnikanta  Gupta,  IV  :  130 

Rajm'tJ  Bava  Ram  Das  Ji  DJ,  III :  450 

Rajnhi  Granth,  II :  212  ;  IV :  308 

Rajoana,  II :  513  ;  III :  443 

Rajo  Majra,  III :  142,  444 

Rajpura,  II :  255,  260,  264  ;  III :  30,  398,  441  ;  IV: 

331,  383 
Raj  Purl,  Baba,  IV  :  360-61 
Rajputana,  II :  548  ;  III :  444 
Rajput  Qaumi  Prakash,  IV  :  165 
Rajput-Sikh  Relations,  III :  444-45 
Raj  Singh,  Raja,  II :  295  ;  III :  372 
Rakabsar,  Gurdwara,  III :  137 
Rakha  Ram,  II :  62 

Rakhl  System,  II :  154,  355-56  ;  III :  51,  98,  445, 

512 

Rakkh  Sukkarchakk,  III :  279 

Rala  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  302 

Ralia  Ram,  II :  227  ;  II :  445-46 

Ralla,  III :  446 

Rama,  Baba,  III :  446 

Rama,  Bhai  (Patiala),  II  :  144  ;  III  :  210 

Rama,  Bhai  (Jhahjhi),  III :  446  ;  IV  :  379 

Rama,  Bhai  (Shahdara),  II :  270  ;  III :  446 

Rama  Chahal,  II :  417,  520  ;  IV :  366 

Ramaciiaritamanasa,  II :  31 

Rama  Devi,  II :  321 

Rama  Didi,  III :  372,  446 

Ramakrishna  Paramhahs,  IV  :  360-61 

Rama  (Lord),  II :  125,  374,  404-06,  544  ;  III :  447  ; 

IV  :  225,  250,  266,  427 
Raman,  IV  :  39 

Ramanand,  Bhagat,  1 :  256,  293,  312,  336  ;  II :  238, 
404  ;  III :  87,  170,  180,  342,  447,  493  ;  IV :  25 
Ramanand  Sahu,  II :  8 
Ramanuja,  1 :  215  ;  III :  71,  153  ;  IV :  315 


543 


INDEX 


Ramarchana  Paddhatl,  III  :  447 
Ramaswamy  lyre,  CP.,  Ill  :  251 
Rama  Tirtha,  Svami,  III :  447-49 
Ramavtar,  I  :  243,  451 

Ramayana,  II  :  455,  459  ;  III  :  486  ;  IV  :  179 
Ram  Bagh,  Amritsar,  II  :  478  ;  III  486 
Ram  Bakhsh,  1 :  277 

Ram  Basant  Singh,  Pandit,  1 :  338  ;  III :  472 

Ram  Binod,  1 :  438  ;  IV  :  237 

Ram  Chand,  Diwan,  II ;  165,  449 

Ram  Chander,  III :  211 

Ram  Chand  Manak  Tahla,  II :  136 

Ram  Chandra,  Prof.,  Ill :  449 

Ram  Das,  Bava,  III :  448-50 

Ram  Das,  Bhai,  III :  450 

Ram  Das  Bhandari,  I  :  262  ;  IV  :  26 

Ram  Das  Bairagi,  1 :  273 

Ram  Das  (Diwana),  Baba,  1 :  278 

Ram  Das  Dogra,  II :  411 

Ram  Das,  Guru,  1 :  7,  17,  37,  39,  55,  56,  88,  89,  108, 
112,  114-16, 118,  121, 127,  188,  203,  244,  268, 
276,  293,  319,  349,  352,  367-68,  373,  377,  385, 
400,  413,  466  ;  II :  58,  70,  71,  92,  94,  98,  99, 
135,  138,  168-77,  195-96, 199,  201,  228,  238- 
39,  246,  265-66,  272,  321,  325-26,  347,  ,73, 
441,  445-46,  464,  500,  502,  536, 545,  569  ;  III : . 
4,  11,  17,  32,  33,  61,  68,  72,  84,  88,  160,  179, 
213,  241,  261,  281,  298,  350,  371,  387,  4.1* 
43&  -36,  442,  450-54,  459,  463  ;  IV  :  14,  27, 
34,  60,  70,  89,  91,  129,  196,  215,  225,  230, 
233,  238,  240,  24*3,  252,  268,  274,  30S,  323, 
350,  356,  377,  393-94,  399,  403,  407,  414 

Ramdasia  Sikhs,  II  :  475  ;  III :  454-65 

Rarndaspur,  II  :  239  ;  III  :  340,  451 

Ramdaspura,  II  :  194 

Ram  Das,  Sant  (of  Maharashtra),  I  :  544  ;  see 

Samarth  Ramdas 
Ram  Dayal,  Baba  (Udasi),  I  :  119-20  ;  II :  257 
Ramdas  (village),  II  :  376,  III :  284,  300 
Ramdat  Singh,  III  :  218,  455 
Ram  Datt,  III  :  455 
Rama  Dei,  II  :  257 
Ram  Dev,  Rani,  III  :  455 
Ram  Dev  (Mihan),  III  :  83 
Ram  Dev  (Udasi),  IV:  378 
Ram  Dial  Anand,  II  :  345 


Ram  Dial,  Diwan,  III :  128,  157,  456 
Ram  Dial,  Pandit,  II  :  228 
Ram  Dial,  Rai,  II :  576,  III :  456 
Rameana,  III  :  456-57 

Ramgarh,  Fortress  of,  I  :  57  ;  See  Ram  Rauni 
Ramgarh  (Jamimu),  II  :  275 
Ramgarh  (Jhuggiaii),  II  :  434 
Ramgarh  (Punjab),  III :  10 
Ramgarh  (Ranch!) ,  [I:  514 

Ramgarh  (Rauni),  III  :  358  ;  III  :  107,  463  ;  see  Ram 
Rauni 

Ramgarhia  Brigade,  II :  184 
Ramgarhia  Butiga,  II  :  396  ;  III  :  108 
Ramgarhia  College,  Phagwara,  rV:  309 
Ramgarhia  Misl,  II  :  250,  281,  356,  358-59  ;  III  :  95, 

96,  98,  100,  107-08,  463  ;  IV  :  311  ;  also  see 

Misls 

Ramgarhia    atiika,  IV:  163 

Ramjl  Das  Sayyah,  III :  204 

Ramkali  ki  Var,  II :  307  ;  III :  457-59  ;  IV  :  78 

Rimkali  Sadu,  III :  459  ;  IV  :  274 

Ram  Kuhvar,  Bhai,  III :  284,  460  ;  IV  :  80 

Ram  Kaur,  Bibi,  II :  514 

Ram  Kaur  (Mehraj),  III  :  337 

Ram  Kishan,  Bhai,  II  :  351 

Ram  Kishan  Singh,  II :  44 

Rammohun  Roy,  Raja,  1 :  391-95  ;  II :  468 

Ram  Muhammad  Singh  Azad,  IV :  381 

Ramnagar,  I  :  172, 173  ;  II  :  107,  294,  377,  411, 562  ; 
III :  13,  15,  72,  216,  262,  455,  467,  469-70, 
480,  484,  492  ;  IV :  100,  107,  185,  269,  287, 
320,  344-45,  357,  441 

Ram  Narayan  Bedi,  II :  192 

Ram  Narayan  Singh  Sodhi,  II  :  479 

Ram  Nath  Puri,  II  :  61 

Ram  Nath  Seth,  III :  398 

Ramo  —see  Sabharai,  Mata 

Ramon,  Mai,  1 :  505  ;  IV :  26,  27,  68 

Ram  Prasad  Bismal,  IV  :  382 

Rampura  Kalan,  III  :  460-61 

Rampura  Phul,  I  :  335,  362  ;  II  :  85 

Rampur  (Punjab),  I  :  214  ;  III  :  460 

Rampur  (Ranchi)  —  see  Ramgarh (Ranchi) 

Rampur  (state),  II  :  159 

Rampur  Talvara,  IV  :  304 

Rim  Rai,  Baba,  I  :  220-21,  269  ;  II  :  74,  139.  255. 


INDEX 


544 


262,  325  ;  III :  3§,  266,  275,  461-62  ;  IV :  143, 
197 

Ram  Rai,  Bhai,  III  :  462 

Ram  Rai,  Raja,  III  :  357 

Ramrayias,  II  :  279  ;  III :  429,  461,  462 

Ram  Rauni,  1 :  9,  402,  461  ;  154,  358  ;  HI :  107,  130, 

463  ;  IV  :  300 
Ramsar,  I  :  189  ;  II :  192,  322  ;  III  :  109  ;  IV :  242, 

263 

Ram  Saran,  Bhai,  IV  :  277 

Ramsay,  John,  III  :  463 

Ram  Singh  (artisan),  III :  463-64  ;  IV :  310 

Ram  Singh,  Baba,  1 :  265,  40M7  ;  III  :  465-67 

Ram  Singh  Bal,  III :  464 

Ram  Singh  Bedi,  Baba,  HI  :  467-68 

Ram  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  273 

Ram  Singh  (Bhera),  II  :  294 

Ram  Singh,  Captain,  III  :  469  ;  I  ;  115 

Ram  Singh  Chapevala,  III :  469-70 

Ram  Singh  (courtier),  II  :  72,  87,  132  ;  HI  :  382, 

468-69 
Ram  Singh  (Dakha),  II :  451 
Ram  Singh  (diarist),  II :  211 
Ram  Singh  (Ghungrela),  II  :  394 
Ram  Singh,  Giani,  II  :  77,  82 
Ram  Singh  (Hasanvala),  HI  :  465 
Ram  Singh,  Kaiivar,  1 :  486  ;  II  :  326  ;  III :  69 
Ram  Singh  Kuberia,  Pandit,  III  :  238 
Ram  Singh  (Maharaj  Singh's  companion),  HI  :  439 
Ram  Siiigh  Nirmala,  1 :  212  ;  III :  236 
Ram  Singh  (Nirmohgarh) ,  III:  239 
Ram  Singh  (Nizampur),  III:  469 
Ram  Singh  (Nurpuria),  III:  470^-71 
Ram  Singh  (Phulka),  III  :  105-06,  152,  337,  464  ; 

IV  :  168-69,  355 
Ram  Siiigh,  Raja,  HI  :  444,  471-72  ;  IV  :  331 
Ram  Siiigh,  Raja  (Jasvaii),  II  :  103 
Ram  Siiigh  Randhava,  III  :  464 
Ram  Siiigh  (Ranghar  Nahgal),  II  :  439 
Ram  Siiigh;  Sant,  III  :  258 
Ram  Siiigh,  Sardar  Bahadur,  III  :  472 
Ram  Siiigh  (s/o  Bhagatu),  III :  468 
Ram  Siiigh,  (s/o  Jamadar  Khushal  Singh),  III  :  465 
Ram  Siiigh  (Wazirabad),  III  :  130 
Rain  Siiigh  (Zahura),  III :  465 
Ram  Sukli  Rao,  IV  :  235,  255 


Ram  Thamman,  1 :  273 

Ram  Tirath,  Svami,  HI :  409-10,  472-73 

Rami,  Bhai  (Dalla),  III :  473 

Ramu,  Bhai  (Kohli),  HI  :  473 

Ramu,  Bhai  (Mehta),  III :  473 

Ramzan  Khan,  HI :  321 

Rana  Kailas,  IV  :  430-31 

Rani  Surat  Singh,  I II :  473-76  ;  IV :  430-31 

Ranbir  College,  Sangrur,  IV :  218 

Ranbir  Siiigh  (Jodh  Singh),  II :  394 

Ranbir  Singh,  Maharaja  (Jind),  III  :  2,  107,  421,  476 

Ranbir  Singh,  Maharaja  (Kashmir),  II :  273,  534  ; 

IV:  232 
Randhava,  M.S.,  IV  :  223 
Randhir  College,  Kapurthala,  IV  :  292 
Randhir  Siiigh,  Bhai,  1 :  59,  332  ;  III :  280,  476-77 
Randhir  Siiigh,  Bhai  (Researcher),  II :  191-92  ;  HI  : 

367  ;  IV  :  74 

Randhir  Singh,  Raja,  II  :  495  ;  III :  477-78  ;  IV  :  173 

Rane  Khan,  III :  51,  437 

Raiig  Bararige  Phul,  III  :  119 

Rang  Das,  Bhai,  III :  478 

Ranghar  Narigal,  I ;  194  ;  II :  439 

Raiigi,  Ram  Singh,  II :  367 

Rangoon,  II :  137,  275,  450,  534  ;  III :  421,  467 

Rania,  I  :  403  ;  III :  96 

Rani  (Kerala),  IV:  65 

Rani  Majra,  III  :  478 

Rani  Rajindramati  Chritra,  III  :  478-79  ;  IV  :  21 
Ranjha,  II  :  343  ;  III :  387 

Ranjit  Dev.  Raja,  II :  212  ;  III  :  218,  455  ;  IV  :  195 
Ranjit  Nagara,  II  :  389  ;  III  :  190,  479 
Ran/it  Singh  and  His  White  Officers,  II :  295  ;  III : 
54-55 

Ranjit  Singh  (Bharatpur),  III :  51  ;  IV  :  196 

Ranjit  Siiigh  (Chhachhrauli) ,  III :  2 

Ranjit  Siiigh  (Kalsia),  III  :  104  ;  IV :  176 

Ranjit  Siiigh  Kanhaiya,  III  :  487-88 

Ranjit  Siiigh,  Mahant,  III  :  142 

Ranjit  Siiigh,  Maharaja,  I  :  10-11,  26,  33,  34,  39, 
49,  54,  58,  64,  65,  68,  109,  113,  116,  121,  126, 
143,  150-51,  154,  158,  164,  166,  172,  178,  188, 
196-99,  209,  211, 218-19,  222,  231,  246-47,  250- 
51,  291,  299,  303,  307,  315,  326-27,  343-44, 
354,  363,  369,  378,  391,  402-04,  406,  409,  418, 
421,  426,  436,  442,  444,  446-48,  465,  470,  480, 


545 


INDEX 


483,  488,  531,  538,  543,  549,  552  ;  II :  7,8,  19, 
21-24,  29,  39-41,  44,  45,  47,  51,  54,  69,  71- 
73,  80,  82,  86,  87,  104,  108,  116-18,  120,  123, 
125,  132-33,  137,  140,  154,  183-84,  188,  195, 
209,  211-12,  220,  225,  228-30,  241,  243,  246- 

47,  251-53,  332,  336,  344-4:7,  355,  357,  360- 
61,  363,  367,  369-72,  377-78,  381-84,  390, 
393-98,  400,  408-09,  411,  433,  438-40,  448, 
454,  458,  494, 497,  507,  515,  521,  525-26,  529, 
540-42,  544-51,  557,  560-61,  567,  571-72, 
575-76  ;  III :  6,  7,  10,  13-16,  19,  20,  36,  46, 

48,  52,  76,  79-81,  84,  88,  91,  93,  97,  101-05, 
107-08,  111,  115,  119, 123,  127-28,  136,  145- 

46,  149-50,  157-59,  161,  165,  189,  191,  194, 
199-201,  210,  212,  216,  218,  220-21,  224,  227, 
234,  240,  244-45,  248,  255-56,  259-60,  268, 
278-80,  285-87,  303-04,  307,  316,  326,  331, 
337-38,  343-46,  352-53,  366-68,  372,  375- 
76,  379,  382-83,  417,  421,  437-38,  445-46, 
449,  455-56,  463-65,  469-70,  479-87,  488- 
91,  500,  507,  515  ;  IV :  2,  3,  8,  14,  18-21,  38, 

47,  48,  51,  54,  63,  64,  66,  81,  82,  94,  99-101, 
103,  107,  109,  112,  118,  126-27,  130-31,  133, 
137,  146,  160,  167-68,  171,  173-75,  181-84, 
194-95,  206,  217-18,  222,  226,  232,  247,  256- 
57,  259,  266,  269-70,  272,  287,  290,  297,  299, 
303.  305,  311,  320-21,  324,  345-47,  352,  354, 
357-59,  363-64,  366,  373-75,  386,  414-18, 
425-28,  433,  438,  441,  448,  452-53,  462 

Ranjit  Singh,  Sardar  Bahadur,  II  :  479 

Ranjodh  Singh  Majithia,  I  :  168,  211  ;  II :  412,  562  ; 

III  ;  81,  158,  365,  488  ;  IV :  221,  419 
Ran  Singh  Nakai,  III  :  104,  443,  488-89 
Ranthambore,  IV ;  307 
Ranvaii,  II :  232  ;  III ;  489 
Raqba,  II  :  83,  449  ;  III  :  490 
Rani,  III  :  490  ;  IV  :  122 
Rariala.  III  :  48 
Rasalii,  Raja,  II  :  351 
Rasana  Raghav,  II  :  321 

Rash  Behari  Bose,  I  :  226  ;  II  :  65,  457  ;  III  :  114  ; 
IV :  87 

Rashtrapatl  Bhavan,  IV  :  223,  457 
Rasili,  II :  398 
Rasoi,  III  :  306 

Rasulnagar,  II:  325,  347,  377;  III  :  13,  100,  111, 


262;  IV:  100-01,  221 
Rasulpur,  II :  396,  398,  484,  488  ;  IV  :  279 
Ratan  Chand  Darhivala,  III  :  491 
Ratan  Chand  Duggal,  III :  491 
Ratan  Chand  Gherar,  II :  233,  433  ;  III :  490  ;  IV : 

235 

Ratan  Chand,  Mian,  III :  382 

Ratan  Chand  (Multan),  III :  449 

Ratan  Chand  (Munshi),  II ;  424;  III:  490-91 

Ratan  Dam,  III :  491  ;  TV :  297-98 

Ratangarh  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  194,  219,  501-02 

Ratan  Kaur,  Rani,  III ;  146,  491  ;  IV  :  20 

Ratan  Mala,  II :  316 

Ratan  Rai,  Raja,  III :  187,  357 

Ratan  Siiigh,  Baba,  II  :  544 

Ratan  Siiigh,  Bhai,  III :  491-92 

Ratan  Siiigh  Bhangu,  II  ;  131,  154,  265,  362,  379, 
455  ;  III :  40,  53,  65,  93,  94,  283,  288,  353-54, 
435,  444,  463  ;  IV:  180-81,  254,  311,  373, 
396,  458 

Ratan  Siiigh  (Bharatpur),  III  :  51  ;  IV :  196 

Ratan  Siiigh  (Ghadrite),  IV  :  52,  342 

Ratan  Siiigh,  Giani,  II :  534 

Ratan  Siiigh  (Jagatpur),  IV  :  347 

Ratan  Siiigh  (Jhivar),  II :  336 

Ratan  Siiigh  (Lahore),  III :  274 

Ratan  Siiigh  Man,  III  :  488,  492 

Ratan  Siiigh  (Rara),  II  :  83 

Rataul,  II ;  118 

Ratia,  II :  284 

Rati  Rahasya  Kos',  II :  536 

Ratta,  Bhai,  III  :  35 

Ratigan,  W.H.,  IV :  209 

Ratto,  II  :  188 

Rattoke,  II  :  523 

Rattray,  III  :  492 

Rau,  Bhai,  III :  492-93 

Ravalkot,  III  ;  506 

Ravidas,  Bhagat,  I  :  183,  203,  293,  312,  314,  336, 
358,  H  :  13,  238  ;  III ;  53,  447,  454,  493-94  ; 
IV  :  35,  54,  55,  250 

Ravi  River,  II  :  119,  121,  147,  241,  323,  357,  417, 
448,  462-63,  502,  521,  544-45  ;  III :  23,  54, 
94,  96,  101-02,  104,  110,  135,  165,  167,  220, 
286,  373-74,  381,  403,  419  ;  IV :  81,  107,  195, 
234,  267,  311,  374,  413,  448 


INDEX 


546 


Ravi  Sher  Singh,  Raja,  III :  502  ;  IV  :  176 

Rawalpindi,  I  :  30,  88,  209-10,  223,  265,  267,  372, 
376,  380,  507,  509  ;  II :  7,  40,  46,  65,  103,  116, 
138,  157,  186,  188,  231,  260,  277,  311,  361, 
368,  394,  399,  413,  437,  455,  457,  479,  481, 
498,  521,  558-59  ;  III  :  2,  15,  44,  66,  87,  8S, 
101,  116-17,  205,  234-35,  356,  309,  311,  351- 
52,  358.  380,  409,  418,  446,  484,  501  ;  IV  :  28, 
29,  86,  99,  100,  107-08,  187,  192,  202,  309, 
312i  337-39,  373,  441 

Rayya  Bhatt,  I  :  352 

Raza,  II  :  348 

Reading,  Lord,  II  ;  206,  328 

Records  of  the  Punjab  Government,  II :  549 

Red  Fort,  II  ;  359  ;  III :  104 

Regional  Committee,  III  ;  497-98 

Regional  Formula,  I  :  48  ;  II :  84, 454  ;  III :  370,  394- 

95,  494-98,  505  ;  IV  :  316 
A  Reigning  Family  of  Lahore,  W  :  461 
Rekh  Rao,  Bhai,  1 :  341-42  ;  III  :  498 
Rekhta,  II  ;  505 
Renunciation,  III  :  498-500 

Report  Dasam  Granth  di  Sudhai  di,  II  :  155  ;  IV  : 

Report  on  tne  Sikh  Country,  III  :  248 
Reru  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III  :  460 
Restitution  of  Mortgaged  Lands  Bill,  II  :  488 
Reva,  IV:  25,  178,  437 
Revelation,  I  :  _76 

Rg  Veda,  II  :'  157,  452  ;  III :  293  ;  IV  :  70,  249,  390 
Rhine,  II  :  29 
Riar,  II  :  389 

Riarki,  II  :  323,  358  ;  II  :  102,  107  ;  IV  ;  324 
Riasi,  IV  ;  461 

Richmond,  Col.,  I  :  165  ;  II  :  570,  576  ;  III  :  500-01 
Rikabganj  Agitation,  II  :  123,  214,  227,  250,  274, 

332,  366,  523  ;  III  :  501-02 
Rikabganj,  Gurdwara,  III :  476,  495  ;  IV  :  66, 86,  21 1, 

280,  298 
Ripon,  Lord,  II  :  122  ;  IV  :  364 
Ripudaman  Singh,  Maharaja,  I  :  53,  127,  194,  213. 

425,  463  ;  II  :  83,  141,  216,  327-28,  410,  480, 

521  ;  III  :  1,  11,  106,  151,  359,  502-03  ;  IV: 

168,' 172,  210,  281 
Risala  Awwal,  II  :  435 
Risaia-i-Nanak  Shah,  III  :  504 


Rishikesh,  II :  123  ;  III :  19,  117,  236,  448 
Ritha  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III  :  504 
Riyasti  Akali  Dal,  III :  369,  504-05 
Riyasti  Praja  Mandal,  III  :  504-05 
Rocha  Singh,  Sant,  III  :  79,  505-06 
Roda  Badhi,  II  :  413 
Roda  Singh,  III  :  506 
Rode,  II  :  231,  352  ;  IV :  283 
Rodgers,  Charles,  J.,  IV:  137-38 
Rogers,  Alexandar,  IV  :  371 
Rohla  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III  :  506 
Rolui,  II  :  40 
Rohla,  III  :  506 

Rohtak,  II  :  68,  119,  551  ;  III  :  52,  101,  186,  204, 

506-07  ;  IV  :  83,  183,  218,  353 
Rohtas  (Bihar),  III  :  507 

Rohtas  (Punjab),  II  :  116,  343,  345,  355  ;  III  :  13, 

96,  110,  149,  507,  515  ;  IV  :  16,  99,  324 
Rome,  III  ;  44,  252  ;  IV  :  447 
Roorkee,  III :  186  ;  IV  :  87 

Ropai ,  I  :  33, 128,  230,  246-47,  364,  389,  430  ;  II  :  42, 
48,  49,  67,  87,  125,  255,  302,  342-43,  356,  370, 
509,  511,  530,  548,  551;  III  :  6,  29,  30,  102, 
125,  146,  287,  302,  353,  381  ;  IV  :  71,  98,  269, 
331-32,  433,  439,  441 

Ron  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II  :  6,  321,  490 

Rosa,  II  :  396 

Rose,  H.A.,  III  :  186 

Roshan  Singh,  III  :  507-08 

Ross,  II  :  575 

Rossaix,  III :  508 

Round  Table  Conferences  (1),  I  :  46,  228,  364,  425, 
472  ;  II  :  476  ;  III  :  508-11;  IV  :  170,  202,  282, 
318,  385 

—  (II),  I  :  425,  472 

—  (Ill),  I  :  473 

Rowlatt  Acts,  II  :  333  ;  III  :  276  ;  IV  :  66 
Rowlatt  Committee,  II  :  333 
Royal  Air  Force,  I  :  232 

Royal  Asiatic  Society,  London,  II  :  222,  486  ;  IV  : 
226 

Royal  Flying  Corps,  II  :  232 
Rtu  Sanhar,  I  :  283 
Rubaiat,  III  :  48 
Rudok,  IV:  111 
Rudra,  II  :  312 


547 


INDEX 


Ruhela,  I  :  189  ;  II :  126,  214,  234,  315,  364,  433, 
524,  556  ;  III :  203,  342,  490  ;  IV  :  1,  235,  304 
Ruhilas,  II :  401  ;  III :  50,  51,  103,  511 
Ruhilkhand,  III :  511-12  ;  IV :  197-  98 
Ruhila-Sikh  Relations,  III  :  511-12 
Rukan  Din,  II :  552 
Rukhala,  II  :.  214 
Rukn  ud-Daula,  II  :  227 
Rukn  ud-Din,  Qazi,  II :  445  ;  III :  512-13 
Rulia  Singh,  III  :  513 
Rumi  Dera,  HI  :  258 

Rupa,  Bhai,  1 :  273,  335,  506  ;  II :  340  ;  IV :  213 
Rupana,  HI  :  513-14 
Rupan,  Mai,  IV  :  463 
Rup  Basant,  II :  456 

Rup  Chand,  Bhai  (Tuklani),  I":  184,  194  ;  HI :  514  , 

IV  :  23,  33 
Rap  Chand  (Phulka),  III :  335 
Rup  Chand/Singh,  HI :  264 

Rup  Kaur,  Bibi,  II :  479,  510  ;  III :  514-15  ;  IV  :  256, 
331 

Rup  Kaur,  Rani,  II  :  438  ;  III  :  515 
Rup  Lai,  Misr,  III  :  76,  285,  515 
Rupnagar  -  see  Ropar 
Rupovali,  II :  308  ;  IV  :  345 
Rup  Singh,  III :  301 
Ruiivala.  Ill  :  197 
Rurka  Kalan,  II  :  523 
Rur  Singh  (Akhara),  II :  127 
,.Rur  Singh  (Chuhar  Chakk),  III:  21. 
Rur  Singh  (S-  .nghval) ,  II :  66 
Russel,  Lord  John,  1 :  179,  218  ;  II :  282 
Russia,  II :  137,  285,  294,  400-01, 534  ;  III :  67,  127  ; 

IV :  52,  349 
Rustam  Dil  Khan,  II  :  300 
Rustam  Khan,  IV :  300,  417 
Rustam  Rao,  II :  384  ;  HI :  43 
Rutti,  III :  515-16 

Saadi,  Shaikh,  II  :  268,  469 
Sa'adat  'All  Khan,  II :  302 
Sa'adat  Khan,  H  :  302,  356 
Sa'ad  Ullah,  Maulana,  III  :  82 
Sab  Achchha,  II :  189 
Sabar  de  Ban,  II  :  189 
Sabathu,  II  :  576 


Sabhaga,  Bhai,  II:  126;  IV:  1 
Sabhrai,  Mata,  III  :  335 

Sabhraon,  I  :  17,  36,  168-69,  308,  477  ;  II :  84,  107, 
229,  291,  303,  344,  370,  522,  556,  564  ;  III : 
48,  128  ;  W :  102, 184,  199,  221,  320-21,  343- 
44,  435-36 

Sabzi  Mandi,  Delhi,  III :  104 

Sachar  Formula,  I  :  48  ;  III  :  495-96 

Sachcha  Dhandora,  IV  :  280 

Sachchan  Sachch,  IV  :  1-2 

Saccha  Sauda,  II :  260  ;  IV :  2 

Sacchi  Darhi,  III :  355 

Sacchi  Manji,  Gurdwara,  III  :  8 

Sachindra  Nath  Sanyal,  II  :  457 

Sachj  Sakhj,  II  :  431 

Sach  Khand,  II :  349  ;  III :  166,  474 

Sachkhand  Pothi  -see  Pothi  Sachkhand 

Sacred  Writing  of  the  Sikhs,  II :  431 

Sada  Chand,  II:  389 

Sada  Kaur  (Bhaini),  III :  465 

Sada  Kaur  (Kanhaiya),  1 :  65,  66, 109,  458,  592  ;  II : 
73,  132,  324  ;  III  :  13,  19,  101-03,  161,  480- 
81  ;  IV:  2-3,  81,  443 

Sada  Kaur  (Man),  II  :  438 

Sada  Kaur  (Sherpur),  III :  198 

Sadd  —  see  Sadu 

Sadda  Singh,  IV  :  3 

Sadda  Singh,  Pandit,  III  :  237  ;  IV :  4 

Saddhu,  Bhai,  IV  :  4 

Saddu,  IV  :  4 

Sadhar,  IV  :  4-5 

Sadharan,  Bhai,  IV  :  5 

Sadharan  Brahmo  Samaj,  I  :  395-96 

Sadharan  Path,  IV  :  5 

Sadharan,  Sant,  IV  :  5-6 

Sadhaura,  I  :  79,  273,  275,  410,  III  :  86,  267,  301, 

534;  III:  132,247;  IV:  6,  195; 
Sadh  Bela,  III  :  84  ;  TV :  6 
Sadh,  Bhai,  IV :  6-7 

Sadh  Bhakha,  II  :  212,  224,  238,  349,  425  ;  III  :  42, 
86,  188-89,  297,  299,  316,  350,  391,  450  ;  IV: 
10,  125,  394,  416,  419,  421,  426 

Sadhna,  Bhagat,  I  :  312,  336  ;  II  :  238  ;  IV  :  7,  25, 

393 

Sadho  Singh,  Bava,  HI  :  224,  243  :  IV  :  273 
Sadh  Sangat  Board,  II  :  317 


INDEX 


548 


Sadhu,  Bhai  (Khosla),  IV:  428 

Sadhu,  Bhai  (Tuklani),  IV:  514 

Sadhu  Jan,  Bhai  (Malla),  II :  51,  118,  385  ;  III :  27  ; 

IV :  7-8,  45 
Sadhu  Singh  Akali,  IV  :  8 
Sadhu  Singh  Bhaura,  IV  :  8 
Sadhu  Singh  Dard,  Prof.,  Ill :  360 
Sadhu  Singh  (E.A.C.),  II :  489 
Sadhu  Singh  Hamdard,  IV  :  8-9 
Sadhu  Singh  (Lahuke),  II :  437 
Sadhu  Singh  Mauni,  III :  243  ;  IV  :  127 
Sadhu  Singh,  Pandit,  III  :  237  ;  IV :  9-10 
Sadhu  Singh,  Sant,  III :  136,  474  ;  IV :  322 
Sadhu  Singh  (Singh  Sabha),  IV:  207 
Sadhu  Singh  Thehpuria,  III :  116 
Sadiq  'Ali,  III  :  404 
Sadu,  II  :  174,  410,  470  ;  III :  451,  459 
Sadullapur,  II  :  107  ;  IV  :  185,  287,  344 
Safidon,  II :  45  ;  III :  51,  106-07  ;  IV :  353 
Sagari,  II :  103 
Sagari,  Gopal  Singh,  I  :  42 
Sahai  Singh,  IV  :  414 
Sahaj,  1 :  206  ;  IV>:  10-13 

Sahajdhari,  II :  358,  461,  466,  498  ;  III :  186,  235, 
325,  347,  352';  IV :  13-14, 116, 120,  130, 145, 
162,  204,  212 

Sahaj  Path,  IV  :  248 

Sahaj  Ram,  Bhai  (Sevapanthi),  I  :  7  ;  III :  299;  IV : 

,  29  .  . 
Sahaj  Sgtl,  II :  189 
Sahaj  Subha,  IV  :  340 
Sahansar  Ram  Valian  Pothian,  III  :  349 
Saharanpur,  I  :  249,  274  ;  II :  48,  300,  359,  434;  III : 

52,  103,  108-09,  186  ;  IV :  300 
Sahari,  Bhai,  rV  :  394 
Sahari  Mall,  III :  452  ;  IV  :  14,  91 
Saharu,  Bhai,  IV  :  15 
Sahba,  III :  464 
Sahbi,  III :  464 

Sahdev  Singh,  Prince,  I  :  422,  489  ;  II  :  513 
Saheri,  II  :  114,  204-05  ;  IV:  15-16,  461 
Sahib  Chand,  IV:  16 

Sahib  Chand/Singh  (Piara),  I  :  129  ;  II  :  89  ; 

III :  .263,  282  ;  IV  :  19-20,  203 
Sahib  Chand  (village),  IV  :  16 
Sahib  Das,  Baba,  HI :  188-89 


Sahib  Dayal,  Lala,  IV  :  255 

Sahib  Devan,  Mata,  1 :  280,  455,  500,  546,  548,  549  ; 

II :  290  ;  HI :  24,  40,  192,  263,  507  ;  IV  :  16-17 
Sahib  Dial,  II  :  547  ;  III :  446  ;  IV :  17 
Sahib  Dial  Singh,  Raja,  II :  244 
Sahib  Ganj,  IV:  17,  331 

Sahib  Kaur,  Bibi,  1 :  326  ;  III  :  254,  437,  IV  :  18 
Sahib  Kaur  (Ghanieke),  II  :  508 
Sahib  Kaur  (Jambar),  III  :  144 
Sahib  Koer,  III  :  264 

Sahib  Rai,  Chaudhari,  III  :  105  ;  IV  :  311 
Sahib  Ratta,  Baba,  1 :  209,  508  ;  III :  235 
Sahib  Singh,  rV  :  18 

Sahib  Singh  Bedi,  1 :  100,  216,  306,  327,  371,  376  ; 

II :  134, 193,  211,  392,  501, 562  ;  III :  199,  481  ; 

IV:  18-19,  51,  256,  388 
Sahib  Singh  Bhangi,  I  :  555  ;  II  :  21,  57,  116-17, 

120,  211,  377,  396-97,  497  ;  III :  13,  101-02, 

216,  220,  491  ;  IV :  3,  20,  109,  172 
Sahib  Singh  (Isapur),  IV :  20 
Sahib  Singh,  (Ladva),  II  :  513 
Sahib  Singh,  Raja,  I  :  101,  206,  278,  509  ;  II :  45, 

438-39,  562  ;  III :  51,  106,  204,  254-55,  437- 

38,  482  ;  IV  :  81,  22-23,  169 
Sahib  Singh  Mrigind,  III :  478  ;  IV ;  21,  238 
Sahib  Singh  (Panjhattha),  III :  445 
Sahib  Singh  (Patera),  III :  126 
Sahib  Singh,  Prof.,  1 :  378  ;  III :  320  ;  IV :  21-22 
Sahib  Singh  Randhava,  III  :  304 
Sahib  Singh  Sandhanvalia,  III  :  291 
Sahib  Siiigh  Saiisi,  III :  102 
Sahib  Singh  (Sau  Sakhi),  III  :  284  ;  IV :  303 
Sahibzada  Ajit  Singh  Nagar,  III  :  30 
Sahival,  II  :  23,  225,  252,  292,  297,  463  ;  III  :  483  ; 

IV  :  99,  107,  232,  299 
Sahneval,  II  :  185  ;  III  :  96,  105,  129 
Sahoval,  I  :  490  ;  II  :  538  ;  IV  :  '23 
Sahva,  IV  :  23 
Said  Beg,  IV  :  23-24 
Said  Khan,  III  :  22  ;  IV :  24,  113 
Saido,  Bhai,  IV :  24-25 

Saidpur,  I  :  238,  241,  343  ;  II  :  367,  561  ;  III  :  54, 

167  ;  IV:  121 
Saidu,  II  :  440 

Saifabad,  Fort,  I  :  250  ;  III  :  318,  434 
Saif  Khan,  I  :  250-51  ;  IV  :  25,  331 


549 


INDEX 


Saif  ud-Din  (Jalandhar),  III :  101 

Saif  ud-Din  Kitchlew,  II :  140,  333  ;  III :  396 

Saif  ud-Din  Mahmud,  Nawab,  I  :  250-51  ;  IV :  25, 

331 

Sain,  I  :  183,  312,  336  ;  IV :  25-26 

Sainapati,  Kavi,  1 :  365,  438  ;  II  :  92,  135-36,  179, 

443,  464,  474,  560  ;  III :  47,  94  ;  IV  :  16,  53, 

236,  346,  426 
Saina  Singh,  III :  236 
Sain,  Bhai,  IV  :  26 
Sain  Das,  1 :  26 
Sain  Das,  Bhai,  IV  :  26 

Sain  Das,  Bhai  (Darauli),  I ;  505-06  ;  IV  :  26-27,  68 

Saiii  Datto,  III  :  82 

Sain  Ditto,  (Jhanji),  IV  :  24,  27 

Sain  Ditto  (Sultonpur),  IV:  27 

Saiftsaru,  Bhai  (Talvar),  IV:  27 

Sajjan,  II :  208  ;  IV :  27-28,  368 

Sajjan  Singh  Chaudhari,  II  ;  361 

Sajjan  Singh  (Dhudike),  II :  307 

Saka  Panja  Sahib,  IV  :  28-29 

Sakhian  Bhai  Addan  Shah,  IV  :  29 

Sakhian  G&n  Updesh,  TV  :  80 

Sakhi  Gurbakhsh  Singh,  III :  369 

Sakhi  Pothi  — see  Malva  Des  Ratan  di  Sakhi  Pothi 

Sakhi  Rahit  Iii,  III :  428 

Sakhi  Sarvar,  1 :  28,  253,  357,  420  ;  II :  102,  567 ; 

III  :  142.  231,  343,  514  ;  IV :  4,  29-30 
Sakkhar,  II  :  373  ;  III :  84  ;  IV :  6 
Sakiaudi,  III  :  18 

Saktu  Mahito,  III  :  226  ;  IV  :  30-31 
Sakya  Muni,  II :  30 
Salabat  Khan,  II :  355  ;  III :  506 
Salana,  III  :  18 

Salas  Rai,  1:8;  III  :  325-26  ;  IV  :  31 

Salaudi,  III  :  27 

Sale,  Robert,  II  :  4 

Salem,  II :  185 

Salhadd,  III  :  409 

Salh,  Bhatt,  I  :  352 

Salho,  Bhai,  I  :  601  ;  IV  :  31 

Salik  Sarai,  II  :  252 

Salim,  Prince,  II  ;  320,  504  ;  III  :  371 

Salim  Shah,  II  :  502 

Salok  Kabir,  rV  :  240 

Salok  MahaJJa  9,  IV  :  31-33 


Salok  Sahaskriti,  TV  :  88-34,  240 

Salok  Varan  te  Vadhik,  TV :  84-85 

Saluri,  III ;  157  ;  IV :  35 

Salvan,  Raja,  III :  351 

Samadh  Bhai,  III :  514  ;  IV :  35 

Samadh  Bhai  Dall  Siingh,  1 :  501 

Samadh  Maharaja  Rarijit  Singh,  II :  546 

Samana,  I  :  254,  273  ;  II  :  56,  301,  391,  422  ;  III : 

106,  354  ;  IV  :  35-36 
Samana  Ridge,  IV :  58 
—Battle  of,  1:  79 
Saman  Khand,  II :  50  ;  IV :  208 
Samao,  IV :  36 
Samarkand,  II  :  72 

Samarth  Ramidas,  II :  234  ;  IV :  86-37 
Sam  Arth  Kosh,  II :  514 

Samman,  Bhai,  II :  335,  427  ;  III :  150  ;  IV  :  87 

Samman  Burj  ,  III  :  480  ;  IV :  37-88 

Sammari  Singh,  II :  301  ;  IV :  38 

Sampat  Path,  IV  :  38-39 

Sampuran  Singh  Bedi,  II :  49 

Sampuran  Singh  Lyallpuri,  II :  476  ;  III :  509 

Sampuran  Singh  Raman,  IV  :  39 

Sampuran  Singh  (Samra),  II :  521 

Sampuran  Singh,  Sant,  II :  180,  401  ;  III :  355 

Sampuran  Singh,  Sardar,  1 :  472  ;  IV  :  187,  318 

Samrala,  II :  72,  83  ;  III :  96,  104,  435,  489 

Samru,  Begam,  1 :  150,  546,  598  ;  IV :  196 

Samugarh,  Battle  of,  I  :  220  ;  II :  14,  262 

Samunda,  Bhai,  IV  :  39-40 

Samundri,  II ;  453  ;  IV  :  340 

Samund  Singh,  Bhai,  rV :  40 

Sanatan  Sikh,  TV  :  164 

Sanaudh,  IV :  225 

Sanaur,  III  :  106,  511  ;  IV  :  300 

Sandal  Bar,  II  :  452  ;  IV  :  340 

Sandhavah,  IV  :  41,  454 

Sandhvari  (Kot  Kapura),  IV:  41 

Sandli,  III :  336 

San  Francisco,  II  :  61,  63-64,  115,  257,  259,  366, 
456-57,  467  ;  III :  148,  255  ;  IV :  52,  346 

Sangalvala  Akhara,  III  :  369 

Saiigam  Sar  Chandrika,  III :  237 

Sangat,  1 :  183  ;  II :  100  ;  III :  43,  64,  175,  288,  317  ; 
IV :  41-43,  158 

Sangat,  Bhai,  IV :  43 


INDEX 


550 


Sangat  Das,  III :  369  ;  IV  :  76 
Sangatia,  Bhai  (Pheru),  II :  261  ;  III :  335 
Sangatia  Sodhi,  Bhai,  IV :  76 
Sangatia  (soldier),  II :  103,  296 
Saiigatpura,  III  :  103 
Sarigat  Rai,  IV  :  43 
Sangat  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  193 
Sangat  Sahib  Ke,  1 :  333  ;  III :  46  ;  IV  :  377-78 
Sangat  Singh  (d.  1705),  IV:  48-44,  385 
Sangat  Singh  (Nishananvali),  III :  105  ;  IV:  44,  82,  92 
Sangat  Singh,  Raja,  IV  :  71,  171 
Sangat  Singh,  Sant,  II :  77  ;  III :  117,  320  ;  IV :  44-45 
Sangat  Tola,  Gurdwara,  III :  209 
Sangharkot,  IV :  267 
Sanghoi,  II  :  563 
Sanghoi,  III :  489 
Sanghreri,  IV :  45 
Sanghval,  I  :  200  ;  II :  523 
Sangit  Ratnakar,  II  :  166 
Sangladip,  II  :  208,  224,  401  ;  III  :  355 
Sangla  Hill,  IV  :  18,  280 
».  Sanglarivala  Akhara,  IV  :  379 
Sango  Shah  (Sangram  Shah),  1 :  356  ;  II :  51,  118  ; 

III :  158  ;  IV :  45,  428 
Sangram  Singh,  Rana,  1 :  242 
Sangrand,  IV :  45—46 
Sangrohi,  IV :  93 

Saiigrur,  I  :  214-15,  379  ;  II  :  42-43,  45,  49,  64,  67, 
101,  122,  128,  221,  380,  425,  464,  503  ;  III : 
20,  29,  107,  156,  183,  322,  332,  421,  476  ;  IV  : 
17,  171-72,  218 

Sarigu  Mall,  I  :  232 

Sanher,  IV  :  46 

Sarihsis,  IV :  46-47 

Sarikaracharya,  II ;  311  ;  III :  71,  87,  222,  294,  361. 

363  ;  IV  i  56,  284,  315 
Sankarnath,  Pandit,  IV  :  47-48 
Sankhatra,  III :  47 

Saiikhya  School,  II  :  94,  419  ;  III  :  153,  361,  415, 

499  ;  IV  :  449-50 
Saiikirtana,  II  :  516 
Sanku,  IV  :  462 
Sanmukh  Das,  III  :  264 

Sarisar  Chand,  Raja,  1 :  230  ;  II  :  133.  336,  359  ;  III : 
19.  96,  157,  438,  482-83  ;  IV  :  2,  47,  48,  195, 
324 


Sarisar  da  Dharmik  Itihas,  III :  358 

Sanskrit  University,  Varanasi,  IV :  246 

Sansram,  IV  :  48 

Sant,  IV  :  48-49 

Sant  Akali  Dal,  III :  401 

Santa  Singh,  Babu,  1 :  232  ;  IV  :  49^50 

Santa  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  50 

Santa  Singh  (Gandivind),  II :  519 

Santa«36ingh  Ghadrite,  Babu,  1 :  281 

Santa  Singh,  Jathedar,  II :  258  ;  IV :  50^51 

Santa  Singh,  Nihang,  IV :  58,  306 

Sant  Das  Chhibbar,  II :  340 

Santgarh,  II :  369 

Santhal  Parganah,  III :  443 

Santiniketan.IV  :  146 

Sant  Ma/,  IV:  511 

Sant  Nivas,  II  :  511 

Santokh  Das,  II  :  190,  241  ;  III  :  46,  240,  369  ;  IV : 
51 

Santokhsar,  I  :  114  ;  II :  190 

Santokh  Singh,  Bhai,  II  :  10,  50-51,  53,  98,  119, 
126,  129,  146,  152,  191,  195,  214,  237,  254- 
55,  262,  346,  374,  376,  413,  416,  421,  455,  507, 
540-41,  559,  565  ;  III :  7,  9,  22,  25,  59,  137, 
149, 188-90, 197,  203,  208,  213,  256,  267,  279, 
283,  298,  319,  336,  343,  357, 455,  460-61,  479, 
493  ;  IV:  1,  4,  24,  51-52,  54,  81,  176,  236, 
354,  354,  376,  397,  399,  405,  431,  435,  438 

Santokh  Singh  Ghadrite,  1 : 195  ;  II :  61, 63-64, 579  ; 
III  :  492  ;  IV :  52-53,  339,  342 

Santokh  Singh,  Giani,  II :  78 

Santokh  Singh  (Indore),  I  :  178 

Santokh  Singh  (Nanded),  III:  J91 

Santokh  Singh  (Singh  Sabhi),  IV:  207 

Santoshi  Mata,  III  :  87 

Santpuii  Dera,  Nagali,  III :  79,  240-41 

Sant  Ren,  1 :  264  ;  III :  188-89 

Sant  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  78 

Sant  Singh,  Bhai  (Lahore),  IV  :  25% 

Sant  Singh  (Bundala),  II  :  301 

Sant  Singh  (Chamkaur),  1 :  355,  430  ;  IV  :  53 

Sant  Singh  (Ghuhgrila),  II :  394 

Sant  Singh,  Giani,  Bhai,  I  :  414  ;  II  :  53  ;  IV  :  51, 
53-54 

Sant  Siiigh,  Giani  (Kapurthala) ,  I  :  378  ;  II  :  10  ; 
III  :  3 


551 


INDEX 


Sant  Singh  (Kesgarh),  II :  436 

Sant  Singh  Man,  HI :  492 

Sant  Singh  (Pind  Dadan  Khan),  II :  324 

Sant  Siligh  (Professor),  IV:  53 

Sant  Singh  (Rasulpur),  II:  484 

Sant  Siligh  (Sialkot),  III :  3 

Sant  Sipahi,  III :  439 

Sant  Tradition,  rV  :  54-57 

Saptahik  Path,  IV  :  57  ;  248 

Sapt  Sindhu,  III :  373 

Sapt  Sring,  III  :  431 

Sarab  Gutka,  III :  431 

Sarabha,  II  :  456 

Saragarhi,  Battle  of,  II :  474-^75  ;  IV :  58-59 

Sarai  Alamgir,  IV  :  86 

Sarai  Amanat  Khan,  II :  309 

Sarai  Dakkhani,  III :  101 

Sarai  Lashkar  Khan,  II :  323  ;  III :  105 

Sarai  Kala,  II :  345 

Sarai  Kali,  II  :  413 

Sarai  Nanga,  I  :  538  ;  HI  :  30,  335  ;  IV :  59--60 

Sarai  Nurdin,  IV  :  51,  52,  267,  321,  328 

Saraj  Din,  III :  41 

SaramKhand,  II :  348  ;  III :  474 

Saran  Das,  IV  :  378 

Sararig  ki  Var,  IV  :  60-61 

Saran  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  54 

Sarasvati  (goddess),  II  :  53  ;  IV :  413 

Sarasvati  (rivulet),  III :  330-31,  373 

Sarat  Kumar  Roy,  IV  :  146 

Saravan,  II  :  211,  215  ;  III:  22 

Sarbarah  Khan,  1 :  31,  275  ;  IV  :  329 

Sarbatt  da  Bhala,  IV  :  61-62 

Sarbatt  Khalsa,  I  :  50,  57,  58,  166,  402,  495  ;  II :  153, 
362-63,  474  ;  III :  52,  95,  289,  481  ;  IV :  62- 
64,  133,  154,  301,  324,  396 

Sarb  Hind  Sikh  Mission,  IV :  64-65,  98 

Sarbloh  Granth,  1 :  182  ;  II :  474  ;  III :  227-28,  369  ; 
IV  :  57-58,  63,  426 

Sarb  Sampardai  Conference,  II :  143 

Sarbuland  Khan,  III  :  366 

Sardar,  IV :  65-66 

Sardar  Baghel  Singh  Museum,  II  :  513 
Sardha  Singh,  Baba,  II  :  367 
Sardulgarh,  II  :  376 
Sardul  Siligh,  Bhai,  III  :  4 


Sardul  Singh  Caveeshar,  1 :  49,  84,  93,  423,  424  ; 

IV :  66-67,  87,  201 
Sardul  Singh,  Giani,  II :  78  ;  IV :  67-68 
Sardul  Singh,  Maharaja,  III :  250 
Sardul  Singh  Man,  II :  244 
Sardul  Singh  (Phulka),  II:  19 
Sargodha,  II  :  316,  479  ;  III :  469  ;  IV  :  44,  103,  339 
Sarhala,  IV :  68 
Sarhala  Qazian,  II :  475 

Sarhali,  II :  140,  142,  371  ;  III :  96,  99  ;  IV :  340 
Sarhina,  IV :  68-69 
Sarih,  71 :  359  ;  III :  108 

Sarja  Singh  Man,  II :  325,  394  ;  III :  34,  158,  262 

Sarkar  KhaJsa,  II :  456 

Sarkar  Khalsa  Ji,  II :  547  ;  III :  480-51,  484 

Sarmukh  Singh,  Bava,  IV :  69-70 

Sarmukh  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  330 

Sarmukh  Singh  Chamak,  III :  290 

Sarmukh  Singh  (Chhachhrauli),  II :  186 

Sarmukh  Singh  Jhabal,  1 :  44, 93,  423  ;  II :  143,  360, 

375  ;  IV  :  69 
Sarmukh  Singh  (Pandori),  II :  305 
Sarojani  Devi,  Maharani,  III :  359-60,  503 
Sarovar,  IV :  70-71 

Sarsa  River,  II  :  15,  114,  402  ;  III  :  302  ;  IV  :  15,  426, 

461,  463 
Sarthali,  IV :  71 

Sarup  Das  Bhalla,  II  :  101,  136,  262,  407,  460,  470, 
491,  496,  504,  565  ;  III :  16,  17,  21,  66,  83, 
121,  364;  IV:  1,7,  94,  180,  443 

Sarup  Das  (Uclasi),  IV:  379 

Sarup  Singh,  Bhai,  III :  357 

Sarup  Singh  Kaushish,  II :  210,  307,  471  ;  III :  66, 
139,  146,  216,  231,  281,  300  ;  IV :  225 

Sarup  Singh  (Nabha),  II  :  409 

Sarup  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  547  ;  III :  107,  238,  421,  479  ; 
IV:  21,  71-72,  171 

Sarup  Singh,  Siardar,  IV :  73,  177 

Sarvan,  Bhai,  II :  375 

Sarvani,  Chaudhari,  II  :  357  ;  III :  92 

Sarvotam  Dharam  Khalsa  Panth,  III :  473 

Sarvotam  Granth  Adi  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  III : 
473 

Sasaram,  III :  187,  332  ;  IV :  331 

Sasta  lamasha,  II  :  189 

Sastra  Nam  Mala  Puran,  :  1 :  517  ;  IV :  72 


INDEX 


Satal Janvari,  II :  189 

Satara,  II :  384  ;  III :  43 

Satbharai,  II :  277 

Satbir  Singh,  II :  397  ;  IV :  73,  178 

Satghara,  II :  289 

Satgur  ka  Vans,  IV  :  73-74 

Sathiala,  II :  343  ;  III :  99,  339,  439  ;  IV :  74 

Sati,  II :  93  ;  IV  :  74-76 

Sati  Das,  Bhai,  1 :  221,  510  ;  III :  68,  342  ;  IV  :  76 

Sati  Yuga,  II :  401 

Satkartarias,  IV :  76-77,  254 

Satnamia,  IV :  77 

Sat  Sabha,  IV :  77 

Sat  Sri  Akal,  II :  94,  154,  379 

Satta,  Bard,  II :  174,  208,  540-41  ;  III :  90,  179,  457- 

58  ;  IV  :  78,  407  ?* 
Satvant  Kaur,  IV  :  78-79,  277,  430 
Satyanand  Agnihotri,  1 :  562 
Satya  Pal,  Dr.,  II :  333 
Satyarth  Prakash,  1 :  22 
Saunders,  J.P.,  1 :  317  ;  II :  246  ;  III :  211 
Saundha  Kavi,  IV :  79-80 
Saundha  Singh,  II :  133  ;  III :  102  ;  IV :  79-80 
Saunti,  II :  302  ;  III :  105  ;  IV  :  80,  82 
Sau  Sakhi,  1 :  217,  258,  302, 576  ;  II :  556  ;  III :  460  ; 

IV:  24,  80-S1,  304 
Savai  Jai  Singh,  III :  444 
Savage  Patshahi  10,  III :  241,  263,  265-66 
Saval  Singh,  IV  :  81 
Savan  Mall,  IV  :  82 

Savan  Mall,  Diwan,  II  :  144,  263,  433,  501  ;  III  :  143, 

165,  449  ;  IV :  82,  357 
Savan  Singh,  IV  :  82,  83 
Savan  Singh,  Baba,  II :  213 
Savan  Singh  (Harappa),  II :  267 
Savan  Singh  (Nishananvali),  III :  105 
Savitri  Devi,  III:  188 

Sayyid  Ahmad  Barelvi,  1 :  257  ;  II :  21.  252  ;  IV  :  101, 

109,  183 
Sayyid  Aslam,  I  :  274 
Sayyid  Kasran,  III :  421 
Sayyid  Muhammad  Yusuf,  1 :  356 
Sayyidpur,  II  :  5 
Science  te  Astikta,  III :  48 
Scindia,  Daulat  Rao,  IV  :  83,  353 
Seattle,  II :  62  ;  IV  :  227 


Secunderabad,  HI :  114 
Sedition  Committee,  II :  333 
Sehna,  III :  277 
Sehra  Sahib,  IV  :  83 
Sehvan,  IV :  7 

Sekha,  II  :  25  ;  HI :  301  ;  IV :  83-84 

Sekha,  Bhatt,  1 :  352 

Sekhvan,  II :  367 

Selangar,  II :  414,  484-85 

Sema,  II :  428 

Setha,  Bhai,  IV  :  1 

Seton,  II :  284,  575-76 

Seva,  1 :  214,  412  ;  IV  :  84-85 

Seva  Das  Udasi,  II  :191-92  ;  III :  297-98 

Sevak,  Bhatt,  I  :  352 

Sevan,  Mai,  II  :  407 

Sevapantbi,  II :  351,  423  ;  III :  203-04,  298-99,  350  ; 

IV:  29,  51,  103,  256,  393 
Seva  Ram     7  ;  III :  298  ;  IV :  51 
Sevaram  Singh,  1 :  471  ;  III :  122  ;  IV :  187 
Seva  Singh,  Bhai,  IV :  86 
Seva  Singh  (Canada),  II :  485 
Seva  Singh  Kaushish,  II :  238  ;  III :  39,  47  ;  IV :  95,  96 
Seva  Singh  Kirpan  Bahadur,  IV :  86-87 
Seva  Singh  (Nabha),  II :  42 
Seva  Singh  (Pandori),  II :  219 
Seva  Singh,  Sant,  I  :  366  ;  IV  :  35,  68,  83,  233 
Seva  Singh  Thikrivala,  I  :  329  ;  II :  87-88 
Shabad,  I  :  273,  374  ;  II  :  94-95,  197-99,  289  ;  IV  : 

88-90,  250,  252 
Shabad  Hajare  I  :  517  ;  II  :  217  ;  III  :  281,  317  ;  IV  : 

90-92 

Shabad  Hajare  Pitshahi  10,  IV  :  92 
Shabad  Salok  Sodhi  Hari/i  Ke,  II :  238 
Shabdanh  Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib,  II  :  196 
Shadival,  I  :  174 
Shafi,  Mirza,  HI :  103 

Shahabad  (Markanda),  II :  323,  408,  439  ;  III  :  76, 

91,  103,  105,  464  ;  IV:  92-93 
Shah  Abbas,  Mirza,  IV  :  426 
Shahab  ud-Din  Ghauri,  III  :  375 
Shahab  ud-Din,  Sir,  II  :  275 

Shah  'Alam,  II  :  45,  299,  357  ;  III  :  51,  104,  248  ; 
IV:  170 

Shahamat  'Ali,  II  :  548  ;  III  :  484  ;  IV :  94,  182 
Shahanchi  Khan,  II  :  21,  117  ;  III  :  220,  467-68, 


553 


INDEX 


480  ;  IV  :  80 
Shah  Bakhtiar,  IV  :  403 
Shahbazpur,  II  :  427  ;  III :  150  ;  IV  :  37 
Shahbaz  Singh,  IV  :  93,  297 
Shahbeg  Singh  (General),  II :  354 
Shah  Bhikh,  Sayyid,  II :  553,  IV  :  122 
Shah  Bilaval,  II  :  224,  373,  543  ;  IV :  11 
Shahdara,  II  :  270,  320  ;  III :  256,  81,  419,  446;  IV  : 

267 

Shahdara  (Delhi),  IV  :  197 
Shah  Daula,  II  :  55,  117  ;  IV :  93-94 
Shah  Din,  Faqir,  II  :  571  ;  IV :  94 
Shah  Gharib,  II :  336 

Shah  Husain,  II :  387  ;  III :  364,  387  ;  IV  :  7,  94-95 
Shahidanvala,  II  :  188 

Shihid  Bilas  Bhai  Mam  Singh,  II :  238  ;  III  :  39,  47  ;' 

IV :  95-96 
Shahid  Buriga,  Amritsar,  1 :  469  ;  II  :  247 
Shahidgahj  Agitation,  IV :  96-97,  165,  178,  326, 

437,  448 
Shahid  Burj,  Chamkaur,  III :  8 
Shahidganj  Bhai  Man  Singh,  II :  546  ;  III :  40 
Shahidgahj  Bhai  Taru  Singh,  II :  546 
Shahidganj,  Gurdwara,  Lahore,  II :  18,  31.0,  555  ; 

III :  125,  130,  136 
Shahidi  Jadias,  II  :  328,  371,  428,  452,  476,  522  ; 

III :  11,  209,  501-02  ;  IV  :  259,  279 
Shahid  Sikh  Missionary  College,  II :  109,  178,  310, 

451  ;  III :  202  ;  IV  :  8,  97-98,  309,  455 
Shahi  Tibbi,  IV  :  98,  380 

Shah  Jahari,  Emperor,  1 :  485,  504,  532  ;  II  :  234, 
325,  357,  375,  486,  502,  505,  545  ;  III :  92, 132, 
461  ;  IV :  25,  38,  93,  196,  330,  358,  374,  438 

Shahjahanabad,  II :  91 

Shahjahanpur,  III  :  511 

Shah  Jivana,  IV  :  44 

Shahkot,  II :  258,  305  ;  III :  96  ;  IV :  50,  216,  230 

Shahkot  (Jhang),  IV:  29 

Shah  Muhammad,  IV :  180,  218,  418-19 

Shah  Mahmud,  IV:  98,  99 

Shah  Murad,  I  :  283  ;  II  :  19 

Shah  Nawaz  Khan  (author),  IV :  358 

Shah  Nawaz  Khan,  1 :  8,  65,  402  ;  II :  223,  462,  555  ; 

III  :  130  ;  IV :  267,  327-28,  448,  454 
Shah  Nawaz  Khan,  Gen.,  1 :  227 
Shahpur  Ferry,  II  :  505 


Shahpur  Kalan,  IV  :  98 

Shahpur  Kandi,  II :  359  ;  III :  108,  483 

Shahpur  (Sargodha),  II :  7,  260,  277,  435,  457;  III  : 

224,  470  ;  IV  :  103 
Shah  Rukh,  II  :  525 

Shah  Shuja,  1 :  13,  14,  78,  208-09,  218-19,  246,  342, 
354,  397,  505,  597  ;  II :  19,  256,  319,  525  ;  HI  : 
6,  7,  129,  343  ;  IV  :  98-99,  111,  182,  218,  270, 
366,  373,  386,  433-34 

Shah  Wali  Khan,  I  :  345 

Shahzada,  III  :  54  ;  IV :  99 

Shahzadpur,  II :  434,  568  ;  III :  96,  109 

Shah  Zaman,  1 :  13,  308,  354  ;  II :  19,  20,  120,  347, 
525,  546  ;  III :  100,  216,  220,  444,  467,  480, 
507  ;  IV  :  19,  20,  98,  99-100 

Shaikh  Brahm,  IV  :  258 

Shaikh  Imam  ud-Din,  I  :  247  ;  see  Imam  ud-Din, 
Shaikh 

Shailendra  Kaur,  Princess,  II  :  17 

Shakargarh,  II :  336,  395  ;  III :  419-20 

Shater  Rog  di  Eahini,  III :  232 

Shalamar  Garden,  II :  383,  545,  549  ;  III :  101,  286, 

307,  365-66  ;  IV  :  374 
Shamas  Khan,  I  :  347 
Shamas  ud-Din,  III :  245 
Shambuji,  II  :  326  ;  III  :  471 
Sham  Chaurasi,  1 :  100  ;  II  :  371,  409,  445,  493 
Shamgarh,  II  :  513 

Shamir  Singh  Thetfaar,  II  :  86  ;  IV  :  100-101 
Shamli,  III:  511 

Shamsher  Khalsa,  1 :  72  ;  II  :  83  ;  III :  444  ;  IV  :  373 
Shamsher  Singh  Ashok,  II  :  290,  344-55  ;  III :  41, 

412  ;  IV  :  246,  408,  414,  428 
Shamsher  Singh  (Badrukkhan) ,  IV:  423 
Shamsher  Singh  Sandhanvalia,  II  :  144,  243-44, 

411  ;  III:  470;  IV:  101 
Sham  Singh  Atarivala,  1 :  168,  553  ;  II :  47,  76,  344, 

346,  410  ;  III :  20,  25,  212,  285-86,  488,  492  ; 

IV  :  101-02,  199,  345,  419,  436-37 
Sham  Singh  (Bhakna),  II :  115 
Sham  Siiigh  Butalia,  II  :  378 
Sham  Singh  (Dingarian),  II  :  291 
Sham  Singh  (f/o  Gen  Harsa  Singh),  II :  263 
Sham  Singh  (Gharjakh),  III  :  278 
Sham  Singh  Karorsmghia,  HI :  353 
Sham  Singh  (Lancle.) ,  III  :  1 1 


INDEX 


554 


Sham  Singh  Man,  II :  24,  438 

Sham  Singh  Nihang,  IV :  102-03 

Sham  Singh  (Sahival),  II :  292 

Sham  Singh,  Sant,  II :  189,  447  ;  IV :  103,  221 

Sham  Singh  Zaildir,  II :  482 

Shanghai,  II :  63,  64,  115,  143,  316,  329,  467,  527  ; 

III :  67,  217,  222,  506  ;  IV :  52,  208 
Shahkar,  III :  304  ;  IV :  292 
Shankar  Das,  IV  :  103 
Shankar  Dayal,  Bhai,  III :  4 
Shankar  Nath,  Diwan,  IV :  103-04 
ShantI  Parra,  II :  458 
Sharab  Nikhedh,  II :  410 
Sharadh  Prabodh,  III :  44 
Sharaf  Din,  II :  523  • 
Sharakpur,  III :  104,  488 
Sharam  Singh,  Jathedar,  III :  397 
Shardha,  IV :  104-06 

Shardha  Ram  Philauri,  II :  119  ;  IV:  78,  131,  207 

Shaukat  'Ali,  III :  202  ;  IV :  108,  388 

Sheikhupura,  i  :  250,  281  ;  II :  27,  69, 188,  232,  250, 
260,  325,  383,  453,  475,  479,  481,  494  ;  HI : 
365,  381,  419,  482.  484  ;  IV :  184,  192,  423 

—Fort  of,  I  :  170 

Sheo  Datt,  II  :  504 

Sher  Dil  Paltan,  II :  390 

Sher-i-Bharat,  II  :  140 

Sheriff,  IV  :  J06 

Sher-i-Punjab,  II  :  476;  IV:  165 

Sher  Muhammad  Khan,  1 :  374  ;  IV  :  106,  258,  461 

Sherpur  (Bihar),  II:  290 

Sherpur  (Punjab),  II  :  227 

Sher  Shah  Suri,  II :  98,  295  ;  III :  375,  507 

Sher  Shah  Suri  Marg,  II :  448  ;  HI  J5332  ;  IV  :  213 

Sher  Singh,  IV  :  106-07 

Sher  Singh  Atari  (Raja),  1 :  194,  372  ;  II :  29,  107, 
122,  383,  411,  562  ;  III :  15,  365,  470,  492  ; 
IV:  107,  185,  287,  321,  441 

Sher  Singh  (Chakval),  II :  322 

Sher  Singh  Chhachhi,  IV  :  107-08 

Sher  Singh,  Giani,  1 :  425  ;  II :  157,  196,  213,  476  ; 
III :  214  ;  IV :  105,  108-09,  390 

Sher  Singh  (Lohgarh),  III  :  157 

Sher  Singh,  . Maharaja,  I  :  11,  34,  63,  65,  171-72,  209- 
11,  219,  222,  231,  256,  290,  297,  307,  315-16, 
370,  372,  378,  408,  429,  447,  478,  481,  489, 


544,  546,  585  ;  II :  4,  24,  45,  54,  72,  118,  121, 
132, 187,  263-64,  275,  285,  289,  291,  295,  304, 
368,  371,  373,  381,  409,  458,  465,  507,  513, 
520,  525,  543-44,  547  ;  III :  14,  19,  21,  35,  84, 
103,  213,  218,  224,  285,  287,  301,  303,  307, 
316, 344, 366-67, 379, 446, 468, 470, 490, 515  ; 
IV :  3,  109-12,  133,  137,  259,  269,  321-22, 
357,  386,  419,  425-27,  462 

Sher  Singh  Natnah,  TV  :  112-13 

Sher  Singh  (of  Bir  Mrigesh),  1 :  376 

Shesh  Shiksha,  II :  203 

Shiam  Singh,  IV:  113 

Shiam  Singh  Narli,  II  :  356  ;  III  :  103,  435,  444  ; 
IV:  175 

Shiam  Singh  (Nurpur),  III :  470 
Shihari,  Bhai,  114 

Shihari,  Masand,  II :  512  ;  IV :  114,  330 
Shihari  (village),  III:  337  ;  IV :  113-14 
Shikar  Ghat,  Gurdwara,  II :  391  ;  III :  192 
Shikari  ir,  II :  305,  439,  494  ;  III  :  6,  7,  345 ;  IV : 

426,  433,  366 
Shikohabad,  1 :  32 
Shillong,  III :  187 

Shimla,  1 :  164,  230-31  ;  III :  47,  206,  478,  543  ;  HI  : 

218,  379,  419,  469,  472,  501  ;  IV :  387 
Shiromani  Akali  Dal  —  see  Akali  Dal,  Shiromani 
Shiromani  Gurdwara  Parbandhak  Committee, 
(S.G.P.C.)  1 :  41,  42,  44-46,  51-54,  58,  73,  79, 
86,  92,  96,  98,  121,  130,  175,  183-84,  195,  213, 
234,  243,  354,  358,  262,  271,  289,  291-92,  297, 
299,  300,  324,  327,  333-34,  355,  358,  362,  374- 
75,  415,  422,  427,  439,  605  ;  II  :  26,  42,  45,  49, 
56,  72,  81,  86,  102,  117,  123,  147,  156,  188, 
191,  196,  205,  207,  227,  247-48,  253-54,  293, 
308,  313,  327,  336,  346,  363,  378,  431,  437, 
452,  470,  475,  493,  515,  539,  554,  560  ;  III : 
37,  48,  78,  87,  116-18,  124-25,  144,  155,  202, 
214,  233,  240,  264,  304,  326,  341,  354,  396, 
400-01,  423,  426,  469  ;  IV :  2,  14,  22,  64,  66, 
69,  73, 97, 108, 114-18,  144-45, 154,  202,  229, 
246,  279-80,  301,  312,  314,  318,  334-35,  337, 
340,  346,  359,  383,  404,  419,  444 
Shiromani  Khalsa  Diwan,  N.W.F.P.,  IV:  118 
Shiromani  Panth  Milauni  Jatha,  I  :  422 
Shish  Mahal,  Gurdwara  (Kartarpur) ,  II  :  499 
Shish  Mahal,  Gurdwara  (Kiratpur),  II  :  509 


555 


INDEX 


Slush  Mahal,  Lahore,  II  :  545 

Shivaji,  Chhatrapati,  II  :  20,  326  ;  III  :  50,  471  ;  IV  : 

36 

Shiv  Datt,  III  :  327 

Shivdev  Singh,  General,  IV  :  289,  414 
Shivdev  Singh  Oberoi,  I  :  471  ;  III :  122  ;  IV  :  187, 
202 

Shiv  Dial,  II  :  424  ;  III  :  490  ;  IV  :  118 
Shiv  Kiipal  Singh,  III  :  109 

Shivnabh,  Raja,  1 :  10  ;  II  :  208,  224,  401;  III :  49, 

355  ;  IV:  119. 
Shiv  Narayan  Agnihotri,  I  :  562 
Shiv  Nath,  Rai  Bahadur,  III  :  410 
Shiv  Ram,  Baba,  II  :  417,  564  ;  IV  :  119 
Shiv  Ram  Khatri,  III  :  284 
Shiv  Singh  Jauhal,  IV:  382 
Sholapur,  II  :  73 

Shore  Committee  of  Vancouver  Sikhs,  II  :  527 

Shorkot,  III :  462-63 

Short  History  of  the  Sikhs,  A,  IV  :  339 

Short  Sketch  of  Life  and  Work  of  Guru  Gobind 

Singh,  A,  II  :  559 
Shrinmkh  Vafcya  Sidhant Jyoti,  III:  237 
Shii  Pipajl  Baiif,  III  :  342 
Shuddhi  Movement,  III :  144 

Shuddhi  Palter.  Khalsa  Dharam  Prakash.  W :  120, 
161 

Shuddhi  Sabha,  1 :  259  ;  II :  324  ;  IV  :  119-20,  209, 

253 

Shujabad,  III  :  143  ;  IV  :  44 

Shuja'  Khan  Saddozai,  IlT:  100 

Shuja'  ud-Daulah,  Nawab,  IV  :  198 

Shyama  Prasad  Mukerjee,  II :  293 

Shyam  Singh,  II :  118-19,  129  ;  IV  :  120-21,  287 

Sialba,  II  :  45  ;  III  :  102  ;  IV  :  175 

Sialkot,  1 :  21,  23,  25,  68,  126,  304  ;  II  :  45,  54,  83, 
138,  188,  212-13,  220,  224,  235,  251-52,  262, 
289,  307,  325,  356,  360,  377,  383,  399,  438, 
454,  458,  475,  515  ;  III  :  13,  20,  36,  47,  96, 
100,  114,  120,  130,  262,  316,  351,  375,  403, 
410,  484  ;  IV  :  23,  50,  93,  121-22,  206,  232, 
298,  324;  337,  344,  373,  423,  443,  454,  458 

Siam,  II :  63,  64 

Siana  Sayyidan,  II  :  391  ;  IV :  122 
Siarh,  IV:  122-23 
Siba,  III  :  102,  484 


Siddhamatrika,  II :  182 
Siddharivah"  Dhab,  II :  126 

Siddhas,  II :  222,  424  ;  III :  4,  176,  185,  315  ;  IV : 
123-25 

Sidha  Gosti,  1 : 120,  445  ;  II :  33, 105, 174, 180,  574  ; 

III :  5,  281,  297,  407,  499  ;  IV:  123-25,  251, 

285,  354,  450 
Siddh  Sen,  Raja,  III :  34  ;  IV  :  123 
Siddhuval,  III :  102 
Sidhvan  Kalan,  IV  :  123 
Sidhvan  Patlan,  III :  199 
Sihan.  Bhai,  II :  264  ;  III :  66  ;  IV :  125-26 
Sihan,  Bhai  (Khadur),  IV:  126 
Sihan,  Bhai  (Uppal),  IV:  42,  126 
Siharfiari  Han  Singh  NaJva,  IV :  126-27 
Siharfi  Sardar  Hari  Singh  Nalva,  IV  :  127 
Sikandara,  III :  102  ;  IV  :  127-28 
Sikandar-Baldev  Singh  Pact,  1 :  47,  267  ;  II :  453  ; 

IV :  128-29,  189 
Sikandar  Hayat  Khan,  Sir,  1 :  47,  266,  II :  453,  478  ; 

III :  308 ;  IV  :  97,  128,  187-S8,  282 
Sikandar  Jah,  Nizam,  1 :  488  ;  IV :  160 
Sikandar  Sh  ah  Sur,  IV  :  174 
Sikh,  IV :  129-30 
Sikh  (by  Gupta),  IV:  130-31 
Sikh  (by  Nandi),  IV:  130 

SjJdiari  di Bhagat  Mali,  I  :  35,  73,  74,  246,  262,  265- 
66,  282,  265-66,  282,  328,  341,  352-54,  357, 
359,  361,  380,  399,  412,  433,  454,  468,  496- 
97,  509  ;  II :  50,  56,  79,  104,  114,  225,  235, 
237,  270,  315,  317,  319,  326,  335,  351,  364, 
374,  379,  386-87,  391-93,  414,  417-18,  427, 
492,  524,  535,  540,  557,  559,  564  ;  III :  9,  21, 
27,  28,  40,  66,  72,  90,  113,  131,  137-38,  149- 
50,  190,  203,  205,  209-10,  213,  226,  261,  269- 
70,  272,  307,  336,  342,  371-72 ;  IV  :  14,  26, 
27,  81,  244,  275,  431,  434 

Sikh  Architecture,  IV  :  131-33 

Sikh  Army  Pahchayats,  IV  :  133-34 

Sikh  Bacchio  Jago,  II  :  274 

Sikh  Calendar,  IV  :  134-36 

Sikh  Cause,  The,  II  :  294 

Sikh  Ceremonies,  II :  398 

Sikh  Coins,  IV  :  136-38 

Sikh  Cosmology,  IV  :  138-42 

Sikh  Darbar  —  see  Lahore  Darbar 


INDEX 


556 


Sikh  Dharam  Darshan,  TV :  67 

Sikh  Dharam  Shastar,  II :  155 

Sikh  Educational  Conference,  II  :  277,  294,  394, 

399,  489-90,  493,  523  ;  III :  3,  48,  126,  366  ; 

IV :  14,  210,  261,  281,  302,  430,  447 
Sikh  Education  Society,  III :  439 
Sikher  BaUdan,  IV  :  142 
Sikher  Hatha,  IV:  142-43 

Sikh  Gurdwaras  Act,  1 :  41,  42,  45,  53,  55,  94,  415, 
464  ;  II :  104,  147,  213,  253,  268,  292,  363, 
376,  394,  452,  494,  537  ;  III :  14,  37,  78,  117, 
324-25,  426,  488  ;  IV  :  97, 108,  116, 129, 143- 
46,  204,  229,  281,  316,  340,  383 

Sikh  Gurdwaras  Judicial  Commission,  III :  48 

Sikh  Gurdwaras  Tribunal,  II :  479  ;  III :  48  ;  IV  :  144 

Sikh  Guru  O  Sikhjati,  TV  :  146 

Sikh  Handbill  Committee,  III  :  118  ;  IV  :  146-17 

Sikh  Historical  Research  Department,  Khalsa 
College,  Amritsar,  II :  106  ;  IV :  299 

Sikh  Historical  Society,  II :  435  ;  III :  367,  382 

Sikh  Insignia,  IV :  147-48 

Sikhism,  II :  420,  430,  443-44,  459,  479-80,  484, 
487,  503,  507,  516, 538,  551-52,  556,  558  ;  III : 
1,  2,  23,  55,  64,  141,  161,  187,  254,  263,  292- 
93,  348,  391,  407,  424,  448, 474,  499-500  ;  IV  : 
41,  57,  61,  71,  75,  76,  84,  90,  104,  146;  148- 
55,  199,  200,  205-09,  211,  219,  253,  275-76, 
286,  301,  312,  347-48,  367,  374,  377,  391,  403, 
428-30,  449-50  ;  also  see  Gurmat 

Sikhim  and  Caste  System,  IV :  155-60 

Sikhism  and  the  Sikhs,  III :  384 

Sikhism  for  Modern  Man,  II  :  431 

Sikhism  :  It£  Ideals  and  Institutions,  TV  :  339 

Sikh  Itihas  Number  (Phulvari),  II :  435 

Sikh  Itihas  Research  Board,  II :  290 

Sikh  Jamia't,  IV  :  160-61 

Sikh  Journalism,  IV  :  161-66 

Sikh  Kanya  MahavidyalS,  II :  257  ;  IV :  302 

Sikh  Light  Infantry,  III :  455 

Sikh  Missionary  Society,  III :  202 

Sikh  National  College,  Lahore,  II :  128,  310  ;  III : 
232 

Sikh  National  Conference,  Lahore,  1 :  41 
Sikh  National  League,  1 :  41 

Sikh  Rahat  Maryada,  1 :  121,  183-84  ;  II :  148,  253, 
465,  518  ;  III :  241,  264-65,  324-25,  423-24, 


426-2^  ;  IV  :  404  ;  also  see  Rahat  Maryada 
Sikh  Reference  Libaray,  II  :  105,  193,  204,  340,  345, 

536 ;  III :  350  ;  IV :  236,  297,  408,  434 
Sikh  Regimental  Centre,  II  :  514 
Silch  Religion,  The,  II :  194,  276,  410  ;  III :  1,  2,  4  ; 

IV:  172 
Sikh  Review,  Delhi,  IV :  66 
SiJchs  and  Afghans,  The,  TV :  182-83 
Sikhs  and  Sikhism,  TV :  163 
Sikhs  and  the  Sikh  Wars,  TV  :  183-85 
Sikhs  and  the  Transfer  of  Power,  IV  :  185-94 
Sikh  Sidhant,  II :  155 
Sikh  Singh  Sabha,  II :  186,  481 
Sikhs'  Relations  with  Hill  States,  IV :  194-95 
Sikhs'  Relations  withjats  of  Bharatpur,  IV  :  195-96 
Sikhs'  Relations  with  Mughal  Emperors,  iV :  196- 

98 

Sikhs'  Relations  with  Nawab  of  Oudh,  IV  :  198-99 
Sikh  States,  IV  :  166-77 
SiJchs,  The,  TV :  181-82 

Sikh  Students  Federation,  III :  495  ;  IV :  14,  73, 177- 
79 

Sikh  Sudhar,  TV  :  164 

Sikh  Sudhar  Committees,  II :  329 

Sikhhi  ki  Hai  ?  II :  395 

Sikh  Tradition  (Historiography),  IV:  179-81 
Sikh  Youngmen's  Association,  IV:  178 
Sikh  Yudher  Itihas  O  Maharaja  Duleep  Singh,  TV  : 
199 

Sikligar  Sikhs,  III :  455  ;  IV :  199-200 
Siloani,  IV :  200 
Simbharo,  IV  :  200-01 

Simon  Commission,  I  :  83,  317  ;  II  :  292,  452,  531  : 

III  :  508  ;  IV  :  201-03 
Simon,  Sir  John,  III :  214,  508  ;  IV :  201 
Simran  -see  Nam-simran 
Sinai  Peninsula,  IV :  441 
Sinclair  Gardens,  III  :  2 

Sindh,  I  :  212,  220,  269,  398  ;  II  :  181,  282,  295, 
298,  305,  318,  572  ;  HI :  6,  7,  52,  104,  189, 
212, 259-60,  309, 353,  375,  380, 479, 483, 510  ; 
IV :  44,  179,  300,  366,  433 

Sindh  Sagar  Doab,  II :  19,  562,  571  ;  III :  216,  374  ; 
IV :  107,  385 

Singapore,  II :  64,  311,  366,  451,  493,  527  ;  III :  15, 
139,  234,  471  ;  IV :  52,  302 


557 


INDEX 


Singapore  Khalsa  Association,  IV  :  230 

Singapore  Military  Police,  IV :  422 

Singapore  Sikh  Missionary  Tract  Society,  IV  :  203 

Singaru,  Bhai,  II :  326  ;  IV :  203 

Singh,  IV:. 203-04 

Singha,  IV :  204-05 

Singha,  Bhai,  II :  499  ;  IV :  205 

Sihghal  Dvip,  IV:  119 

Singhanian  da  Sidak,  II :  456 

Singhanvali  IOiuhi,  III :  70 

Singha,  S.P.,  II  :  275 

Singhpura,  III  :  109  ;  IV :  203 

Singhpuria  Misl,  II  :  505  ;  HI :  57,  95,  96,  98,  108- 

10,  227,  337  ;  IV :  350  ;  see  Misls 
Singh  Sabha,  Amritsar,  IV  :  208 
Singh  Sabha,  Bhasaur,  1 :  259-60,  349  ;  II :  552 
Singh  Sabha,  Firozpur,  1 :  443 
Singh  Sabha  Gazette,  IV  :  163 
Singh  Sabha,  General,  IV :  208 
Singh  Sabha,  Gujjarval,  1 :  260 
Singh  Sabha,  Lahore,  I  :  92,  294-95,  420  ;  IV :  208, 

253 

Singh  Sabha,  Ludhiana,  1 :  217 

Singh  Sabha  Movement,  1 :  43,  121,  126,  177,  183, 
212,  217,  289,  332,  362,  371,  432,  548  ;  II  : 
39,  43,  49,  77,  82,  103,  123,  133,  152,  154, 

190,  217,  221,  293,  324,  367,  372,  394,  414, 
480-85,  497,  529,  559  ;  III :  44,  73,  144,  201, 
234,  300,  305,  347,  352  ;  IV :  67,  154,  205-12, 
252-53,  302,  335,  348,  391,  423,  429 

Singh  Sagar,  II :  148  ;  IV :  212 
Singhvala,  II :  337 
Sinhaldvipa,  III  :  49 
Sioke,  IV :  213 
Siranvali,  III  :  35 
Sirhali  Kalan,  IV  :  213 

Sirhind,  1 .12,  23-25,  32,  33,  58,  149,  221,  258,  272, 
274,  305,  342,  344,  359,  374,  401,  403,  430, 
440,  469,  495,  572,  598  ;  II :  15-17,  20,  22,  27, 
28,  45,  74,  86,  90,  114,  154,  193,  221,  241, 
300-01,  315,  322-23,  336,  342-43,  356-57, 
408,  416,  434,  439,  447,  486,  505-06,  529, 545, 
566,  568;  III  :  21,  27,  30,  38,  76,  82,  89,  94, 
96,  99,  101,  103-06,  109-10,  123,  129,  J  31, 

191,  318,  337,  354,  423,  433,  435-36,  464,  504, 
511,  514  ;  IV  :  7,  15,  82,  106,  136-  38,  166, 


169-70,  172-73,  194,  197,  213-15,  258,  299, 
310,  324,  328,  332,  335,  347,  350,  358,  395-96, 
439-40,451,458,461,463 
Siri  Riga  ki  Var,  IV  :  215 

Sirmur,  II :  21,  52  ;  III :  76,  157,  291  ;  IV :  48,  324, 

329,  458 
Siropa,  II :  102  ;  W :  215-16 
Siropao  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  152 
Sirr-i-Akbar,  III :  354 

Sirsa,  II :  87,  376,  380,  471  ;  III :  9  ;  IV :  216-17, 

353 

Sirthala,  II :  351 

Sis  Asthan  Patshahii  IX,  Gurdwara,  III :  151 
Sis  Bhet,  II :  136,  263 

Sisganj  Gurdwara,  Delhi,  1 :  547  ;  II :  178 ;  W :  165,  333 

Sisganj  Gurdwara,  Kiratpur,  IV:  378 

Sisganj  Gurdwara,  Traori,  TV  :  310 

Sisters  of  the  Spinning  Wheel,  III :  410 

Sisvah,  III :  102 

Site  Bai,  III :  67 

Sital  Singh  Bahriipia,  I  :  455 

Sita  (Mata),  III:  447 

Sita  (w/o  Pipa),  III :  342 

Site  Ram  Kohli,  II :  21,  477  ;  III :  94  ;  IV  :  126,  217- 

18,  452 
Sitasar,  IV  :  274 
Sito  Devi,  HI :  39 

Siva,  II :  312,  526  ;;  III :  71,  416,  422  ;  IV :  58 

S"ivalik,  II :  27,  52,  88,  90,  113,  145,  238,  240,  254, 
389,  402,  446,  467,  508,  545  ;  III :  76,  92,  94, 
132, 154,  276,  381,  461  ;  IV  :  48,  234,  240,  256, 
324,  439,  451 

Siyar  al-Mutakhirm,  W  :  219,  254 

Skanda  Purana,  III  :  188 

Sketch  of  the  Sikhs,  II :  280,  486  ;  IV  :  64, 182,  218- 
20 

Skinner's  Horse,  III :  55 
Slokas  of  Shaikh  Farid,  W:  220-21,  240 
Smith,  Sir  Harry,  1 :  167-68  ;  III :  6,  488  ;  IV :  185, 
221 

Smyth,  Carmichael,  II :  270,  280-81  ;  IV  :  182,  461 

Soan,  rivulet,  II :  351,  374 

Sobhah,  Mai,  II  :  521 

Sobha  Ram,  Bhai,  rV  :  51 

Sobha  Singh,  IV :  221-22 

Sobha  Singh  (artist),  222-23 


INDEX 


558 


Sobha  Singh  (Bhangi),  II :  438,  541  ;  III  :  415 

Sobha  Singh  Duggal,  III :  421 

Sobha  Singh  (Kalsia),  III :  104  ;  IV :  175 

Sobha  Singh  (Kanhaiya),  II :  116  ;  III :  100 

Sobha  Singh  (Pharvahi),  III:  334 

Sobha  Singh  (Ramgarh),  III  :  10 

Sobha  Singh,  Sir,  IV :  223-24,  385 

Sodar  Rahmsi,  II :  517  ;  III :  241-42,  266,  281,  367, 

431  ;  IV  :  224,  230 
Sodhi  Ram  Narain  Singh,  Tikka,  I  :  223 
Sodhi,  II :  363  ;  IV  :  224-25 

Sodhra,  II  :  116,  396,  423-234  ;  III :  504  ;  IV :  327 

Sofia  Duleep  Singh,  IV  :  387 

Sohal,  II  :  250  ;  III  :  100 

Sohan  Chand,  IV  :  225 

Sohan,  Kavi,  II :  108 

Sohan  Lai,  IV  :  225-26 

Sohan  Lai  Suri,  II :  87,  121,  239,  256,  283,  298, 
367,  381,  502,  551  ;  III :  81,  212,  244,  468,  480, 
486  ;  IV  :  133,  181,  218,  226-27,  258,  374-75, 
386,  453,  462 

Sohan  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  227 

Sohan  Singh  Bhakna,  1 :  331  ;  II :  62-64,  457  ;  III : 
255  ;  IV  :  227-28,  381 

Sohan  Singh,  Doctor.  TV  :  146 

Sohan  Singh  (Editor),  IV:  163 

Sohan  Singh  (Gujjarkhan),  II  :  552 

Sohan  Singh  (Hadali),  IV:  385 

Sohan  Singh  Josh,  I  :  494  ;  III  :  210  ;  IV  :  228-29, 
280 

Sohan  Singh  (Rawalpindi),  I  :  477  ;  III  :  122  ;  IV : 
187 

Sohan  Singh,  Sant,  II :  270  ;  IV  :  229-30 
Sohian,  II  :  323  ;  III  :  84,  102 

SohiJa,  I  :  176  ;  II  :  217  ;  III  :  241-42,  266,  281;  IV : 

230-31,  243 
Sohrab  Khan,  Mir,  II  :  318 
Solan,  III  :  232 

Soldier  and  Traveller,  IV  :  231-32 

Soltykoff,  Prince  Alexis,  III :  379 

Soma,  Bhai,  IV  :  232-33 

Some  Studies  in  Sikhism,  II  :  395 

Sondip,  IV  :  273,  331 

Sonia  Temple,  Ludhiana,  III  :  473 

So  Purakhu,  III  :  431-32 

Sorathi  kJ  Var,  IV  :  233 


Sot,  IV  :  462 

Sotraii,  IV  :  233-34 

South  Africa,  II  :  332  ;  III  :  45 

Southborough,  Lord,  HI :  45 

Soviet  Union,  II :  185 

Spain,  III :  321 

Spirit  of  Oriental  Poetry,  III  :  410 

Sri  Chakradhar  Charitra  Charu  Chandrika,  IV  :  273 

Sri  Chand,  Baba,  I  :  186,  553,  564  ;  II :  6,  133,  145, 

192,  212,  234,  318,  351,  449, 508, 510-11, 553  ; 

III  :  167,  184,  260,  270,  298,  334,  452,  462  ; 

IV :  194,  234,  263,  269,  377-78 
Sri  Charan  Hari  Visthar,  1 :  442 
Sri  Chetan  Math,  IV  :  409 
Sridhar,  II :  370 

Sri  Fateh  Singh  Pratap  Prabhakar,  IV  :  235 

Sri  Gobindpur,  IV  :  235-36 

Sri  Gur  Bhagat  Mai,  II :  563 

Sri  Gurduare  Darshan,  IV:  260,  346 

Sri  Glirmat  Prakashak,  1 :  223 

Sri  Gurmukh  Prakash  Granth,  II  :  127 

Sri  Guru  Nanak  Prakash,  III  :  137,  189 

Sri  Gur  Naya  Akhari  Udashi,  III  :  46 

Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suryodai,  Siiraj  Granth,  I  :  35,  100, 
102,  108,  143,  220,  232,  253,  261,  272,  297, 
299,  302,  313,  327,  342,  351,  356,  411,  458, 
486,  497-98,  501,  534,  538,  560,  565,  578-79, 
583  ;  II :  50,  51,  83,  98,  119,  126-27,  146,  179, 
191,  195-96  ;  III  :  7,  9,  13,  22,  25,  59,  149, 
189-90,  197,  203,  208,  211,  213,  266-67,  279, 
283,  324,  332,  336,  343,  357,  455,  460-61,  479, 
493  ;  IV  :  1,  4,  24,  52,  54,  81,  176,  181,  236, 
254,  330,  376,  399,  405,  426,  431,  438 

Sri  Gur  Sobha,  II :  47,  92,  135-36,  179,  443,  464, 
474,  560  ;  III  :  47,  94,  283  ;  IV  :  16,  53,  212, 
236-38,  246 

Sri  Gur  Tirath  Sangrahi,  III  :  145,  237  ;  IV:  238, 

260,  315,  379 
Sri  Guru  Charitra  Prabhakar,  IV  :  54 
Sri  Guru  Dasam  Panchasika,  IV  :  238 
Sri  Guru  Granth  Kosh,  II  :  78,  79,  216  ;  III  :  315  ; 

IV:  431 

Sri  Guru  Granth  Prayay,  W  :  238-39 

Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  de  Path  di  Vidhi,  II  :  155 

Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  Ji  Satik,  IV  :  354 

Sri  Guru  Granth  Sahib  vich  Lagan  Matrari.  IV  :  340 


559 


INDEX 


Sri  Guru  Hitkarni  Singh  Sabha,  :  295  ;  IV  :  252-54 

Sri  Guru  Kalgidhar  Chama  clear,  TV  :  430 

Sri  Guru  Kirpa  Katakhya,  II ;  155 

Sri  Guru  Nanak  Bodh,  III :  189 

Sri  Guru  NanaJc  Prakash,  TV :  254,  373,  376 

Sri  Guru  Nanak  Vijai,  HI :  188-89 

Sri  Guru  Sabad  Sar,  II :  563 

Sri  Guru  Singh  Sabha,  II :  24,  155,  185-86,  193, 
292,  360,  425,  489,  497  ;  III :  68,  73,  243,  274, 
414  ;  IV  :  208,  253 
Sri  Guru  Singh  Sabha  Shatabdi  Committee,  II  :  293 
Sri  Guru  Tegh  Bahadur  Khalsa  College,  Delhi,  II : 
128 

Sri  Guru  Upkar  Prachami  Sabha,  IV :  254-55 

Sri  Guru  Vyakaran  Panchain,  II :  452 

Sri  Hargobindpur  II  :  233-34,  352,  359  ;  III  :  23, 

108,  221  ;  IV :  76,  77,  153,  222,  304 
Sri  Harmandar  Sahib  Patshahi  Chhevin,  Gurdwara, 

II :  509 

Sri  Hem  Kund  Sahib  Management  Trust,  II :  270 
Srijapu  Nisan,  II :  452 
Srijassi  Singh  Binod,  1 :  326  ;  IV :  235,  255 
Sri  Kalgidhar  Darshan,  II :  455-56 
Sri  Kant'Hari,  II  :  135 
Sri  Kartarpuri  Bir  de  Darshan,  II :  395 
Sri  Lanka,  II :  208,  224,  401  ;  III :  167,  269,  355 
Srinagar,  1 :  212,  288  ;  II:  72,  97,  234,  262,  516;  III : 
84,  188,  235,  338  ;  IV :  99,  232,  255-56,  434 
Srinagar  (Garhwal),  I  :  358 
Sri  Nankana  Sahib  Education  Trust,  II :  539 
Sri  Nirmal  Sangat,  III :  92 
Srinivas  Dhir,  Lala,  1 :  27 
Sri  Prayag  Sahib,  III :  26 
Sri  Sain  Sukh,  TV  :  236-37 
Sri  Sant  Ratan  Mai,  TV  :  256 

Sri  Satguru  Ji  de  Muhain  dan  Sakhmn,  TV :  256-57 

Sri  Sukhchainana  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  333 

Sri  TakJit  Harimandar,  Patna,  III :  241,  243,  325-26 

States  Reorganisation  Commission,  III :  323,  392 

Steinbach,  Henry,  II :  279-80  ;  III :  383  ;  IV :  199,  257 

Steingass,  IH  :  93 

St.  Andrews,  II :  450 

St.  Helens,  II :  107 

St.  Jerome,  II  :  55 

St.  John,  II:  61,  62 

St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  III  :  55 


Stockholm,  II :  189 

Stockton,  II :  61,  366  ;  III :  81  ;  IV :  228,  424 
Stuart,  Robert,  IV :  198 
Suba  Singh,  II :  521 
Subeg  Chand,  III :  264 

Subeg  Singh,  1 :  509  ;  II :  429  ;  III :  144,  354  ;  IV : 

93,  142,  257-58,  305,  459 
Subhadfa,  II :  97  ;  III :  338 
Subhan  Khan,  Colonel,  III :  127 
Subhash  Chandra  Bose,  III :  115  ;  IV :  66 
Subi,  II :  439 

Suchaji,  II :  126,  532  ;  IV  :  258 

Suchchanand,  II :  16  ;  IV  :  258 

Suchcha  Singh,  IV  :  258-59 

Suchcha  Singh  (Bilaspur),  II ;  352 

Suchcha  Singh  (Rode),  II :  522 

Suchet  Singh  Dogra,  1 :  34,  70,  166,  446,  448,  457  ; 

III :  48,  212,  275,  285,  316,  456,  464;  IV :  20, 

259-60,  321 
Sudan,  III :  469 
Suddha,  Bhai,  1 :  293 

Suddh  Singh,  Sant,  II ;  506  ;  III :  339  ;  IV :  260 

Suddhu,  Bhai,  IV  :  260 

Sudesh  Sevak,  II :  62 

Sudhail,  IV :  260 

Sudharark,  II :  187,  482 

Sudhar  Khalsa.  II ;  456 

Sudhasar  Satak  Pachisa,  II :  155 

Sudhar  Sen,  Raja,  1 :  466 

Sudhasar  Maha  tam,  II :  563 

Sudha  Singh  Bajva,  III :  105 

Sudh  Singh,  IV  :  278 

Sufis,  II :  159,  166,  207,  403-04,  407,  516  ;  III :  82, 

145,  167,  176,  387,  406 
Sugamsar  Chandrika,  TV  :  4 
Suhela,  II:  384;  IV  :  260 
Suhela  Ghora,  Gurdwara,  II :  266-67 
Suhel  Singh,  III :  8 
Suheva,  IV :  23 
Suini  Shah,  1 :  208 
Suja,  Bhai,  IV  :  260-61 
Sujana,  Bhai,  IV :  261 
Sujan  Rai  Bhandari,  IV :  226 
Sujan  Singh  (Adhval),  II :  188 
Sujan  Singh  Bedi,  II :  193 
Sujan  Singh,  Chaudhri,  III :  19 


INDEX 


560 


Sujan  Singh  (Hadali),  IV:  385 
Sujan  Singh  (Misriot),  III:  116 
Sujan  Singh,  Rai  Bahadur,  II :  2 
Sujan  Singh  (Rasulpur),  II :  396 
Sujan  Singh  Sodhi,  I  :  130,  133,  462  ;  IV  :  210,  261- 
62 

Sujoval,  Ih:  249,  367,  371,  463  ;  III :  72,  120,  205 

Suket,  III  :  36,  84,  120,  285,  383,  483  ;  IV :  110 

Sukhan  Fakiran  Re,  IV  :  262 

Sukhchain  Singh,  II ;  45  ;  III :  106  ;  IV :  170,  355 

Sukhdev,  II:  211  ;  IV:  262 

Sukh  Dev  (Jasrota),  IV:  262 

Sukhdev,  Pandit,  I  :  302 

Sukh  Devi,  II  :  501  ;  II  :  210 

Sukhia,  II  :  428 

Sukhia  Singh,  IV  :  174 

Sukhjit  Singh,  IV  :  174 

Sukhmani,  1 :  185,  191,  388,  390  ;  II :  96,  217,  348  ; 
III  :  281,  317  ;  IV  :  7,  42,  90,  94,  141,  251,  263- 
65,  438 

Sukhmani  Sahansarnama,  II  :  238  ;  III  :  85  ;  IV  : 
265-66 

Sukhmani  Sahansarnama  (Paramarth),  II :  238 
Sukh  Raj,  IV  :  265 

Sukh  Sagar  arrhat  Ghar  da  Vaid,  II :  464 
Sukh  Sain  Granth,  I  :  438 
Sukkar  Chakk,  III  :  110,  210 

Sukkarchakkia  Misl,  II :  251, 281,  294, 325,  345,  356, 
359,  377,  433";  HI :  13,  95,  96,  98,  10  107- 
08,  110-11,  165  ;  IV  :  2,  19,  363  ;  see  Misls 

Sukkhan,  Mai,  II  :  120,  395  ;  III  :  101  ;  IV :  266 

Sukkha  Singh  (Arnauli),  II  :  131 

Sukkha  Singh  (Badrukkhan) ,  II  :  276 

Sukkha  Singh  (Gurbilas),  II  ;  136-37,  155  ;  III  :  283, 
357,  463  ;  IV  :  43,  53,  58,  212 

Sukkha  Singh  (Man  Kambo),  II :  241  ;  III :  63,  65, 
367  ;  IV  :  266-67 

Sukkha  Singh  (Padhana),  III:  111 

Sukkha  Singh  (Rosa),  II  :  412 

Sukkha  Singh  (Sirhind),  II:  18 

Sukkhi,  II  :  272 

Sukkho,  II  :  221,  225 

Sukkhu,  IV  :  267-68 

Sulabi  Khan,  IV  :  268 

Sulahi  Khan,  IV  :  529  ;  III :  371  ;  IV  :  268 

Sulakkhani,  Bibi,  II  :  375 


Sulakkhani,  Mate  (Choni),  II :  192,  553  ;  HI :  167  ; 
IV:  234,  268-69 

Sulakkhani,  Mate  (KIratpur),  II :  254-55,  261  ;  III : 
461,  514 

Sulhar,  IV :  269 

Sulisar,  II :  528  ;  III :  233 

Sulivan,  John,  III  :  373 

Sultan  Ahmad  'Ali  Khan,  IV  :  269 

Sulten  Hussain  Sharqi,  II :  162 

Sultenias,  IV  :  29,  30 

Sulten  Muhammad  Khan.  IV :  270 

Sulten  Muhammad  Khan  Barakzai,  I  :  290-91  ;  II 
53,  256,  551  ;  III :  343,  483  ;  IV :  231,  269-7C 

Sultenpur  Lodhi,  1 :  27,  73,  261,  323,  341,  348,  352, 
403,  406,  458,  496,  501,  596  ;  III :  5,  44,  97, 
188,  269,  316,  322-23,  418,  553  ;  III  :  16,  49, 
53,  99,  138,  166,  184,  199,  473,  477  ;  IV  :  173- 
74.  234,  270-71,  351,  358,  369,  427 

Sultan  Singh,  IV  :  272 

Sultan  ul-Qaum,  II :  356 

Sultenvind,  II  :  263  ;  IV :  272 

Sumatra,  II  :  63-64 

Sumer,  III :  307  ;  IV  :  124 

Sumer  Singh,  Baba,  II  :  10,  20  ;  III  :  243  ;  IV :  236, 

272-74,  291,  297 
Sunam,  II :  49,  83,  301,  422,  429  ;  III :  39,  106,  156, 

204,  469,  511  ;  IV  :  18,  98,  213,  274,  353,  381 
Sundar,  Baba,  IV  :  274 
Sundar,  Bhai,  IV  :  274 
Sundar,  Bhai,  (Chaddha),  IV:  274-75 
Sundar  Das,  Bhai,  IV  :  275 
Sundari,  IV :  79,  275-77,  430 
Sundari,  Mate,  1 :  31-33,  69,  280,  374,  417,  455,  500, 

546,  549  ;  II  :  109,  130,  240,  265,  290,  355  ; 

III  :  24,  40,  444  ;  IV  :  16,  17,  244,  277-78,  327, 

378,  408,  443 
Sundar  Lai,  IV  :  39 
Sundar  Lai,  Pandit,  III :  396 
Sundar  Shah,  1 :  368  ;  IV  :  278 
Sundar  Singh  (Babar),  II  :  523 
Sundar  Singh,  Bava,  II  :  244 
Sundar  Singh,  Bhai,  IV :  278 
Sundar  Singh  (Bhindrari),  II  :  73  ;  IV  :  279,  283, 

303,  397 

Sundar  Singh  Chuggha,  II  :  115  ;  III :  217 
Sundar  Singh  (cloth  pedlar),  II :  258 


561 


INDEX 


Sundar  Singh  (Gujranwala),  II :  489 

Sundar  Singh,  Jathedar,  II :  250,  304  ;  IV  :  279-80, 

422 

Sundar  Singh  Lyallpuri,  Master,  1 :  424  ;  II  :  227, 
274  ;  III :  37,  124  ;  IV :  229,  280-81 

Sundar  Singh  Majithia,  I:  51,  104,  127,  260,  462- 
64  ;  II :  2,  4,  213,  394,  399,  476,  486,  488  ;  III : 
122-23,  232,  410  ;  IV:  65,  103,  109,  115,  128, 
163,  186,  188,  202,  210,  280,  281-82,  288- 
89,  335,  338,  390 

Sundar  Singh  (Naqqash),  II  :  81 

Sundar  Singh  (Pharala),  II :  429 

Sundar  Singh,  Ragi,  IV :  282-83 

Sundar  Singh  Ramgarhia,  1 : 195  ;  II :  247  ;  III :  124  ; 
IV:  115 

Sundar  Singh  (Rattoke),  II :  523 

Sundar  Singh  (Sagari),  II :  103 

Sundar  Singh  Vikrant,  II :  260 

Sunn/SGnya,  II  :  95  ;  IV :  283-86 

Sunset  of  the  Sikh  Empire,  IV  :  218 

Surairi  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  286 

Suraj  Mall,  Baba,  1 :  133,  176,  377  ;  II :  113,  118, 

135,  139,  234,  448  ;  IV :  286-87 
Suraj  Mall  (Bharatpur),  III :  50  ;  IV :  195 
Surajmukhi  Regiment,  III  :  127 
Suraj  Prakash  —  see  Sri  Gur  Pratap  Suraj  Granth 
Suraj  Prakash  Chavarnika,  II :  268 
Suraj  Prakash  Vartak,  II ;  83 
Suraj  Singh,  Sant,  II :  "490 
Sural,  IV :  137 
Sural  Singh,  III :  284,  287 
Surat  Singh  BeS,  II :  193 
Surat  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  53 
Surat  Singh  (Chiniot),  II  :  243 
Surat  Singh,  Giani,  II :  77,  78  ;  IV :  291 
Surat  Singh,  Majithia,  II :  244  ;  IV :  244  ;  281,  287-68, 

387 

Sur  Das,  I:  312,  314  ;  II :  238  ;  IV  :  288 

Surendranath  Dvivedi,  HI :  404 

Suri  Chaudhari,  Bhai,  1 :  266  ;  IV :  288 

Suri,  VS.,  IV  :  386,  435 

Surjan  Singh,  II :  119  ;  IV :  223 

Surjit  Singh  Barnala,  I  :  49  ;  IV  :  178 

Surjit  Singh  Majithia,  III  :  404  ;  IV  :  282,  288-89 

Surjit  Singh,  Sant,  III  :  489 

Surtia,  Bhai,  II  :  74 


Surti  Mai,  III  :  514 

Suru,  River,  II :  462 

Sute  Prakash,  Sant,  III ;  315 

Suthrashahis, 1 :  291  ;  II :  279,  302  ;  III :  186  ;  IV  : 
289-90,  377 

Sutlej,  River,  II :  4,  5,  23,  40,  50,  58,  97,  107,  123, 
229-31,  235,  283-84,  343,  346,  356,  370,  377, 
382,  408,  433,  439,  465,  471,  511,  515,  520- 
21,  529,  543,  548,  554,  557,  573,  575  ;  III :  6, 
23,  29,  36,  89,  94,  96,  101-02,  104-05,  108, 
110-11, 120, 132, 199,  221,  238,  285,  302,  316, 
322,  330-31,  336,  373-74,  381,  423,  479,  482- 
83,  500,  515  ;  IV  :  35,  102,  166,  173,  195,  213, 
221,  267,  321,  324,  433,  436,  439,  458 

Sutlej  Yamuna  Link  Canal,  II :  353 

Svami  Das,  Bhai,  III  :  190  ;  IV :  290 

Svapan  NatJk.  1 :  294,  559  ;  IV :  253,  290-91 

Svatantra  Party,  IV  :  383 

^veta^varara  Upanishad,  III  :  361 

Swaran  Singh,  Sardar,  III :  304  ;  TV  :  292-93 

Swat,  II :  263  ;  III  :  7 

Swatantra  Jatha,  IV  :  342 

Switzerland,  II :  66 

Syamgarh,  II :  501 

Syedvala,  III :  381 

Sylhet,  II :  290 ;  III :  345  ;  IV  :  293,  331 
Symbolism,  ]V  :  293-96 
Syria.  II  :  385 

Taba  Singh,  II :  79 
Tabi'dari,  IV  :  297 
Tabi,  M5I,  III :  338 
Tagore,  S.M.,  II  :  162 

Tahal  Singh  (Khucla  Singh's  companion),  II  :  501 
Tahal  Singh  (Mukta),  III ;  264,  281 
Tahikan,  IV :  297-98,  426 
Tahil  Das,  Sant,  I  :  29 
Tahilpura,  IV :  298 

Tahil  Singh,  Bhai,  III  :  115  ;  IV :  128,  298 
Tahir.  Shaikh,  II :  445 
Tahla  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  IV  :  298-99 
Tahliana  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III  :  11,  433 
Tahli  Sahib  Baba  Sri  Chand,  III  :  270 
Tahil  Sahib  Gurdwara  (Gondpur),  II  :  102 
Tahli  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Kartarpur),  II  :  102 
Tahli  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Munak  Kalari),  III  :  146 


INDEX 


562 


Tahl  Singh  Chhachhi,  II :  23  ;  IV :  299 
Tahmas  Khan  Maskin,  IV :  299 
Tahmasnama,  II :  356  ;  IV :  299-300 
Tahmas  Shah,  II :  295 

Taimur  Shah,  1 :  12,  13,  23,  101,  219,  229,  241,  217, 
403  ;  II :  24,  223,  291,  355,  446  ;  III :  50,  145, 
382,  511  ;  IV :  98,  99,  182,  300,  395 

Taiping,  II  :  142 

Taj  ud-Din,  II  :  304 

Takht,  IV  :  116,  348,  300-02 

Takht  Akal  Bunga  -see  Akal  Takht 

Takht  Damdama  Sahib,  1 :  500  ;  II :  290  ;  IV  :  301 

Takhtgarh,  III  :  103 

Takht  Harimandar  Sahib,  Patna,  1 :  292,  365  ;  II : 
20,  88,  136,  290,  451,  514,  536  ;  III :  241,  243, 
325-26,  462  ;  IV:  58,  301,  333,  336 

Takht  Kesgarh  Sahib,  1 :  128,  130-33  ;  II :  249,  251, 
290,  436,  514  ;  III :  358  ;  IV :  8,  137,  301,  336, 
457 

Takht  Rot  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  509 

Takht  Mall,  Bhai,  1 :  385  ;  IV  :  302 

Takht  Mall,  Chaudhari,  III :  335  ;  IV :  802 

Takht  Mall  (Phullcaj,  III :  837 

Takht  Sachkhand  Sri  Hazur  Sahib,  1 :  2,  59,  210, 

324,  408,  568  ;  II :  3,  277,  290,  385,  463  ;  III : 

87,  191-92,  204,  218,  224,  305,  339,  503  ;  IV : 

102,  200,  301,  336,  406,  440 
Takht  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  259,  260,  590  ;  II :  214,  257, 

552  ;  IV :  162,  210-11,  302-03 
Takht  Singh,  Mahant,  II :  277 
Takhtu,  Bhai,  IV  :  303 
Takhtupura,  III  :  9  :  IV  :  303-04 
Talapur,  IV  :  304 
Tall  Ghanour,  II  :  67 
Talvandi  Chaudharian,  III  :  364 
Talvandi  (Gurdaspur),  II  :  561 
Talvandi  Musa  Khan,  II  :  396 

Talvandi  Rai  Bhoe,  I  :  261-62  ;  III  :  102,  228,  236, 
322,  417,  502,  559,  564  ;  III :  53,  165-66,  199, 

Talvandi  Rai  Ki,  II  :  23,  422  ;  III  :  129 

Talvandi  Sabo,  1 :  299,  322,  403,  504,  587  ;  II  :  91, 
97, 136,  226,  290,  359,  369,  376,  380,  391,  434, 
451,  471,  506,  528,  531,  553  ;  III  :  40,  96,  108- 
09,  158,  221-22,  464,  468,  514  ;  216,  230,  277, 
299,  301,  335,  355,  463  ;  also  see  Damdama 
Sahib 


Talvara,  II :  359  ;  IV  :  304 
Tambu  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  III :  136 
Tamil  Nadu,  II  :  159,  185  ;  IV :  385 
Tanda,  (Jammu),  III  :  25 
Tand5  (Punjab),  II  :  454 
Takka  Des,  III  :  373 
Tangri,  River,  III :  3,  54,  434 
Tankhah,  IV:  304-06,  307 

Tankhahia,  III :  325  ;  IV  :  305-07,  337,  351,  456 
Tankhahnama  Bhai  Nand  Lai,  1 :  534  ;  III :  196, 

428  ;  IV  :  304,  306-07 
Tan  Sen,  II :  162 
Tansukh  Lahauri,  IV  :  307-08 
Tantric  Buddhism,  III :  4 
Tapa,  III :  70  ;  IV  :  308 
Tapa  (town),  IV:  808 
Tapiana  Sahib,  1 :  148  ;  II :  190,  471 
Tapiya  Singh,  Mahant,  IV :  308 
Tapti,  River,  II :  91  ;  III :  191 
Tara  Bai,  II :  265 

Tara  Chand,  Bhai,  III :  144  ;  IV :  309 

Tara  Chand,  Diwan,  IV :  809 

Tara  Chand",  Masand,  1 :  261 

Tara  Chand  (s/o  Karam  Chand,  Diwan),  II :  433 

Tara  Chand,  Raja,  II :  508 

Taragarh,  Fort,  1 :  128  ;  II :  307  ;  IV  :  310 

Tarak  Nath  Das,  II :  61 

Taran  Singh,  IV :  98,  809 

Taraori,  I  :  374  ;  II  :  408,  445  ;  III  :  91,  464  ;  IV  : 

175,  310 
Tarapur,  IV  :  310 
Tara  Singh  (Akalgarh),  III  :  358 
Tara  Singh,  Bhai,  II :  272,  466  ;  IV :  63,  310-11 
Tara  Singh-Bhupinder  Singh  Pact  (1935),  1 :  329 
Tara  Singh  Ghaiba,  1 :  249,  572  ;  II :  233  ;  III :  101, 

103,  482  ;  IV  :  19,  311-12 
Tara  Singh  (Hoshiarpur),  II  :  377 
Tara  Singh  Kanhaiya,  III  :  470 
Tara  Singh,  Kanvar,  III :  19  ;  IV  :  3 
Tara  Shigh  (Mari),  IV:  458 

Tara  Singh,  Master,  1 :  6,  41,  48,  212,  229,  260,  329, 
425,  493,  494  ;  II  :  25,  26,  188,  196,  213,  227, 
253-54,  327,  453,  476,  514  ;  III :  37,  78,  117, 
124,  214,  232,  251,  277,  290,  309,  312,  352, 
370,  392,  400,  439,  495-98;  IV  :  8, 108-09, 146, 
190-91,  193,  280,  306,  312-15,  316-17,  381 


563 


INDEX 


Tara  Singh  1Moga),  III :  510  ;  IV :  143 
Tarsi  Singh  Narotam,  1 :  278,  313  ;  II :  82,  110,  202, 
216,  270  ;  III :  2,  145,  237,  368,  489  ;  IV :  10, 
57,  209,  238,  254,  260,  315-16,  354,  379,  397, 
402,  407 

Tara  Sirigh-Nehru  Pact,  IV :  316-18 

Tara  Singh  Ramgarhia,  III :  108 

Tara  Singh,  Sardar,  IV  :  318 

Tara  Singh  (Ugoke),  III :  114 

Tara  Singh  (Van),  II :  154 

Tarbiat  Khan,  IV  :  25 

Tare!  Tupke,  IV  :  431 

Targa,  IV :  318-19 

Tarikh-i-Ahmadi,  TV :  320 

rarilch-i-Bahadurshahj".  II :  91 

Tarikh-i-Hind,  II :  281 

Tarikh-i-Iradat  Khani,  IV :  319 

Tarikh-i-Muzaffari,  III :  186  ;  IV  :  319-20 

Tarikh-i-Nasiri,  IV :  212 

Tarikh-i-Panjab,  III :  345  ;  IV :  320 

Jarikh-i-Panjab  (Urdu),  TV  :  453 

Tarikh-i-Panjab,  Tuhfat  ul-Albab,  TV :  S20-211 

Tarikh-i-Rausa-i-Panjab,  III :  384 

Tarikh-iSunam,  III :  204 

Tarlochan  Kaur,  III :  233 

Tarlok  Singh  (Kairon),  III :  22 

Tarn  Taran,  1 :  189, 195,  201,  236,  288-89,  348,  387, 
406,  422,  454  ;  II :  69, 115, 118, 141, 179,  248- 
50,  308,  311,  361,  375,  390,  396,  435-36,  447, 
451,  471,  482-83,  488-89,  492-93,  501,  504, 
538  ;  III :  23,  44,  99,  100,  109,  118,  126-27, 
213,  225,  355,  477,  483,  501  ;  IV  :  68, 115, 146, 
153,  206,  278,  298,  321-23,  331,  337,  384,  424 

Taru,  Bhai,  IV  :  323 

Taru,  Bhai  (Dalla),  II :  492  ;  III :  261  ;  IV :  323 
Taruna  Dal,  1 :  234,  400,  401-03,  494,  531, 583,  588  ; 
II:  220,  235,  250-51,  342,  362,  429,  554  ;  HI:  23, 
27,  95,  96, 100-09, 147,  227  ;  IV :  323-25,  458 
Taru  Popat,  IV  :  325 

Tara  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  72-73  ;  II :  272,  466  ;  III :  57, 
66,  231,  354,  357,  432  ;  IV:  96,  142,  325-26, 
459 

Taryaq-i-Sarasvatl  Phobia,  II  :  373 
Tashkent,  II  :  67 
Tasimbli,  IV  :  326 
Tata.J.R.D.,  Ill  :  45 


Tatar  Khan,  III :  109 
Tatihar,  II :  445 

Tatimah-i-Waqi'siit-iJahaAgiri,  TV :  328 

Tatt  Khalsa,  1 :  214,  374  ;  II :  240  ;  III :  40,  354  ;  IV : 
44,  209,  326-37 

Tatt  Khalsa,  Gurdwara,  III :  219 

Tattvabodhini  Sabha,  1 :  393 

Taunganvali,  II :  274 

Tavemier,  Jean  Baptiste,  II :  526 

Taxila,  II :  345  ;  III:  351,  375 

Tazkirah,  IV :  327-28 

Tazkirah-iSalatin-i-Chughtai,  IV:  328-29 

Tegh  Bahadur,  Gum,  1 :  15,  17-19,  21,  26,  29,  3b, 
61,  78,  79,  86,  98,  99,  112,  115,  119,  128, 130, 
132, 181-82,  203,  217,  221,  224,  232,  234,  243, 
244,  250-51,  253-54,  277,  280,  291-93,  299, 
300,  312-13,  324,  333,  348,  354,  358,  360,  362, 
366,  375,  386,  410-412,  417,  427,  454-55,  461, 
465,  486,  499,  510,  540,  546,  548  ;  II :  6,  33, 
42,  45,  49,  55,  56,  67,  69,  71,  77,  87,  88,  92, 
93,  102, 110,  113-14, 126,  129,  138, 140,  145- 
46,  148,  170-74,  176-77,  191-92,  195,  201, 
203, 205, 207-08, 210, 214,  222, 234,  236, 238, 
240,  260,  262,  264,  269,  290,  301,  313,  363, 
365,  370,  380-81,  385,  389,  391,  397,  413-14, 
419,  424-25,  431-32,  442,  445,  448-50,  460, 
463, 473,  493-96,  499,  503,  508, 510,  512,  516, 
519,  528,  551,  553,  556-58,  567-68,  572  ;  III : 
4,  7,  10,  17,  23,  25-27,  30,  39,  54,  57,  59-61, 
67-69,  70,  81,  83,  87,  90,  92,  121,  131,  142, 
146-47,  151,  156,  184-85,  195-96,  199,  203- 
04,  208-09,  211,  243,  273,  282,  298,  318-19, 
325-27,  330-32,  334,  342,  345,  353,  357,  421, 
433-34,  443-44,  446,  462,  471,  499,  501,  504, 
506  ;  rv  :  17,  25,  30,  31,  35,  36,  45,  68,  74,  76, 
83,  95,  98,  114,  127,  129,  142-43,  153,  169, 
194,  197,  200,  205,  212,  222,  238,  243,  260, 
273,  298-99,  308,  310,  326,  329-34,  349,  375- 
78,  383,  401,  405-06,  409 

Tehran,  III :  89  ;;  IV  :  425 

Tehri  (Garhval),  II :  270  ;  III :  448 

Teja,  IV  :  342 

Teja  Singh  Akarpuri,  Jathedar,  TV  :  334—35 

Teja  Singh,  Babi,  I  :  59,  259,  260,  349,  350  ;  II :  3, 

133,  155,  213,  552  ;  IV  :  102,  209-10,  306, 

335-36 


INDEX 


564 


Teja  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  336 

Teja  Singh  Bhuchchar,  I :  111,  195,  422-23  ;  II :  54- 
55,  454,  475  ;  IV :  115,  306,  336-38 

Teja  Singh  Chuharkana,  1 :  43  ;  II :  447 

Teja  Singh  Hazuria,  IV:  338 

Teja  Singh  Jhabbar,  1 :  93  ;  II :  454 

Teja  Singh,  Justice,  III  :  380-81,  419 

Teja  Singh  Mauigan,  1 :  259  ;  II  :  552 

Teja  Singh  (Padhania),  II :  54 

Teja  Singh,  Prof.,  1 :  378, 581  ;  II :  196,  213-14,  253  ; 
III :  352  ;  IV  :  338-40 

Teja  Singh  (Rawalpindi),  I  :  260 

Teja  Singh  Samundri,  I  :  40  ;  II :  205,  227,  253  ;  III : 
501  ;  IV  :  108,  340-41,  381- 

Teja  Singh  Samundari  Hall,  III  :  289  ;  IV :  341 

Teja  Singh,  Sant,  I  :  213,  270  ;  II  :  61  ;  IV  :  341 

Teja  Singh  Sodhi,  I  :  278  ;  II :  180  ;  III :  315 

Teja  Singh  Swatantar,  IV :  341-42 

Tej  Bahadur  Sapru,  HI  :  509 

Tej  Bhan,  Baba,  I  :  261  ;  IV :  343 

Tej  Kaur,  II  :  122 

Tej  Kaur,  Bibi,  II  :  522 

Tej  Singh,  Raja,  1 :  157,  159,  162,  167-69,  482;  II : 
54,  220,  243-44,  280,  346,  383,  547,  572  ;  III : 
36,48,  145,  365,  372,  487  ;  IV :  102,  111.  131, 
184,  343-44,  357,  436 

Tek  Chand,  Bhai,  III :  319 

Tek  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  344 

Tek  Singh  (Faridkot),  IV  :  174 

Telarigana,  II  :  526 

Temple,  Sir  Richard,  IV  :  231 

Temperance  Society,  III  :  118 

Teri,  II  :  324,  438  ;  III  :  119,  218  ;  IV  :  222 

Thackwell,  Sir  Edward  Joseph,  IV  :  287,  344-45 

Thakari,  Mai,  III  :  125 

Thakar  Das,  Diwan,  I  :  354  ;  IV  :  345 

Thakar  Das  Sodhi,  Baba,  II :  228 

Thakar  Singh  Atarivala,  IV  :  345 

Thakar  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  345 

Thakar  Singh,  Doctor,  IV:  345—46 

Thakar  Singh,  Giani,  II  :  80,  155,  180,  394;  IV :  260, 
346-47 

fftakar  Singh  (Kahar),  IV:  347 

Thakur  Singh  ,(Kot  Kapura),  III  :  303 

Thakur  Singh  Mokal,  II  :  369 

Thakur  Singh  Sandhanvalia,  1 :  50,  200,  371,  407- 


08  ;  II  :  127-28,  144,  186,  244,  276,  336,  365, 
468.  497,  521  ;  III  :  204,  207,  220,  304-05, 
343-44  ;  IV  :  207-08,  210,  225,  347-49 

Thakur  Singh  (Wagha),  II  :  369 

Thakurval,  II :  552 

Thamm  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Kartarpur),  II  :  448,  496  ; 
IV  :  395 

Thamm  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Uddoke),  IV:  379 
Thamman  Singh,  Baba,  III  :  334 
Thanda  Burj,  II  :  17,  114  ;  IV  :  461 
Thandar  Tirath,  II  :  413 

Thanesar,  I  :  211,  344,  372,  374  ;  II  :  210,  314,  341, 
408. 438,  465  ;  III  :  91,  102, 147,  190,  331,  375, 
437,  464  ;  IV :  19,  81,  176,  349^50,  353 

Than  Singh,  Bhai,  III  :  352 

Thapar  Institute  of  Engineering  and  Technology, 

III  :  320 
Thapathali,  II:  383 

Tharaj  Singh,  I  :  15  ;  III  :  156  ;  IV :  350 
Tharajvala,  II  :  533  ;  III  :  29 

Thara  Sahib  Bhai  Bir  Singh  ate  Dhir  Singh,  I  :  501 
Thara  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II  :  82,  98,  313,  472 ;  III : 
471 

Thara  Singh,  II  :  353 
Tharva,  IV  :  350 
Thaska,  1 :  273  ;  II  :  553 
Thathgarh,  II :  63,  467 
Thatia,  II :  462  ;  IV  :  350-51 
Thatta  (Zira),  IV:  351 
Thattian,  II  :  366 
Thehpur.  Ill  :  87,  88 
Theosophical  Society,  II  :  332 
Theri,  IV  :  351 
Thethar,  IV  :  100 

Thikrivala,  I  :  295,  329  ;  II  :  429,  451  ;  IV  :  87,  88, 
108 

Thirty-Five  Years  in  the  East,  II  :  286  ;  IV  :  351-52 

Thiti,  I  :  314  ;  IV  :  352-53 

Thittari  Var  Bararimah,  II  :  155 

Thoha  Khalsa,  I  :  223  ;  III  :  222,  225  ;  IV  :  53 

Thomas,  George,  II  :  486,  562  ;  III :  52,  98,  106-07, 

331  ;  IV:  171-72,  353-54 
Thomas,  Jacob,  IV  :  354 
Thornton,  T.H.,  II  :  279 
Thothian,  IV  :  336 
Thundering  Dawn,  III  :  409 


565 


INDEX 


Thus  Spake  Guru  Gobind  Singh,  II :  398 
Tibba,  III :  18 

Tibba  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  IV  :  308 
Tibba  Jai  Singh,  423 

Tibbi  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Jaito),  II :  73,  327-28,  428, 

522  ;  IV :  259,  279,  432 
Tibbi  Sahib,  Gurdwara  (Muktsar),  III :  11.  136-37 
Tibet,  III :  4,  167,  379  ;  IV :  462 
Tihara,  II :  306-07  ;  III :  96,  102 
Tika,  IV :  354 

Tika  Bhagat  Banj  Ka,  IV  :  315 

77ka  Guru  Bhav  Dipika,  IV  :  315,  354 

Tika  Japuji  Sahib,  II  :  395 

Tika  Sri  Riga,  IV  :  315 

Tikke  di  Var,  III :  57 

Tilak  Svaraj  Fund,  II :  452 

Tilla  Bal  Gudai,  III :  507 

Tiloka,  Bhai,  IV  :  354-55,  360 

Tiloka  Pathak,  Bhai,  IV :  S55 

Tiloka  (Sekha)  ,  IV:  83 

Tiloka  Se{h,  II :  387  ;  IV  :  355 

Tilok  Chand,  Chaudhari,  III :  438 

Tilok  Singh,  1 :  77,  273  ;  II :  221  ;  III :  105-06,  152. 

337,  464  ;  IV  :  168.  172,  355-86 
Tinkar  Banerjee,  II :  204 
Tipu  Sultan,  IV  :  440 
Tiratha,  Bhai,  IV  :  356 
Tiratha,  Bhai  (Chaddha),  IV:  356 
Tirathivali,  III :  16r 

Tirath,  Bhai,  II :  104  ;  III :  131  ;  IV :  386-57 

Tirath,  Bhai  (Beri),  IV  :  356 

Tirath,  BhaifUppal),  IV:  303 

Tirath  Chand,  IV  :  129 

Tirath  Singh,  II  :  490 

Tiri,  Battle  of,  I  :  409 

Tir  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II :  511 

Tirsar  Mitdia  Khun,  II :  499 

Tirthapuri,  IV :  462 

Titles  and  Orders  of  Merit,  IV  :  357-01) 

Tivvana,  Fateh  Khan,  1 :  79 

Toda,  Bhai,  IV  :  358 

Toda  Mahita,  Bhai,  IV  :  358 

Todar  Mall  Seth.  II :  16  ;  IV :  358-59 

Todarpur,  1 :  214 

Tohana,  II :  19  ;  III :  106 

Toka  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  IV :  359 


Tokha  Bhatt,  1 :  352 

Tonk,  1 :  67,  172,  247  ;  II :  220,  390,  508,  557  ;  III : 

212,  483-84  ;  IV :  107,  259,  309,  366 
Topkhana-i-Meva  Singh,  HI :  81  § 
Topkhana  Kb,as,  II :  69 
Topkhana  Mubarak,  II :  69 

Toshakhani,  II :  247,  277,  477-78,  494,  536  ;  III  : 

38,  78,  287  ;  IV :  359-60 
Tosham.  Ill :  204 
Tota,  rV:  359 

Tota,  Bhai,  II :  100  ;  IV :  360 
Tota  Mahita,  Bhai,  IV  :  360 
Totapuri,  IV :  360-61 
Toti.  Mai,  265 

Transmigration  of  the  Soul,  IV  :  151,  361-63 
Travancore,  IV  :  47,  65 

Travels  and  Adventures  of  the  Rev.JosephWolff,  W  : 
441 

Travels  in'  Cashmere  and  the  Punjab,  IV  :  363-64 
Treaty  of  Amritsar  (1809),  III :  80,  129 
Treaty  with  Gulab  Singh,  IV  :  364-65 
Trehan,  IV :  365 
Treta,  II :  401 

Trial  ofDiwan  Mul  tej,  TV  :  218 

Trilochan,  Bhaga  t,  ][ :  312 ;  II :  238  ;  III :  53,  364  ; 

IV :  25,  365-66 
Trilochan  Pal,  Raja,  IV :  213 
Triloki  NatJi,  II  :  463 

Tripartite  Treaty,  I  :  219,  297,  398  ;  II  :  133,  321, 

417;  III:  184,  446;  IV:  366 
Tripta,  Mata,  1 :  426  ;  II :  133,  321,  417  ;  III :  184, 

446  ;  IV  :  222,  366-67 
Tripura,  III :  186-87 
Triveni  Sahib,  Gurdwara,  II ;  207,  442 
Trumpp,  Dr.  Ernest,  II :  10,  79,  468  ;  III :  3,  187, 

411  ;  IV  :  367 
Trumpp's  Translation,  IV  :  182,  367-68 
Tuklani,  II :  340  ;  III :  514 
Tuk  ladcara,  II :  464 
Tulamba,  TV  :  27,  368 
Tulaspur,  II :  391 
Tulsa,  Bhai,  III :  72,  372  ;  IV  :  368 
Tulsa,  Bhai  (Vohra),  IV :  369 
Tulsia,  Bhai,  II :  104  ;  IV  :  369 
Tulsia,  Bhai  (Bhardvaj),  IV :  369 
Tulsi  Das,  II :  45.5  ;  III :  407 


INDEX 


566 


Tung,  I  :  108  ;  II  :  344 
Tm  .  Ill  :  117  ;  IV:  369 
Turban.  IV  :  369-71  ' 
Turk.  IV :  307.  371 
Turkey,  II :  66,  285  ;  IV :  342 
Turkistan,  IV :  371 
Tutte  Khambh,  II :  189 
Tuzk-i-Babri,  1 :  242 

Tuzk-i-Jahangiri,  III :  59,  82,  345  ;  IV :  371-72 
Twirikh  Guru  Khalsa,  1 :  63,  302,  365,  412  ;  II :  83, 

239,  464,  568  ;  III :  237  ;  IV :  31, 181,  212,  254, 

359,  372-73 
Twatlkh-i-Ahmadi,  TV :  373-74 
Twarikh-i-Hind,  IV :  374 
Twarikh-i-Nanak.  1 :  189 

Twirikh-i-Panjab,  1 :  189  ;  II :  239,  298  ;  IV :  254, 

374-75,  453 
Twarikh-i-Sikhan  -see  Akhbarat-i-Singhan 

Ubaid  Khan,  Khwaja,  II :  356 

Ubare  Khan,  IV :  376 

Uchcha  Bunga,  III :  221 

Uchch  da  Pir,  II :  20,  67-68,  423,  560  ;  HI :  5 

Uda,  Bhai,  1 :  18  ;  IV :  376 

Udai  Ram  Chand,  Raja,  II :  512 

Udai  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  254,  293  ;  II :  53, 56,  413,  442  ; 
III :  31.  319  ;  IV  :  52,  98,  167-68,  176,  376-77 

Udai  Singh  Bedi,  IV :  291 

Udasian  da  Chhota  Akhara,  III :  46 

Vdasi  Bodh,  III :  189 

Vdasin  Matt  Darpan,  1 :  488 

Udasin  Panchaiti  Akhara,  III :  189 

Udasis,  1 :  50,  289,  315  ;  II :  77.  78, 97,  109,  145,  205, 
212-13,  279,  318,  449-50,  516,  568,  572  ;  III  : 
46,  83,  186,  191,  236,  335,  338,  369,  391,  449, 
452,  462 ;  IV :  43. 143,  234,  354, 263,  350,  377-79 

Uddl,  Bhai,  II :  52  ;  IV  :  379 

Uddoke.  Ill :  36  ;  IV :  379-80 

Ude  Singh,  Bhai  (Anandpur),  1 :  33,  355  ;  III :  39, 
264  ;  IV:  380 

Ude  Singh -(Babar),  II :  524 

Ude  Singh  Ramgarh  Jhugian,  1 :  237  ;  II :  434 

Udham  Singh,  IV :  381-82 

Udham  Singh  (Faridkot) ,  TV  :  455 

Udham  Singh  Kasel,  II :  62,  64,  185,  259  ;  IV :  342, 
380-81 


Udham  Singh  Nagoke,  II :  140,  310  ;  III :  290  ;  IV : 

65.  382-83 
Odho,  II  :  238 

Udiyog  Hatha  Prabodh,  II :  313 

Ugani,  IV :  383-84.  464 

Ugarsain.  Bhai,  HI :  473  ;  IV :  384 

Uggo,  III :  18 

Ugoke,  III:  114 

Ugvanda,  Bhai,  IV :  1,  384 

Ujagar  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  384 

Ujala,  Shaikh,  II :  72 

Ujiarijot,  II :  456 

Ujjain,  1 :  505  ;  II :  526  ;  III :  238 

Ujjal  Singh,  1 :  228,  266, 470  ;  II :  476  ;  III :  122,  290, 

396,  509  ;  IV :  187,  202,  223,  318,  385,  390 
Ultimate  Reality,  II :  311  ;  III :  90,  112 
Umar  Faruqi,  Hazrat,  III :  82 
Umar  Khan  Chib,  II :  28 
Umar  Khyam,  III :  48 
Umar  Shah,  1 :  28,  29  ;  III :  190  ;  IV  :  386 
Umar  Shaikh,  1 :  241 

Umc&t  ut-Twirikh,  II :  239, 298  ;  IV  :  133, 181, 218, 

226,  374-75,  386-87,  453 
Umrao  Singh  Majithia,  I  :  484  ;  II  :  20,  399  ;  IV : 

387-88 

Umrao  Singh,  Rao,  II :  144  ;  III :  207 

Una,  1 :  306.  327  ;  II :  448,  501,  556  ;  III :  157.  374  ; 

IV:  19,  35.  110-11.  388 
UNESCO,  II :  431  ;  III :  252  ;  IV :  293,  446 
UNFAO,  IV :  447 

U.N.  General  Assembly,  IV  :  293.  446 

Unionist  Party,  I  :  228  ;  II  :  453.  488  ;  III :  308,  370  ; 

IV:  109.  128.  187-88.  313 
United  Front,  II :  539 

United  Kingdom.  II :  232  ;  III :  348  ;  IV :  370 

United  States  of  America  (U.S.A.).  II  :  664.  232, 
259, 270, 307, 311, 366,  456-57, 464, 467  ;  III : 
67.  148.  217,  234.  305,  348,  448,  501,  513  ; 
IV:  227-28,  341-42.  345,  380-81,  424 

Unity  Conference,  IV  :  388-90 

University  College,  London,  IV :  341 

University  Officers'  Training  Corps,  III :  37 

U.N.O.,  III :  252 

Untouchability,  IV :  390-92 

Upali,  IV :  381 

Vpdesh  Bilas,  II:  118 


567 


INDEX 


Upkaran  di  Vanagi,  II :  274 
Upkarijot,  II  :  456 
Upkar  Khalsa.  Ill  :  144 

Upper  Bar!  Doab  Canal,  II :  190  ;  III  :  24,  369.  420 

U.P.  Sikh  Gazette,  W  :  392 

U.P.  Sikh  Pratinidhi  Board,  IV  :  392 

Uri,  II  :  234,  252  ;  IV  :  392 

Urmila  Devi,  Princess,  HI  :  360 

Urmur-Tanda,  II  :  359  ;  III  :  96,  99,  108,  146,  349  ; 
IV  :  324,  456 

'Usman  'All,  Nizam,  III  :  339 

'Usman  Khan,  I  :  273  ;  IV  :  6 

U.S.S.R.,  IV  :  309 

Uttain  Chanel,  III  :  462 

Uttam  Kaur,  II  :  258 

Uttam  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  120,  423 

Uttam  Singh  (Bhangi),  II :  325 

Uttam  Singh  Chhachhi,  II  :  390 

Uttam  Singh,  Ragi,  IV:  282 

Uttam  Singh,  Mahant,  I  :  100 

Uttam  Singh  Majithia,  1 :  210 

Uttam  Singh  Mauni;  II :  218,  449 

Uttam  Singh  (Nidaloii),  III  :  218 

Uttar  Pradesh,  II :  49,  110,  129,  164,  212,  261,  365, 
406,  451,  506,  536  ;  III :  92,  185-86,  224,  241, 
243,  279,  309,  348,  352,  378,  504,  510 

Uttarakhand,  III  :  448 

Vachan  Gobind  Lokan  Ke,  IV  :  393 
Vadaharis  ki  Var,  IV  :  393-94 
Vadala,  Viram,  IV  :  418 

Vadali  Guru,  I  :  454  ;  II  :  50,  222  ;  IV  :  394-95 
Vadbhag  Singh  Sodhi,  II :  448  ;  IV  :  51,  56,  395 
Vadda  Dera,  II  :  506 

Vadda  Ghallughara,  I  :  12,  24,  77,  255,  403,  443, 
460,  495  ;  II :  43,  250,  356,  447,  546,  554-55  ; 
III :  423  ;  IV  :  214,  300,  395-97,  448,  458 

Vadda  Ghallughara,  Gurdwara,  III :  423 

Vadda  Ghar,  IV  :  397 

Vadda  Mir,  III :  267 

Vadde  Babaji,  III :  305 

Vadhava  Singh,  Bhai,  IV :  397 

Vadhava  Singh  Dafedar,  III :  197 

Vadhava  Singh  (Rupovali),  II :  308 

Vadhava  Singh,  Sant,  HI  :  198 

Vadhni,  IV  :  3,  433 


Vagmali,  River,  II  ;  383 

Vaheguru,  I  :  37,  186,  341,  350  ;  II  :  52,  95,  145, 
149-50,  315,  374,  401-02,  446,  458,  474  ;  III : 
72,  162,  226,  241,  263,  446,  462  ;  IV  :  25,  308, 

316,  335,  379,  397-400,  444 
Vahiguriiji  Ka  Khalsa,  Vahiguruji  Ki  Fateh,  II :  240, 

474,  552  ;  III  :  263,  265  ;  IV  :  326-27,  397, 
400-02 

Vahiguri  Shabdirth  Tiki,  II :  110  ;  IV :  315,  402 

Vairag.  IV  :  402-03 

Va/rag  Shalak.  IV:  313 

Vairoke,  II  :  237,  514  ;  IV  :  403-04 

Vairoval,  II :  355,  450  ;  HI  :  33,  96,  99 

Vak,  IV  .  404 

Vakkhia  Vakkhra  Katra  Katra,  II  :  189 
Vaickhan  Dunia,  II  :  189 

Vaiayarvatfjanam  Sakhj",  II :  220,  445  ;  II :  411 
Vali  Ram,  III :  197 

Valla,  1 :  281  ;  II :  322  ;  III  :  139  ;  IV  :  405 

Vallabha,  III  :  170 

Vallu  Ram,  II  :  462 

Valmiki  Rzmayana,  rV  :  376 

Valtohi,  Mii,  II  :  568 

Values,  Sikh  social  and  ethical,  I  :  120 

Vamacharis,  I  :  15 

Varna  Devi,  II  :  32 

Van,  II  :  69,  154  :  rV  :  310 

Vancouver,  II :  61-62,  64, 143,  316,  485,  527  ;  III :  491 

Vandar,  III :  339  ;  IV  :  405 

Vand  Chhakana.  Ill :  162-63,  175 

Vanjara  Sikhs,  HI  :  187  ;  IV  :  8,  405-06 

Vanotianvali,  IV  :  227 

Var,  IV  :  250,  406-07 

Vara  Chain  Singhvala,  II  :  513 

VSr  Amar  Singh  Ki,  IV  :  407-08 

Var  Amritsar  Ki,  IV  :  408-09 

Varanasi.  1 :  26,  314  ;  II :  65,  91,  123,  129,  133,  138, 
182,  222,  314,  365,  370,  450,  470,  568  ;  III : 
19,  35,  92,  165,  236,  240,  301,  449,  493  ;  IV : 
4,  21,  81,  262,  320,  401,  409-11 

Varan  Bhai  Gurdas,  II :  139, 222,  261,  264,  268,  307, 

317,  321,  335,  347,  364-65,  385,  387,  413-14, 
418,  421-22,  479,  496,  520,  565,  569  ;  III :  10, 
13,  33,  40,  59,  88,  113-14,  137-38,  156,  102, 
203, 205,  213,  225,  258,  269T73,  307,  336,  343, 
369,  415,  450,  473,  498,  513-14  ;  TVx  26,  27, 


INDEX 


568 


180,  219.  230,  288,  290,  323,  325,  356,  360, 

368,  384,  411-12,  427 
Varan  Sri  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Ji  Diari,  IV  :  418 
Var  Bhai  Gurdasji  Ki,  II :  139 
Var  Bhere  ki  Patshahi  10,  IV :  412-13 
Var  Haqiqat  Rai,  IV  :  413-14 
Var  Han  Singh  Ki,  IV  :  414 
Var  Had  Singh  Nalva,  IV  :  180 
Var  Majh  Iii,  TV  :  398,  414-16 
Var  Malar  Ki  Mahalla  I,  IV  :  301,  416-17 
Var  Patshahi,  Dasvin  Ki,  TV :  417-18 
Var  PJrari  Ki,  III :  85 
Var  Rag  Ramkali  Ki,  II :  130 
Var  Sat,  TV  :  418 

Var  Shah  Muhammad,  TV  :  4i8-19 
VarSri  Bliagautiji  Ki,  1 :  185  ;  II :  88,  139  ;  IV  :  72, 
407,  419 

Var  Sri  Guru  Gobind  Singh  Ji  Ki,  TV  :  419-20 

Var  Suhi  Ki,  TV  :  398,  420-21 

Varyam  Kaur,  II :  552 

Varyam  Singh,  Bhai,  IV  :  421-23 

Varyam  Singh,  Bhai  (Akali),  II :  273 

Varyam  Singh  Dhugga,  1 :  237,  282 

Varyam  Singh,  Mahant,  III :  70 

Varyam  Singh,  Pandit,  IV :  423 

Vasakha  Singh,  Rai  Bahadur,  IV  :  65 

Vasakha  Singh,  Sant  Baba,  II  :  61,  115,  196,  254, 

310-11,  366,  519  ;  III :  280  ;  IV :  381,  424 
Vasava  Singh  Man,  II :  412 
Vasava  Singh  Rode,  III :  506 
Vasco  de  Gama,  II :  29 
Vasistadvaita.  Ill  :  153,  447 

Vasti  Ram,  Bhai,  II :  87  ;  III :  468  ;  IV  :  14.  424-25 

Vaudeville,  Charlotte,  II :  403 

Vedant,  II :  122,  124,  133,  311.  386  ;  III :  71,  133, 

222,  233,  237,  240,  294,  361,  448.  413  ;  IV : 

74,  256,  262 
Vedant  Paribhasha,  II ;  313 
Vedas,  II :  30,  53,  79,  405 
Vega  Pasi,  II :  492 
VeWua  Sunia  Gandhi,  II :  189 
VeWiia  Sunia  Nehru,  II :  189 

Ventura,  Jean  Baptiste,  1 :  36,  67,  80,  82,  197,  198, 
199,  257,  290,  457,  545,  598  ;  II :  7,  41,  73, 
104,  283,  285, 319, 41.2, 542, 547-48, 551, 572  ; 
III :  115,  120,  128,  218,  287,  383,  485,  500  ; 


IV :  269,  425-26 
Verges,  A.L.  II :  205 
Verka,  IV  :  426 
Versailles  Palace,  II  :  316 
Vesa,  Bhai,  II :  104 
Viah  Asthan,  Gurdwara,  II :  449 
Viceregal  Lodge,  III :  501  ;  IV :  223 
Viceroy's  Legislative  Council,  II :  497  ;  III :  207 
Vichar  Prabhakar,  TV  :  423 
Vichar  Sangats,  II  :  196 

Victoria  Diamond  Jubilee  Hindu  Technical 

Institute,  III :  410 
Victoria,  Queen,  II :  2,  5  ;  IV  :  167 
Victoria  (Town),  II :  61,  62,  485 
Vidharba.  Ill :  87 
Vidia  Sagar  Granth,  TV  :  426 
Vidya  Pracharak,  TV  :  162 
Vidyarak,  11:  187  ;  IV  :  163 
Vidya  Vati,  I  :  316 
Vieskenawitch,  IV :  426-27 
Vigah  Mall,  Bhai,  IV :  427 
Vigne,  G.T.,  III :  486 
Vihvin  Sadi  de  Shahid,  II :  189 
Vijai  Vinod,  IV:  427-28 
Viki-amaditya,  Raja,  IV:  134 
Vikram  Datt,  III :  435-36 
Vikramgarh,  1 :  298 
Vinay  Pal,  Raja,  1 :  299 
Vinjhu,  1 :  319  ;  II :  57-58,  130 
Vinobha  Bhave,  IV  :  317 
VirArjun,  1 :  317 
Virevala,  II :  341 

Viro,  Bibi,  III :  16,  27  ;  IV  :  7,  45,  204,  428 

Vir  Singh  Bal,  II :  148  ;  III :  212 

Vir  Singh,  Bhai,  1 :  235-36,  316,  350,  352,  370,  441  ; 
II  :  20,  77,  79,  133,  152,  249,  268,  270,  401, 
406  ;  III :  117,  354,  366,  409-10,  473  ;  IV  :  44, 
53.  78,  86.  103,  163.  205,  209»-10,  212,  236, 
375,  377,  397.  354,  428-32 

Vir  Singh  (musician),  II :  506 

Vir  Singh  (Nirmala),  III :  236 

Vir  Singh  (Ramgarhia),  III :  108 

Visakha  Singh,  Sant,  IV:  432 

Visnu,  II :  239,  404,  419  ;  III :  71,  302,  416  ;  IV :  58, 
224,  316  - 

Visnu  Ganesh  Pingle,  II :  65,  66,  459 


569 


INDEX 


Visnu  Mari,  II  :  135 

Visriu  Puratm,  II  :  410 

Visnusvami,  I  :  256 

Vissa.  Bhai,  IV  :  432 

Visvamitra,  III  :  406 

Visvesvar  Asram  'Aligarh,  II  :  473 

Vivekananda,  Svami,  III  :  447-48 

Voclnis,  IV  :  432 

Vrindavana.  Ill  :  493 

Vrili  Prabhakar,  IV  :  423 

Wade,  Col.,  I  :  67,  154,  219,  230,  481,  545  ;  II  :  24, 
40,  298,  305,  520,  543,  548,  575-76  ;  III  :  6, 
212,  260,  382,  436  ;  IV  :  194,  226,  343.  357, 
374-75,  387,  397-400,  433 

Wafa  Begam,  I  :  13  ;  II  :  525;  IV  :  433-34 

Wagah,  II  :  369  ;  IV  :  347 

Wahabi  Movement,  I  :  290 

Wajab  ul-'Arz.  IV  :  434-35 

Wakefield,  Edward,  III  :  360 

Wall  Khan,  Shah,  344,  345 

Wali  Qandhari,  III  :  279-80  ;  IV  :  435 

Walsh,  Stephen,  IV  :  201 

Waqf  Board  of  Pakistan,  II  :  546  ;  III :  200 

Waqi'a~\-}ang-i-Sikhan,  I  :  36  ;  IV  :  435-37 

Waqi'at-i-Diurani,  TV  :  373 

Wardha,  III  :  291 

Waris  Shah,  II  :  455 

Wasaf  Khan,  III  :  195 

Wasil  Beg,  II  :  92 

Waterloo,  IV  :  425 

Watlien,  Gerard  Anstruther,  IV  :  178,  437-38 
Watson,  E.R..  II  :  450 

Wavell.  Lord,  III  :  308,  310  ;  IV  :  191-92,  446 
Wazirabad,  I  :  68,  345,  438  ;  II  :  7,  116,  130,  303, 

396,  423,  502,  562  ;  III :  110,  120,  203,  215. 

484-S5  ;  IV  :  82,  118,  183,  237,  344,  438,  441 
Wazir  Chand,  Rai  Sahib,  Pandit,  IV  :  452 
Wazir  Hind  Press,  II :  239  ;  III :  315-36,  354  ;  IV : 

163,  254 
Wazir  Khan,  IV  :  438 
Wazir  Khan  Mosque,  II  :  544 

Wazir  Khan,  Nawab,  (Faujdar),  I  :  252,  258,  273, 
305,  355,  374  ;  II :  15,  16,  22,  28,  91,  300,  336, 
486  :  III :  27,  191  ;  IV :  106,  214,  258,  328,  356, 
358.  438-40,  461 


Wazir  Singh  (Atari),  II  :  324 

Wazir  Singh.  Raja.  1 :  372  ;  III :  136,  263  ;  IV :  175,  440 
Weir,  rv :  440 

Wellesley.  Lord.  Ill  :  89,  186,  248,  345  ;  IV  :  440 
Welhsley  Papers,  IV  :  440 

Wellington,  Duke  of.  II  :  4,  106-07,  230-31,  382 

Westminster.  II  :  282  ;  III  :  2,  502 

Westminster  Abbey.  Ill  :  89,  344 

Wheeler.  General  Hugh  Massy,  II :  107,  121  ;  III :  470 

Whish.  Sir  William  Sampson,  I  :  172,  174  ;  III :  573  ; 

IV  :  440-41 
Whitehall,  II  .  231 
While.  Lieut.  F.S.,  III  :  337 
Whitman,  Wall,  III  :  409 
WJayai  Khan,  II  :  131 
Wilkins.  Charles,  III :  326 
Wilson,  General,  III  :  93,  216 
Wilson.  H.H.,  III  .  3 
Wilsonpur,  II  :  260,  457 
Wilson,  Sir  Arnold,  II  :  46 
Will  (Divine  Will),  1 :  177,  340,  512 
Wolff,  Joseph,  III :  245  ;  rV  :  363,  441 
Women  in  Sikhism,  IV :  442—44 
Wood,  Sir  Charles,  III :  274 
Woodtown,  II :  106 

World  War  (Great  War)  1:1:  216,  325,  396,  423  ; 
II :  64,  66,  232,  259,  307,  311,  316,  332,  369, 457, 
514  ;  III :  10,  37, 139,  148, 198,  217,  347,  508, 
513  ;  IV  :  87,  175-76,  223,  279,  312,  387,  422 

World  War  II :  1 :  47,  224,  228.  543,  557  ;  II :  415. 
478, 488  ;  III  :  45, 114,  225,  308,  421;  IV  :  228- 
29,  383,  446 

Wrotliain,  II :  230 

Wui  tomberg.  IV  :  367 

Xavier,  Father  Zerome,  1 :  193 

Yadavinder  Singh,  Maharaja,  I  :  295,  338,  570  ;  II  : 
17. 232, 478  ;  III :  106,  248, 252,  280,  318,  320- 
23.  341.  396,  399,  401-02  ;  IV  :  88,  168,  170, 
176.  270,  445-47 

Yadvindra  Gardens,  III :  341 

Yadavindra  Stadium,  III  :  321 

Yahiya,  Khan,  1 :  8  ;  II :  223,  446,  462-63,  554-55  ; 
III :  99,  130,  259  ;  IV  :  173,  257,  267,  327-28, 
447-48 


INDEX 


570 


Yahiyapur,  III :  99 

Yahiyapurvali  Pothi,  III  :  349 

Yamunanagar.  II :  86,  315  ;  III :  241 

Yamuna,  River,  II :  88,  146,  255,  357.  575  ;  III :  67, 
74,  89,  94,  103.  106,  132,  157.  236.  291-92, 
337,  375,  512  ;  IV  :  195,  197,  458 

Yar  Muhammad  Khan,  I  :  229.  290  :  II :  320,  324, 
550-51  :  III  :  483  ;  IV  :  448 

Yashvant  Rao  Chavan,  III  :  402-03 

Yaska  Muni,  IV:  354 

Yatim  Khana,  Ghaijakh,  II :  490 

Yatra  Rishikesh  Di.  Ill  :  450 

Yervada,  IV  :  228 

Yoga,  II  :  30,  124  ;  III  :  335,  361-63  ;  448-50 
Yogasutras.  IV  :  449-50 
Yog  Vasistha,  III  :  301,  486 
Yokahama,  II  :  143,  366,  527  ;  IV  :  228 
Yorkshire,  II  :  570 
Young,  Sir  Mackworth,  III  :  2 
Youth  League,  Ludhiana.  I  :  260 
Yugantar  Ashram,  I  :  331  ;  II :  63,  64.  115.  259,  457. 
407 

Yusaf  'All  Khan.  Mir,  III :  331,  345 
Zabardast  Khan,  IV  :  439 

Zabita  Khan,  I  .  249,  255  ;  II :  434  ;  III :  103.  109. 

511-12  :  IV  :  198,  299,  319 
Zafar  Hasan.  II  :  502 

Zafamamah.  I  :  21,  33,  206,  217,  219,  221-22.  238, 
517.  541.  572,  583-84  ;  II  :  20,  89,  91,  271,  375, 
526,  563  ;  III  :  194,  298  ;  IV  :  273,  451-52 

Zafarnamah-i-Ranjh  Singh,  II :  298  ;  IV :  218,  452-53 

Zafamamah  Alii 'in  ul-Mulk,  IV:  453-54 

Zatar  Ullah  Khan,  II  :  380 

Zaiarval.  Ill  :  99 

Zahira  Zahur,  Gurdwara,  III :  413 

Zahir  ud-Din,  III :  245 

Zahiira  II :  120,  359,  371  ;  III :  107-08,  465 

Zail  Singh,  Giani,  1 :  133.  339  ;  II  :  353  ;  III  :  278, 

323.  403  ;  IV :  41,  98,  306,  545-58 
Zain  Khan,  1 :  12,  15,  404  ;  II :  16,  18,  356-57,  447  ; 

III  :  156.  354,  423  ;  IV  :  166,  214,  350,  396, 

458 

Zakariya  Khan.  I  :  8,  207,  248,  255,  362,  388,  401. 
402,  403.  494.  509  ;  II :  132,  154,  223-24,  240, 
300,  354,  429,  445,  462,  554  ;  III :  40,  41,  56, 


63.  64,  94,  95,  99,  130,  346,  357,  504  ;  IV  :  93, 
173,  257,  267,  290,  311,  319,  323-25,  327,  413, 
447,  459 

Zalim  Khan,  II :  516 

Zaman  Shah.  1 :  397,  442  ;  II :  21 

Zamzama  Gun,  II :  377  ;  III :  100-01 

Zeb  un-Nisa,  II :  545  ;  IV :  419 

Zenana  Corps,  III  :  150 

Zenana  Missionary  Society,  II :  333 

Zend  Avesta,  III :  373 

Zetland.  Lord.  IV  :  382 

Zinunand,  S.,  II  :  328 

Zindaginamah,  III  :  196;  IV:  459-60 

Zira,  I  .  28  ;  II :  370  ;  III :  96,  105,  119,  128,  381 

Zobeir  Rehama,  IV  :  460 

Zorawar  Singh,  General,  II :  280  ;  III :  382;  IV  :  111, 
461-63 

Zorawar  Singh  Palit,  II :  500  ;  IV :  463-64 
Zorawar  Singh,  Sahibzada,  II  :  15,  17,  18,  24,  90, 

1 14,  385,  500  ;  IV  :  15,  106,  142,  258,  347,  461 
Zulfiqar  Ardastani,  Mobid,  II  :  201,  376  ;  III  :  79, 

179,  185,  345,  436  ;  IV :  6,  129 

1/14  Punjab  Regiment,  III:  114 

2nd  Border  Regiment,  III  :  1 14 

2nd  Punjab  Cavalry,  III :  279 

3/15  Punjab  Regiment,  IV  :  227 

4th  Battalion,  11th  Sikh  Regiment,  II  :  455 

5th  (Guides)  Battalion,  II :  439 

5th  Probyn's  Horse,  III  :  218 

8th  Battalion,  IV  :  422 

11th  Cavalry,  IV:  278 

lllh  Sikh  Regiment,  II  :  455 

15th  Sikh  Battalion,  III  :  469 

19th  Light  Dragoon,  II  :  572 

22nd  Cavalry,  IV  :  340 

22nd  Punjab  Battalion,  IV  :  422 

23rd  Cavalry,  IV  :  86 

24th  Sikh  Battalion,  IV  :  334 

27th  Battalion,  IV  :  227 

33  Savaiyyas,  II  :  395 

35tli  Sikh  Battalion,  II :  368,  523 

36th  Sikh  Regiment,  II  :  474 

36th  Sikhs,  IV  :  58,  59 

54th  Sikhs  Battalion,  IV :  49 

76th  Battalion,  IV  :  227